Trump Administration Demands Return-to-Office Plans for Federal Workers in Two Weeks

(Bloomberg) -- The White House will give agencies two weeks to plan for the return of federal workers to the office, implementing an order President Donald Trump signed on the first day of his term to end Covid-era work-from-home accommodations.

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Separate guidance from the Office of Personnel Management Monday also sets in motion Trump’s plans to reshape the federal workforce by giving him authority to hire and fire some employees who previously had civil service protection.

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The return-to-office mandate applies to federal workers “unless excused due to a disability, qualifying medical condition, or other compelling reason certified by the agency head.” Military spouses working civilian jobs are also exempt.

The new memo implementing Trump’s order acknowledges a number of practical obstacles to getting employees back in the office. Many are covered by collective bargaining agreements, including one that Social Security Administration workers secured in the final days of the Biden administration, that allow more flexible work arrangements.

Agencies will need to find office space for a far-flung workforce, with some workers posted to areas that are more than 50 miles from the nearest federal building. Bringing back those workers “may present unique challenges” and would be phased in, the memo says. And some federal workers could be eligible for relocation expenses, further adding to the costs.

The guidance from the OPM is the latest salvo in an attempt to rein in the size of the US government, which also includes a federal hiring freeze.

Trump on the first day of his second term also reinstated his controversial “Schedule F” executive order from 2020, which would expand the number of federal workers in positions of a “confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character.” Now renamed “Schedule Policy/Career,” those positions would be removed from civil service protections, making it easier for the president to hire or fire them.

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According to the Plum Book, which serves as a job list for incoming members of the new administration, there are more than 8,000 patronage posts in the federal government. Those include more than 1,100 top positions that the president fills with Senate confirmation, and more than 500 other presidential appointments that don’t need Senate approval. Others include agency-level policy advisers, lawyers and confidential aides who support top government officials.

Trump’s order would vastly expand that number. While he never fully implemented it in his first presidency, estimates based on preliminary plans suggested that the list could be 50,000 or more.

Musk Priority

Return-to-work policies are a particular target for Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla Inc. and SpaceX CEO heading Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Musk pushed for a return-to-work mandate in an attempt to encourage some federal workers to simply quit or be fired as no-shows.

Federal work-from-home policies were the subject of the first hearing this year by the Republican-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has appointed a new subcommittee to complement Musk’s DOGE work.

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About a third of federal employees are working from home full-time, according to a report last year from Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa. But many agencies still have the same office footprint as before the pandemic, resulting in about half of federal office space going unused, she said.

Federal employee unions say Ernst’s numbers are misleading. Data from the Office of Management and Budget show that about 10% of the workforce is permanently remote — including disabled workers with a documented accommodation, military spouses and those where the nature of the work is mobile.

Federal telework guidelines long predate the national emergency that Trump declared in March 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, agencies were required to adopt remote work policies that encouraged many employees to work from home.

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