Warnings about threats to employees have been issued by the IRS, National Archives and Records Administration and the EPA, among others. Image: JL IMAGES/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffDemocratic leaders on civil service issues in the House have asked the Federal Protective Service to explain what steps it is taking to “ensure the safety of federal government employees in the wake of a recent surge in threats against the federal workforce.”
In a letter to the FPS, top Democrats on the Oversight and Reform Committee cited threats against the FBI following its execution of a search warrant at former President Trump’s property and statements by some Republicans that a funding boost for the IRS in the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act would result in thousands of agents “being hired to target and even kill Americans.”
“This flood of disinformation and violent threats against federal employees has already led to at least one death,” they wrote–citing an attack against an FBI field office by an individual who later died in a shootout with agents—and threats “have led multiple federal departments and agencies to take steps to protect their workforce from potential acts of violence stemming from false information online.”
Warnings about threats to employees have been issued by individual agencies including the IRS, National Archives and Records Administration and the EPA, while the FPS and the FBI have issued general warnings, they wrote. “The committee is extremely concerned that this volatile threat environment puts federal employees in grave danger and at risk of violence,” they wrote.
They asked for information on topics including how the FPS monitors threats against federal employees and facilities; how that information is shared with other DHS components and the FBI; its current threat assessment; whether it has or intends to conduct additional facility risk assessments; planned steps to increase protections of federal employees; and more.
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