US President Donald Trump has signed an order ending remote work for all government employees.
Lots of people quitting? Great, says Trump. That’s what he wants: to shrink the federal workforce, kicking out “rogue bureaucrats and career politicians”.
And it doesn’t look like he’s looking to recruit replacements, either.
Remote workers are expected to return as soon as next month.
“Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome”, Elon confirmed as early as November.
Indeed, Trump’s order specified five days a week.
The Social Security Administration and more than 40,000 workers represented by the American Federation of Government Employees union reached a deal around that time allowing the vast majority of those employees to continue working remotely or partially remotely all the way through 2029.
Trump doesn’t care.
“Somebody in the Biden administration gave a five-year waiver of that, so for five years people don’t have to come back into the office. [..] It’s ridiculous. It was like a gift to a union, and we’re obviously going to be in court to stop it”, Trump said in the fall.
Roughly half of the country’s federal employees work fully in-office, while the other half are eligible for a degree of remote work, says the Office of Management and Budget.
10% are fully remote.
The American Federation of Government Employees, filed a federal lawsuit in response against the Trump administration and the Office of Management and Budget, and will continue to push back.
“What we worked for is not a gift, it’s called negotiation. Telework and remote work are tools that have helped the federal government increase productivity and efficiency,” said the president of the union, Everett Kelley.
“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. This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law”, says his order.
He has offered buyout packages to almost all federal workers who do not want to return to the office.
