Foxx wants details on workplace safety at White House

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chairwoman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, is asking the Biden administration for information about workplace safety at the White House after multiple reports of the president’s dog Commander biting staffers or U.S. Secret Service officers. 

“The White House has the responsibility to set an example for ensuring workplace safety and health for its employees. Unfortunately, it has recently come to our attention that it is failing to uphold this responsibility,” Foxx wrote in a letter to President Biden and acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su.

Foxx says the recent reports of “White House staff and U.S. Secret Service personnel regularly incurring dog bites indicate that occupational hazards are prevalent at the White House.” 

Biden’s 2-year-old German shepherd Commander was moved out of the White House last week after reports of roughly a dozen biting incidents. In 2021, Biden’s dog Major — another German shepherd — was sent to Delaware to live with family friends after multiple reported incidents.

Foxx’s letter raises “serious concerns that the White House is not following the law and providing a safe working environment for White House employees,” her committee said in a release.  

Foxx is asking the White House and the Labor Department for information on file “related to workplace accidents and injuries at the White House to ensure the White House is living up to its expectations of the private sector,” and to check that the White House is in compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.