An Agency's Labor Fight

There’s a government office few think about, but impacts us all. The Government Printing Office was formed in 1861 as an agency of the Legislative branch. The director (until 2014 called the Public Printer) is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The GPO prints the official journals of the government, including the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, and the laws of the United States. It also produces blank passports for the Department of State, and has its own police force. At its peak, it employed 8,500 people; it’s now down to fewer than 2,000.

This little agency was the center of a labor fight a century ago.

In 1923, unions challenged President Warren G. Harding’s appointee George Carter because the law at the time required the Public Printer to be “a practical printer and versed in the art of bookbinding.” The Attorney General determined that because President Harding “himself a printer” had selected Carter and the Senate had confirmed him, Carter must be qualified. The GPO was soon immersed in turmoil.

After Carter sought authority to “fix the salaries of employees at the Government Printing Office,” Representative Charles I. Spengle (NY) introduced a resolution inquiring into his qualifications to hold the office and called for his removal if he could not prove he met the legal requirements.

By 1924, Carter had accused workers of gambling and bootlegging. James M. Lynch, former president of the International Typographical Union, alleged that Carter was engaged in a campaign of mudslinging.  Employees argued that Carter implemented a “spy” system and dictated where employees could eat lunch, installing a “stool-pigeon” by the door “to take the names of those who dared to eat outside” who were then subject to discipline or dismissal. M.A. Bodenheimer, former president of the Columbia Typographical Union, wrote he had been tricked into endorsing Carter for the role, describing Carter’s destruction of employee morale. In addition to the spy system and restrictions on employees taking lunch outside the building, Bodenheimer noted that despite Carter’s promises, the only increased wages appeared to be a 25% increase for Carter and two other higher-ups in the office.

When Carter hired new workers and also pressed the Civil Service Commission to lower the requirements for new hires, the union protested. Shortly after the new hires arrived, Carter dismissed the longest-serving employees—many just before they would earn their pensions.

The printers’ union, represented by Eugene F. Smith and George G. Siebold, sought action by President Coolidge. Eight military veterans planned to seek court relief, based on a 1912 law that they thought specifically protected veterans from removal without cause. Coolidge declined to act. The union did not stop its advocacy and passed a resolution in August 1925 which unsuccessfully called for Carter’s removal. But Carter remained in the post until 1934. The GPO receded in public news until 1954, when McCarthy alleged there was a gambling ring in the office.

The current director of the GPO, Hugh Halpern, is a holdover from the regime’s first term. And just this past week, the GPO denied efforts by DOGE to access its office. When the Consumer Product Safety Commission refused DOGE, the would-be king fired the three Democratic commissioners. There’s been no word yet whether Halpern will be similarly relieved of his duties. If he is, keep careful watch on what Congress does next.

 Sources:

 “Public Printer Probe Asked in House,” The Washington (D.C.) Times, 21 Dec 1923, p. 12, col. 5; imaged, OldNews (www.oldnews.com).

“Blame Charges on Faction,” Newport (Rhode Island) Mercury, 31 Mar 1924, p. 5, col. 2; OldNews (www.oldnews.com).

Bill Price, “Bad State of Affairs in the Government Printing Office,” Washington (D.C.) Times Herald, 10 Mar 1925, p. 24, col. 1; imaged, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com/image/656842440).

“Printers Heard by Coolidge,” Washington (D.C.) Times Herald, 11 Mar 1925, p. 1, col. 4; imaged, Chronicling America (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1925-03-11/ed-1/seq-1/). 

“Tricked Into Indorsing (sic) Carter, Says Bodenheimer,” The Washington (D.C.) Herald, 14 Mar 1924, p. 9, cols. 2-3; imaged, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com/image/1044600293).

“Printers Protest G.P.O.,” The Washington (D.C.) Daily News, 25 Mar 1925, p. 1, cols. 2-4; Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com/image/1038995042). It is unclear what happened with the planned court case, including if one was even filed. The law may have been the Lloyd-La Follette Act of 1912, 37 Stat. 555, 5 U.S.C. § 7511. A review of that statute shows it applied generally to all civil servants.

“Coolidge will Uphold Carter on Discharges,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 7 Apr 1925, p. 1, col. 7; imaged, OldNews (www.oldnews.com).

Clint C. Houston, “Public Printer Carter’s Troubles,” The Des Moines (Iowa) Register, 27 Apr 1925, p. 4, cols. 5-6; imaged, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com/image/129053941). The imaged page has a torn lower corner, and the final four paragraphs are missing.

“Would Have Carter, U.S. Printer, Ousted,” The Baltimore (Maryland) Sun, 12 Aug 1925, p. 2, col. 2; Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com/image/373116167).

Russell Smith, “The Printer’s Devil,” Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald, 17 Jun 1934, p. 41, cols. 1-6; imaged, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com/image/863141239).

John Fisher, “Step-Up Urged by M’Carthy in Red Probes,” The Times Herald (Washington, D.C.), 25 Jan 1954, pp. 1, 15, cols. 3-5; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/1038477413).

Jaclyn Diaz, “Trump fires all 3 Democrats on the Consumer Product Safety Commission,” NPR (https://www.npr.org/2025/05/09/nx-s1-5393374/trump-consumer-product-safety-commission-cpsc-firing), 9 May 2025.

Katherine Tully-McManus, “DOGE sought access to Government Publishing Office,” Politico (https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/05/20/congress/doge-vs-gpo-00360294).

DOGE also tried to access the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Government Accountability Office, the Library of Congress, and the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_federal_agencies_targeted_by_DOGE#), “US federal agencies targeted by DOGE,” 26 May 2025, 00:54.

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Government_Publishing_Office), “United States Government Publishing Office,” rev. 21 May 2025, 15:11.

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director_of_the_U.S._Government_Publishing_Office), “Director of the U.S. Government Publishing Office,” rev. 11 Jan 2025, 00:05. Until 2014, the head of the office was called “Public Printer.” Benjamin Franklin originated the title.