American Oversight Demands Answers about Outsourcing of Carrier Jobs

Watchdog Group Also Investigating What Trump Administration Knew about Ford Motor Company China Move

Washington, DC – Non-partisan ethics watchdog American Oversight today opened an investigation into the Trump administration’s role in seeking to prevent Carrier Corporation from eliminating jobs at its Indianapolis facility. The investigation comes following news that Carrier plans to eliminate over 300 jobs from the plant on Thursday, July 20 – the six month anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration.

“President Trump has hailed the Carrier agreement as proof that he’s a dealmaker, but as with so many other aspects of his administration, the reality doesn’t seem to match the hype,” said American Oversight Executive Director Austin Evers. “With hundreds of hardworking Carrier employees receiving layoff notices this week, we’re going to find out exactly what the Trump administration knew about the outsourcing plan, what they did about it, and whether the President told the American people the truth.”

As part of the investigation into the Carrier outsourcing, American Oversight filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the Department of the Treasury, Department of Commerce, and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative seeking the release of communications and documents related to the agreement, as well as correspondence with United Technologies Corporation, Carrier Corporation, and the office of the Governor of Indiana.

Last week, American Oversight also opened an investigation into the Trump administration’s involvement in Ford Motor Company’s decision to relocate some production to China. As with Carrier, President Trump initially took credit for Ford’s decision to retain manufacturing jobs in the United States before the company later announced that the jobs would move overseas.