With an incoming presidential administration and a new Congress both starting up at the beginning of 2025, there are many unknowns about what’s to come for the federal workforce. But at least one thing is for certain — telework for the federal workforce will remain a high-priority topic for agencies, employees, lawmakers, unions and many others.

Already, key Republicans in Congress are looking ahead to further investigations into telework options for federal employees. House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) announced plans to hold a hearing on federal telework once the 119th Congress begins.

The upcoming hearing is expected to address a range of questions on federal telework — but perhaps most notably, lawmakers will look into recent telework agreements between agencies and federal unions. Martin O’Malley, former commissioner of the Social Security Administration, was invited to testify after Republican committee members raised questions about SSA’s recent telework agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees.

“You managed the SSA workforce for only a few days under a collective bargaining agreement that will tie the hands of your successor at SSA for the duration of the next administration, and beyond,” Comer wrote in a Dec. 23 letter to O’Malley. “Your motive for signing such an agreement is unclear.”

AFGE, however, pushed back against the committee leaders’ sentiments.

“We support telework where it delivers for both the taxpayers and the workers who serve them,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement. “Telework and remote work are tools that have helped the federal government increase productivity and efficiency, maintain continuity of operations and increase disaster preparedness. These policies also assist agencies across the government, including SSA, in recruiting and retaining top talent.”

Comer said the upcoming hearing with O’Malley will “shed light on why so much of the federal workforce is currently at home, and federal agency offices are largely vacant.” 

According to a report from the Office of Management and Budget in August, more than half of federal employees work entirely onsite due to the nature of their jobs. Employees who are eligible for telework are still spending around 60% of their work hours onsite. Just 10% of federal employees work entirely remotely.

The Oversight Committee’s planned hearing is just one example of what’s been a growing trend over the last year when it comes to federal telework. President-elect Donald Trump has also expressed strong aversion to federal telework options. During a December press conference, Trump criticized the new telework agreement between SSA and AFGE and threatened legal action.

On top of that, early plans from Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” include rolling back telework for the federal workforce in his second term. Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, the leaders of DOGE, have said they would “welcome” resignations of federal employees who don’t want to work onsite full time.