Top line
In one of his first actions as president of the United States, Donald Trump issued an executive order on Monday ending remote work for all federal employees, a move aimed at reducing the federal workforce through attrition .
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 20: US President Donald Trump suspends executive order after signing … (+)
Key facts
Trump ordered the “heads of all departments and agencies of the executive branch of government” to take necessary steps to end remote work arrangements.
Federal employees will have to return to work in person full time.
The executive order requires these department heads to make this transition “as soon as possible.”
The presidential action gives executive branch leaders the discretion to grant necessary exemptions.
Critical quote
“Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would lead to a wave of voluntary departures that we welcome: if federal employees are unwilling to show up, American taxpayers should not pay them for the Covid-era privilege of stay home,” wrote Elon Musk, the appointed head of the so-called Department of Government Effectiveness, with his former co-head Vivek Ramaswamy in a November op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.
Key context
According to the Office of Management and Budget, approximately 1.1 million federal civilian employees, or 46% of the civilian workforce, were eligible for some form of telework. Of these, about 228,000 workers, or 10% of the total workforce, were in fully remote positions with no requirement to travel to an office.
Tangent
Officials confirmed Monday that Ramaswamy has resigned from DOGE, as he prepares to launch his campaign for Ohio governor in 2026, leaving Musk as sole leader of the advisory group. the associated press reported.
To watch
The Trump administration is expected to implement various measures to reduce the federal workforce, with DOGE aimed at reducing regulations, eliminating government positions, and reorganizing federal agencies. These efforts could involve significant transfers of senior officials and the relocation of entire agency offices.
Trump has pledged to move up to 100,000 government jobs out of Washington, a strategy he used during his first term, when he moved the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management to Colorado, leading to the departure of 287 employees.
In the final days of his first presidential term, Trump issued an executive order creating Schedule F, a new classification for certain federal employees. According to CNN, this category aimed to reclassify an unspecified number of career civil servants, removing their job protections and making it easier to fire them and replace them with people loyal to Trump.
Further reading
