Within hours of Tom Perez becoming the new Secretary of Labor in a contentious party line vote, top Labor Department officials received an interesting email regarding the transition process. The matter at hand: that all photos of outgoing Secretary Hilda Solis be removed from Labor Department offices stat.
The email’s subject: “URGENT: Removal of Former Secretary Hilda L. Solis’ Photos.” Apparently, nothing says urgent like Perez walking in and seeing someone else taking the spotlight in his new office.
“It is requested that all DOL agencies remove the pictures of former Secretary Solis from your work spaces by noon this Friday, July 18 [sic], 2013 and temporarily store them in your offices,” the email read. “Keep in mind, that the frames will be reused once a new Secretary has been confirmed and the new photos are available.”
In case Labor Department officials weren’t competent enough to put Perez’s picture into the frames, the email also states that “additional guidance will be provided on how the new Secretary’s photos will be inserted in the existing frames when those photos are available.”
Moreover, the email stressed that “pictures [of Hilda Solis] should be carefully removed to prevent damage,” not out of concern of damaging the photos of the ex-Secretary, but to ensure that the “frames and walls” are not damaged.
This isn’t the first extreme action taken by an executive branch office during a leadership transition. When President George W. Bush’s staffers arrived at their new digs in January 2001, the “W” key from computers in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building had mysteriously gone missing.
Read the full email below:
Subject: URGENT: Removal of Former Secretary Hilda L. Solis’ Photos
DOL Administrative Officers
Pending the arrival of a new Secretary of Labor, it is requested that all DOL agencies remove the pictures of former Secretary Solis from your work spaces by noon this Friday, July 18, 2013 and temporarily store them in your offices. Keep in mind, that the frames will be reused once a new Secretary has been confirmed and the new photos are available. Additional guidance will be provided on how the new Secretary’s photos will be inserted in the existing frames when those photos are available. That being said, pictures should be carefully removed to prevent damage to the frames and walls.
It is requested that you follow-up with your program offices and staffs here in the national office and your regional offices to get this accomplished by the above deadline.
If you require assistance for removal of out-of-reach photos, please contact the Customer Service Office at extension 693-5001 here in Frances Perkins Building (FPB), or your servicing facility manager for non-FPB locations.
Your timely assistance is appreciated.
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management
