The incoming Trump administration is trying to cut telework while federal employee unions have been working to expand it. What is likely to happen next year?
 

Government Efficiency and Returning to Office Work

Since November, there has been a deluge of news reports regarding government efficiency, government spending (targeting inappropriate government spending), and the impact of telework on the federal government’s efficiency. Many of these reports highlight the negative impact of federal employees working at home with remote supervision (if any) rather than in an office.

While politics and government actions often take a long time to become effective, initial efforts to change how the federal government operates have been on a fast track. Donald Trump will not become president until January 20th. As a precursor to his administration taking office, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Representative Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) have introduced a package of bills known as the “DOGE Acts.” 

Federal Employees Must Return to Work in an Office or Will Be Dismissed

Related to the DOGE Acts, President Trump said on December 16, 2024, in his first press conference since he was elected: “If people don’t come back to work, come back into the office, they’re going to be dismissed.”

He also blamed the Biden administration for what he said was a “terrible” and “ridiculous” agreement with unions allowing tens of thousands of federal workers to continue working at home.  The president-elect said, “it was like a gift to a union, and we’re going to obviously be in court to stop it.” 

While requiring federal employees to return to working in an office has been publicized since the election in November, this is the first statement by the president-elect on this topic. The administration has criticized telework for federal employees and is pushing for federal employees workers to return to their offices five days a week. 

This is a follow-up to statements made by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy in a recent column in the Wall Street Journal. They wrote:

“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.