Republicans demand Biden return federal workers to in-person work because American small business owners ‘don’t have the luxury’ of working from home, condemning SBA for wasting $42 million in taxpayer money on a ‘nearly empty’ building

Republicans are demanding that the Small Business Administration turn over information about the agency’s work-from-home policy after discovering that its multimillion-dollar headquarters is still nearly empty.

In December, a bombshell report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that no federal agency had a occupancy rate above 50 percent between January and March 2023.

And many agencies such as Housing and Urban Development, the Social Security Administration, and the Small Business Administration (SBA) all had occupancy rates of 10 percent or less.

“Nearly a year after the Biden Administration ended the COVID-19 public health emergency, the SBA has still not returned to work,” wrote a group of Republicans led by House Speaker Roger Williams Committee on Small Business, R-Texas, in the letter. to SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman.

Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business Roger Williams sent a letter to the head of the SBA to find out why the agency is charging $42 million in rent while the office remains idle

“Data from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) indicates that the SBA headquarters are operating at just 10 percent capacity.”

“We remain concerned about the SBA’s extreme work-from-home policy and what it means for America’s 33 million small businesses.”

The letter asks her to provide documents and communications regarding the agency’s telework policy and office staffing.

It was signed by Reps. Mark Alford, R-Mo., Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., Dan Meuser, R-Pa., Pete Stauber, R-Minn., Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, Jake Ellzey, R – Texas and Aaron Bean, R-Fla.

The lawmakers argue that many American small businesses do not have the option to work remotely and that the agency should act similarly.

“The SBA has one goal: to help Main Street,” Williams said in a statement Wednesday.

“It’s difficult to do that effectively when you’re working from home and are more focused on washing and folding laundry than on meeting the needs of our business owners.”

“Our small business owners do not have the luxury of working from home, and the SBA should march in tune,” he continued.

Republicans expressed concern about the agency’s request for an allocation of $42 million in rent, despite no employees being present in the headquarters.

“Trustee Guzman owes the public an explanation as to why she is asking for $42 million for a nearly vacant building,” Alford said in a statement Wednesday.

SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman has testified that the SBA has “50 percent occupancy on any given day,” but lawmakers say this is “dramatically” different than what the GAO has said

Lawmakers also wrote that leaving the multimillion-dollar building vacant most of the time is “unacceptable” and “a waste of taxpayer dollars.”

According to the SBA, employees in the Capital Region are currently required to work in the office for five days of the pay period.

However, the payment term is only ten days, so the current requirement is that employees are only allowed to work in the office 50 percent of the time.

In December, members of the House Committee on Small Business visited the SBA headquarters and found “rows and rows of empty desks,” the letter said.

The lawmakers requested that Guzman provide them with materials on the SBA’s office staffing by April 10.