Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy indicated Monday that federal employees will be required to return to the office full time, and that the push has left union bureaucrats “in tears.”
President-elect Donald Trump appointed Ramaswamy and Elon Musk to “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure Federal Agencies,” through the newly created DOGE. Now, Ramaswamy is targeting government telework, suggesting staffers will be required to be in-office for the entire work week.
“I’m hearing via allies that federal government unions are scrambling to update their collective bargaining agreements to avoid getting fired,” Ramaswamy wrote on X Monday. “The prospect of being asked to return to the office 5 days per week like most working Americans apparently has them ‘in tears.’”
BREAKING: Donald Trump has officially announced Elon Musk & Vivek Ramaswamy will lead Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) pic.twitter.com/9WNn5FojN1
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 13, 2024
Of the 24 federal agencies, 17 used an estimated average of 25% or less of their headquarters buildings’ capacity, according to a July 2023 report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office that looked at a three-week sample period across January, February and March of 2023. Even the best-performing agency did not use 50% of its office space.
Federal unions have pushed to secure telework covenants, with a May EPA labor agreement extending protections, “for remote work, telework and flexible work schedules.”
Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told NBC last Tuesday that she had requested a meeting with Trump in part to discuss the need for federal employees to return to the office.
“How we can make sure that our federal workforce is back to work is one big thing,” Bowser told the outlet, adding to the Washington Post that, “we need partners that help return the vibrancy of downtown Washington and what I like to call — my staff doesn’t like it when I say this — the majesty of the federal government.”
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