Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) today introduced the Working Families Flexibility Act, a bill that would give employees more flexibility on how to use their overtime benefits. Sen. Lee was joined by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), along with eleven of their colleagues. “For many families, especially those with young children, their most precious commodity is time with each other – and that has never been more challenging to balance with work than during the current pandemic,” said Sen. Lee. “For decades, federal labor laws have unfortunately restricted the way parents and workers can use their time, while giving special exemptions from these laws to government employees. This is unacceptable: the same work-life options available to government employees should be available to private-sector workers as well, especially during these challenging times.”

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) today introduced the ARTICLE ONE Act, a bill that would reclaim significant legislative powers delegated to the executive branch by the National Emergencies Act of 1976. When Congress passed this act in 1976, it gave the president of the United States the ability to exercise unilateral power like a king. Now, more than 40 years later, there are 37 ongoing national emergencies that have no congressional approval or expiration date. And just last week, the majority leader pointed out that the president “can do many, many things under the emergency powers . . . that he could do without legislation,” and suggested that “[i]t might be a good idea for President Biden to call a climate emergency.”

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Parental Accessibility Rights for Emergency and Negligent Treatment (PARENT) Act and the Parental Right to Know Act Wednesday, a pair of bills designed to ensure that parents have access to the policies regarding the care and medical records of their children from hospitals and organizations that use taxpayer funding. “Parents play the most important role in caring for the health of their children,” Sen. Lee said. “It is critical that they have information about the policies of the health organizations to which they bring their children for care, and that they have the ability to access their medical records. These bills would ensure that parents are afforded the right to remain informed and involved in their children’s care.”

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement Thursday after voting against Alejandro Mayorkas’s nomination to become Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security: “Not only is Mr. Mayorkas the chief architect of the illegal and unconstitutional DACA and DAPA programs, but he also was found by the DHS Inspector General to have given special access to wealthy Democratic donors for the corrupt EB-5 visa program. The combination of Mr. Mayorkas’s expansive view of unlimited executive power coupled with his established track record of favoritism for partisan allies makes him a very dangerous choice to head the Department of Homeland Security for the American people.”