Thread by @pdacosta

THREAD-Trump administration's rollback of worker protection rules is under investigation nbcnews.com/politics/white… via @nbcnews

@NBCNews "The federal watchdog for the Department of Labor is conducting a broad investigation into the Trump administration's process for making regulatory changes, following allegations that officials are undoing worker protections without following the proper procedures."

@NBCNews "The investigation will include the Labor Department’s effort to *undo a child labor regulation* affecting teenagers who work in hospitals and nursing homes, according to the Jan. 25 letter by the department's inspector general, Scott Dahl."

@NBCNews "Dahl wrote that his office would be incorporating its investigation of the child-labor rollback into 'a broader review of the rule-making process at DOL.'

@NBCNews "The objective of this review is to determine how well DOL manages the issuance of regulations,” Dahl said in the letter, which also cited the independent watchdog’s efforts to examine “the integrity of the rule-making process” in the worker health and safety division.

@NBCNews "Dahl is already investigating the Labor Department's handling of a proposal to allow restaurant managers and owners to take workers’ tips and place them in a tip-sharing pool that includes bosses.

@NBCNews "Bloomberg Law reported last year that the administration hid its own projection that the change would allow management to skim $640 million in gratuities. (The administration later backed off the change.)

@NBCNews "DOL is facing legal challenges over other deregulatory actions affecting workers. Last week, the department undid an Obama-era regulation requiring certain employers to submit reports of workplace injuries electronically, arguing that it risked violating workers' privacy.

@NBCNews "Last year, the department made it easier for small businesses and self-employed people to buy health insurance that does not comply with the Affordable Care Act. Both changes have spurred lawsuits alleging that officials failed to follow legally required procedures."

@NBCNews @DebbieBerkowitz of @NelpNews says says the administration's approach toward the child-labor rule reflects a broader problem.

@NBCNews @DebbieBerkowitz @NelpNews "This is not a one-off situation — this is how they are conducting rollbacks of really important worker protections, and doing it with misleading information at best," said Berkowitz, a former Labor Department official under President Barack Obama.

@NBCNews @DebbieBerkowitz @NelpNews "There’s clearly a pattern of the Department of Labor hiding information that is inconvenient and does not support the department’s position, in violation of well-known and established laws."

@NBCNews @DebbieBerkowitz @NelpNews And it could get worse if Trump's pick to replace DOL head Alexander Acosta, corporate lawyer Eugene Scalia, is confirmed by the Senate. forbes.com/sites/pedrodac…