- Donald Trump signed a return-to-office order for federal employees during his first hours in office.
- Many federal civilian employees were eligible for telecommuting but did not telecommute all the time.
- Elon Musk indicated in November that he supports government employees being fully in office.
President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order mandating that federal employees return to their offices full-time, a key element of his focus on overhauling the government workforce.
For years, Republicans have sought to weaken the protections federal workers have long enjoyed, with many conservatives aiming to reclassify the scores of career civil servants.
“The heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of government will, as soon as possible, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in person.” at their respective full-time duty stations. , provided that heads of departments and agencies make exceptions that they deem necessary,” the order said.
Trump has been particularly adamant about a push back into the office, with his position threatening the remote and hybrid arrangements that many federal workers have enjoyed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some workers may consider resigning instead of working from the office full time.
Elon Musk, who will lead Trump’s cost-cutting advisory group, the Department of Government Efficiency, said he would welcome it.
“Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary shutdowns that we welcome: If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers don’t have to pay them for the privilege of the Covid era. staying at home,” Musk said in a November op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. The op-ed was co-written with Vivek Ramaswamy, who is leaving DOGE and is expected to run for governor of Ohio.
While many federal employees can telecommute, an August 2024 report from the Office of Management and Budget said about 10% of the roughly 2.3 million civilian workers at two dozen major agencies, including the Defense Department and the Social Security Administration, “were remote. positions where they were not expected to work in person on any regular or recurring basis.”
That includes over 60,000 people at the Department of Defense, about 37,000 at the Department of Veterans Affairs and nearly 27,000 at the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Office of Management and Budget found, based on average data representing the pay periods ending May 4 and May 18, that about 1.1 million civilian workers employed by two dozen agencies were eligible for telecommuting.
The Department of Defense has a large workforce compared to other agencies, but only about 8% were telecommuters.
“Among the subset of federal employees eligible for telecommuting, excluding telecommuters, 61.2% of regular work hours were spent in person,” the OMB report said. This figure for the Department of Agriculture was 81%, and about 80% for the Department of State.
When asked about the possible move out of D.C. and back to office before the inauguration, Trump’s transition team pointed to Trump’s comments at a Dec. 16 news conference that if people don’t come back to office, “they’re going to be fired.”
On Monday, Trump also issued an executive order that imposed a federal hiring freeze.
“As part of this freeze, no federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided in this memorandum or other applicable law,” it said. order. .
This executive order does not apply to military personnel, immigration enforcement positions, or positions involving national security or public safety.
