FOMC Chair Yellen Answers a reporters question by Federal Reserve is licensed under Public Domain

Collins: “Let me suggest that I think those contracts need to be renegotiated with the taxpayers’ interests in mind.”

Yellen: “Agreed.”

The IRS labor union is the reason IRS employees are not meeting the expected 50% in-office standard, said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during Senate testimony.

Appearing before an Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday, Yellen responded to questions from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) regarding the abysmal IRS in-office attendance record. Collins noted the large volume of IRS casework her office handles for constituents receiving inadequate help from IRS workers.

Collins provided the latest IRS attendance figures, which indicate the IRS is not meeting the 50% requirement which took effect May 5, 2024.

The key exchange is as follows:

Collins: “I’ve looked at the latest data from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and the Inspector General found that IRS employees telework 22% of the time, worked in person 38% of the time, and engaged in some sort of hybrid work 40% of the time on average during the first quarter of the fiscal year.

So I’m trying to reconcile the data that’s reported by the Inspector General to the IRS’ goal of having its employees work half of their work days in the office.  It seems to me that the Inspector General found that they are not working half of their work days in the office.”

Yellen: “You know, some of the employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, they’re members of the union, and to enforce those rules requires an agreement with the union.”

Collins: “Let me suggest that I think those contracts need to be renegotiated with the taxpayers interests in mind.”

Yellen: “Agreed.”

Video of the exchange is below:

The IRS labor union gives nearly 100% of its political spending to Democrats.

IRS union members are also allowed to engage in union activity during the workday. The Biden administration will not share the amount of hours this consumes in a given year.

IRS union members are also given free access to taxpayer funded meeting space and office equipment such as photocopiers.