House Oversight Requests Status Report on Federal Employee Protection Efforts
Lawmakers have voiced concerns to the Federal Protective Service (FPS), the Uniformed Division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), about its efforts to effectively protect the federal workforce considering the increase in threats. The FPS is responsible for securing all federal agencies, protecting personnel, and safeguarding approximately 9,000 federal facilities.
In a September 14 letter to FPS Director L. Eric Patterson, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, requested that FPS provide more details about how it ensures the safety of the federal workforce.
As previously reported by FEDmanager, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and DHS recently issued a joint bulletin highlighting increased threats against federal employees following the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. The IRS also recently launches a safety review following threats against workers based on pushback to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
The letter to FPS states that several agencies started taking steps to prevent potential violence with threats against federal employees on the rise, including the FBI, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). In turn, the Chairs asked if any requests to update security levels had been made by the IRS, EPA, NARA, or other agencies.
Reps. Maloney and Lynch also requested information on how the FPS monitors threats against federal employees and agencies and whether social media companies are involved in identifying threats.
Moreover, lawmakers questioned the FPS appropriations, arguing that the agency's funding is inadequate to address the escalating threats against federal employees. The letter specifically asked Director Patterson to provide information about whether FPS has the appropriate funding required "to meet the growing threat environment," and if not, what additional funding would be needed.
The Chairs requested written responses and a briefing before the committee by September 28, 2022.
