House Republican Andy Biggs introduced a bill on Sunday that would abolish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a Department of Labor agency tasked with overseeing workplace safety.
The Arizona representative argued that OSHA’s role should be taken over by “state governments and private employers.”
Newsweek contacted Biggs and the Department of Labor for comment on Tuesday via email.
Why It Matters
Following his second inauguration on January 20 President Donald Trump has taken a number of steps to combat what he regards as overregulation by the federal government. On January 31, he issued an executive order which requires that when an agency comes up with a new regulation it must “identify at least 10 existing rules, regulations, or guidance documents to be repealed.”
Trump also authorized the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under tech billionaire Elon Musk, who previously suggested that federal government spending could be cut by up to $2 trillion.
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What To Know
Biggs’ bill, titled the Nullify the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (NOSHA) Act, states: “The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is repealed. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is abolished.”
In an accompanying press release published on Sunday, Biggs said: “OSHA’s existence is yet another example of the federal government creating agencies to address issues that are more appropriately handled by state governments and private employers.
“Arizona, and every other state, has the constitutional right to establish and implement their own health and safety measures, and is more than capable of doing so.
“It’s time that we fight back against the bloated federal government and eliminate agencies that never should have been established in the first place. I will not let OSHA push Arizona around with their bureaucratic regulations and urge my colleagues to support my effort to eliminate this unconstitutional federal agency.”
Biggs introduced a near identical bill into the House in November 2021, though it failed.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970 following a series of high-profile workplace disasters, including the deaths of 21 workers when a drilling barge capsized in 1964 in the Gulf of Mexico and the deaths of 78 workers in the 1968 Farmington Mine disaster in West Virginia.
What People Are Saying
National Consumers League CEO Sally Greenberg, in a statement: “This bill would be a catastrophic step backward for worker safety in this country. Repealing OSHA would put workers at great risk by dismantling the very protections that have helped reduce workplace injuries and deaths for over 50 years.
“Without OSHA, many workers will be left vulnerable to unsafe conditions, and it will be the most vulnerable—low-income and minority workers—who will bear the brunt of dangerous rollbacks.”
Conservative-leaning commentator Kristen Meghan, in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “As someone who has worked in occupational safety and health for nearly 23 years, I am 100% for this.
“OSHA violated its own standards and targeted businesses, abusing the general duty clause… They allowed themselves to be weaponized, violating the ethics of our profession.”
What Happens Next
It is unclear whether Biggs’ bill is supported by the Trump administration. If it is, it could plausibly pass into law, though the Republicans’ slim majority in both chambers of Congress means this is far from a given. Without White House backing, the legislation is likely to fail for a second time.
