House Dems ask agencies about their progress offering telework to military spouses

Democrats on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee this week sent letters to 24 federal agencies asking for information on their progress in implementing a provision of the fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act and a subsequent executive order aimed at improving the government’s recruitment and retention of military spouses.

The fiscal 2022 defense policy bill mandated that federal agencies “clarify” the availability of remote work for domestic employees who can no longer perform their work at traditional work sites because their spouse is a military service member deployed overseas. And last year, President Biden signed an executive order that in part revamped the rules around when domestic federal workers may work remotely from outside the U.S., a program known as Domestic Employees Teleworking Overseas, or DETO.

Last month, the State and Defense departments announced that they had reached an agreement on their DETO policies to expand the program’s accessibility within their workforces.

In a letter sent to 24 CFO Act agencies this week, Democrats led by House Oversight and Accountability ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., asked for data about how they are “eliminating employment barriers” to spouses of military service members. Because of the frequent deployments and relocations associated with military service, the unemployment rate for military spouses is well above the national average.

“Active-duty military families face ‘permanent change-of-station moves every two to three years on average’ often with little or no control over their assignments,” they wrote. “Each move can result in a spouse quitting their job, which may compromise their ability to maintain their career trajectory. The military spouse population—of which 90% are women—faces a 21% unemployment rate that has remained nearly constant for the past three decades. That rate is nearly six times the national average, making it increasingly difficult for military families to achieve financial security.”

Similarly, roughly one in five military families cite spousal employment as a reason for leaving military service.

The lawmakers asked the agencies for a copy of their DETO policy, alongside information on the number of “military-connected and foreign service spouses” employed by each agency and DETO usage rates among those employees. The letter also requests an update on agencies’ compliance with the fiscal 2022 NDAA and progress toward implementing Biden’s military spouse executive order.

“As the largest employer in the nation, the federal government has an obligation to military families who deserve ‘nothing less than the dignity of a meaningful career and the opportunity to build economic security,’” the lawmakers wrote. “It is important that agencies recruit, hire, develop, promote and retain a skilled and diverse pool of talent—which must include military-connected families.”