Scott asks Labor Department for written pledge to keep its records

The top Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee has asked Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling for written assurance, by Nov. 18, that Department of Labor records have not been and will not be concealed, modified, removed, transferred, destroyed or otherwise made inaccessible.

Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, D-Va., the committee’s ranking member, made the request in a letter dated Nov. 4, the day after the midterm elections. He wrote that the letter was “in preparation for the 120th Congress.” Scott copied Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., the committee’s chairman.

Scott wrote that the Federal Records Act of 1950 requires all executive branch departments and agencies to collect, retain and preserve records that document “the transaction of public business” or contain “informational value.” He wrote that federal regulations require each agency head to “make and preserve records containing adequate and proper documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the agency.”

The letter says those duties cover all types of information, whether physical, digital or electronic, and apply to every subagency, office and department under the Labor Department as well as all of its personnel.

Scott also listed the penalties. An employee who “willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys” a federal record, or attempts to, is subject to a fine, imprisonment for up to three years, or both, the letter says, citing 18 U.S.C. § 2071(b). A federal officeholder convicted of violating the act can lose the position and be disqualified from holding future federal office, according to the letter.

The head of an agency has a responsibility to notify the Archivist of the United States of any actual, impending or threatened unlawful action against the agency’s records, the letter says, citing 44 U.S.C. § 3106(b).

“The American people have given Congress a clear mandate to root out waste, fraud, and abuse within the Administration,” Scott wrote. He asked for the written assurance by Nov. 18, 2026, and told the department to send correspondence to the committee’s Democratic staff.

The letter does not cite a specific incident of records destruction at the department, and it does not say Scott has evidence that records have been tampered with.

The law firm Littler wrote in a Nov. 6 analysis that Scott sent a letter to the heads of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Labor Department and the National Labor Relations Board, among others, reminding them of their “legal duty to preserve records.” Littler said those agencies “can expect early and heavy attention” from Scott and other congressional Democrats.

Littler wrote that Democrats are expected to use their majorities “starting with oversight,” and that committees can subpoena records, call witnesses and scrutinize agency activities. As of Nov. 6, according to Littler, Democrats had won 253 House seats, with about 30 districts still being counted, and had won seven new Senate seats for at least 54 in total. Alaska and Mississippi remained too close to call.

Littler wrote that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is “likely” to become chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and that he is likely to view the Faster Labor Contracts Act more favorably than outgoing leadership, so the bill could at least get a committee hearing.

The analysis said the Labor Department has as many as 14.4% fewer employees than when President Donald Trump took office. It also said the National Labor Relations Board has four of its five seats filled, giving Republicans enough votes to overturn Biden-era decisions, and that the EEOC’s chair, Andrea Lucas, “may face increased scrutiny on Capitol Hill.”