Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk are proposing efforts to enhance government efficiency, starting with addressing telework among federal employees. Nearly two-thirds of federal workers remain approved for remote work 18 months after the pandemic ended, leaving costly downtown Washington office spaces underutilized. Mayor Muriel Bowser has expressed frustration and urged a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss revitalizing the city by bringing federal workers back to the office.
Federal workers currently spend 60% of their time in the office, with 10% fully remote, according to the Office of Management and Budget. The U.S. employs about 2.2 million federal workers. Ramaswamy, in an interview with Tucker Carlson, advocated for mandatory full-time office attendance, predicting a 25% reduction in the federal workforce due to attrition.
Jacqueline Simon, policy director for the American Federation of Government Employees, countered these claims, emphasizing that many federal roles, including healthcare, corrections, and border security, are ineligible for remote work. She also highlighted telework as a critical tool for talent retention in a competitive job market.
The Government Accountability Office reported that large federal agencies use only 25% of their office space on average, with the Education Department at just 16%. President Biden, in August 2023, mandated that federal workers spend at least half their pay period in the office, reversing earlier policies encouraging telework after 9/11 to maintain operations during emergencies. Since 2004, the number of telework-eligible federal workers has nearly doubled to 1.3 million.
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