Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, SENATE NEWS—Warren, other Senators seek answers on OSHA’s downward enforcement trend, (Feb 20, 2026)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

They cite new data revealing OSHA performed 20 percent fewer inspections and issued 42 percent fewer fines for severe workplace violations in 2025.

U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have written to the Secretary of Labor inquiring whether DOL “is abandoning its mission to “improve working conditions…and assure work-related benefits and rights” for American workers by rolling back safety regulations and systemically reducing enforcement efforts at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).”

Fewer inspections and fines. They cite new data that they contend reveals that OSHA performed 20 percent fewer inspections and issued 42 percent fewer fines for severe workplace violations in 2025 under Trumps administration, which they believe indicates Trump’s DOL may be discouraging inspectors from enforcing workplace safety laws.

Senator Warren and lawmakers have launched a new investigation into what they see as the Department of Labor’s broader plans to eliminate key safety regulations. They seek answers regarding the decline in OSHA enforcement actions, and the Department’s recent attempts to roll back certain safety rules.

Attacking from all sides. Claiming that the “Trump Administration is conducting an attack on workers from all sides,” they state that the administration “has severed collective bargaining agreements that protected federal employees and has stripped hundreds of thousands of federal workers of their right to join a union.” They also point to the “chaotic trade war and sweeping tariffs” that have caused consumer prices to rise and also led to terminations and reduction of worker hours. They also point to higher-level actions such as the firing of NLRB Member Gwynne Wilcox, which they state is “supposedly due to her bias towards workers.”

They further note that the Trump administration has proposed massive cuts to OSHA’s funding while, at the same time, the Department of Labor has rolled out a deregulatory agenda that proposes to get rid of many safety regulations, including, among other things, eliminating the authority of the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) to require mine operates to ensure proper ventilation and prevent roof collapses in mines; announcing plans to eliminate requirements for adequate lighting on construction sites; loosening respirator requirements for workers exposed to carcinogens, lead, asbestos, and formaldehyde, and announcing other plans they believe will limit OSHA’s ability to hold employers accountable for unsafe working conditions in inherently unsafe professions.

Good Jobs First analysis. Senator Warren’s office also identified support for this assessment from an independent analysis done of OSHA enforcement actions during the first nine months of the Trump administration, which found that the agency brought 35 percent fewer cases than the same period in previous administrations. It also found that OSHA imposed just $94 million in penalties, which was 47 percent lower compared to the first nine months of the last 17 years.

“If employers know that they are unlikely to face hefty fines, they may be less likely to adhere to safety standards that keep American workers safe in their places of employment,” warned the lawmakers.

The senators pressed the Department for critical information on these deregulatory actions by March 4, 2026, including answering whether OSHA has directed inspectors to reduce the number of inspections, citations issued for workplace violations, or reduce citations for a certain type of violation.

News: Safety AgencyNews