President Trump signed an executive order directing all federal employees to end the COVID-19-era hybrid work arrangement and return to in-person office work as soon as possible. The Biden administration had authorized an arrangement that would have allowed some federal employees to extend the COVID-19-era work-from-home policy to 2029.
We previously reported that 94% of federal employees do not regularly show up to work from Monday to Friday. Top offenders include the Department of Energy, the Agency for Global Media, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with appalling attendance rates of 0%, 2%, and 6%, respectively.
We also reported that the Biden administration reached a deal with the American Federation of Government Employees union, allowing Social Security Administration (SSA) workers to continue working from home until 2029. This arrangement would benefit up to 42,000 SSA employees, some of whom had to report to work just two days per week.
However, a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform report warned that the work-from-home program negatively impacted performance.
Luckily, at the advice of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Trump administration is determined to end this lax work-from-home program. Trump recently signed an executive order directing executive branches to require all employees to return to work in person, regardless of their department.
“Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary,” the order reads.
Trump capped the order to 5 p.m., Friday, Jan 24, 2025. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has already circulated a memo to that effect.
Besides remote work, Trump also grapples with ending the sprawling bureaucracy that threatens federal government policy, especially with the seemingly highly politicized civil service that was used to push the Leftist agenda, including DEI.
“Fairness requires that federal office employees show up to the worksite each day like most other American workers,” said OPM director Charles Ezell.
For example, some unions could negotiate better remote work terms than others using collective bargaining, thus disadvantaging some federal employees based on their workers’ union. Unsurprisingly, the American Federation of Government Employees could bargain to extend the program to 2029, while others could not.
Meanwhile, Trump has proposed transferring agencies from Washington, D.C., to encourage career bureaucrats to voluntarily resign. Federal employees with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), whose average regular attendance rate is just 8%, were already contemplating quitting if transferred from D.C.
Luckily, ending remote work will also help Trump eliminate career bureaucrats who threaten his America First policy.
According to DOGE chief Elon Musk, requiring federal employees to show up to work five days a week would force many federal employees to voluntarily resign, making way for those willing to support Trump reforms.
“Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them for the COVID-era privilege of staying home,” Musk opined on the Wall Street Journal.
Ironically, American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley believes remote work is essential for retaining federal employees.
However, Trump and the DOGE head do not necessarily perceive the exit of career federal employees as bad. Quitting because they are required to report to work like other Americans only questions their job commitment.
Musk fully understands the situation since he addressed a similar situation at Tesla and SpaceX. In May 2022, he required all employees to report in person and clock 40 hours per week.
I worked remote for my last 7 years in the private sector (IT SEC) and know that many folks skate on a regular basis if you don’t hold their feet to the fire. I got pretty sick and tired of carrying those overpaid dead weights that always seemed to avoid the annual RIFs.
Smart move by Trump and Musk to make them return to office. That should result in a 25% self-induced reduction in force and is a good start. We need to reduce the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MONSTER by 75% at the very least!
Clearly the AFGE agreement with the SSA workers must be invalidated. It as entered into, not for any “business purpose” but soley as an affront to the Trump adminsitration, and of course, the voters.
Ending telecommute privileges will lead to the loss of the best and brightest. The career slackers will simply slack at the office. I’m a retired Federal employee and the work location has nothing to do with work ethic.
I’m retired civil service too, and I saw a complete lack of performance metrics in and out of the office with some telecommuters achieving the “gold standard of a goverment job”, the no-show position.