Six Democratic senators have formally asked Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer to explain reported reductions in Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspections, citations, and penalty assessments during 2025.
Letter And Request For Information
The senators sent a letter seeking answers about an apparent rollback of workplace safety enforcement and reduced oversight by the Department of Labor. The signatories are Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-IL), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ron Wyden (OR), and Alex Padilla (D-CA).
The letter asks whether the Department of Labor directed OSHA inspectors to reduce inspections, citations, or citations for specific violation types and requests responses by March 4, 2026.
Reported Enforcement Declines
The senators were provided data indicating a 20 percent reduction in OSHA workplace inspections between April 2025 and September 2025 compared with the same period the prior year. The data also show a 42 percent reduction in inspections that resulted in citations for willful violations.
A separate report of the same data states that OSHA inspections declined by 20 percent in 2025 and penalties for severe workplace violations declined by 42 percent.
Penalty Assessments and Independent Analyses
The senators cited a December 2025 report titled Worker Protections in Freefall: The Collapse of Federal Labor Enforcement under the Second Trump Administration by Good Jobs First. The report highlights a sharp decline in OSHA penalty assessments.
Good Jobs First reported that wage and hour penalties decreased by 94 percent during the administration’s second term and that workplace health and safety penalties dropped 45 percent. One independent analysis cited that OSHA brought 35 percent fewer cases in the first nine months of the administration than in comparable periods under prior administrations.
That analysis also reported OSHA imposed $94 million in penalties in the first nine months of the administration, a 47 percent decline compared with the first nine months across the last 17 years. A related statement in the report characterized penalties in the first nine months of 2025 as 94 percent lower than the first nine months of any of the past 17 years.
Allegations About Deregulatory Actions and Office Closures
The senators’ letter links the enforcement declines to a broader deregulatory agenda and proposed funding cuts for OSHA. The letter identifies specific regulatory rollbacks and proposals, including the elimination of Mine Safety and Health Administration authority to require mine ventilation, loosened respirator requirements for exposures to carcinogens and hazardous substances, and plans to eliminate requirements for adequate lighting on construction sites.
The senators also asked whether the termination of leases for 11 OSHA regional offices by the Department of Government Efficiency means those offices have been permanently closed and whether additional regional office closures are planned. Reporting states the senators contend the Department of Labor has prioritized deregulatory actions that could limit OSHA’s ability to hold employers, including HIPAA-covered companies, accountable for unsafe conditions.
Deadline And Next Steps
The senators set a March 4, 2026 deadline for the Department of Labor to respond to detailed questions about inspections, hazard letters, violations, citations, and the department’s deregulatory agenda.