The House Education and Labor Committee’s Workforce Protections Subcommittee is planning to hold a hearing this week on Wednesday, May 20, at 10:15 AM (EDT) entitled “Examining the Federal Government’s Actions to Protect Workers from COVID-19”. The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Loren Sweatt, is expected to testify before the committee on the agency’s response to the crisis.

It is anticipated Democrats will pose questions regarding why the agency has not issued an emergency temporary standard to address workplace coronavirus exposure. Unions and progressives have been critical of OSHA’s response, while the administration has taken the position that the agency already has the tools it needs to protect workers.