Martin O’Malley, the former Social Security commissioner who is now seeking to chair the Democratic National Committee, took the brunt of House GOP anger over federal telework policies – and a number of other topics – in a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on Thursday.

Republicans primarily took aim at O’Malley’s role in overseeing a late 2024 deal between the Social Security Administration (SSA) and its workers’ union, the American Federation of Government Employees, that will lock in the current levels of telework for union employees until October 2029 – beyond the end of the Trump administration.

O’Malley, a former Maryland governor, was in charge of the agency when that deal was inked. He left the post in November.

“How is this good for democracy? The voters just delivered President Trump an electoral mandate to run the executive branch. Should union contracts designed to tie his hands take precedence over the mandate by the people?” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said in his opening statement.

O’Malley said that he had changed on-site work requirements for those at SSA headquarters and aimed to boost regional requirements for in-person work.

And O’Malley told Comer that in exchange for the telework agreement, the union gave up on a number of years-long grievances that, had they gone to trial, could have resulted in $10 million to $20 million in potential exposure for the agency.

The real challenge for the SSA, O’Malley said in his opening statement, was a shrinking staff.

“Social Security, today, is struggling to serve more customers than ever with staffing levels which you have reduced to 50-year lows,” O’Malley said. “Actions by Congress have reduced the customer service staffing to record lows, he said, adding........

© The Hill