Topline
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 intended to reduce the federal workforce through attrition.
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: U.S. President Donald Trump holds up an executive orders after signing ... [+]
Key Facts
Trump has directed “heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of the government” to take necessary steps to terminate remote work accommodations.
Federal employees will be required to return to work in-person on a full-time basis.
The executive order requires these department heads to make this transition "as soon as practicable.”
The presidential action allows executive branch leaders the discretion to make necessary exemptions.
Critical Quote
“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,” Elon Musk, the appointed head of what’s been called the Department of Government Efficiency, wrote with his former co-lead Vivek Ramaswamy in a November op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.
Key Background
According to the Office of Management and Budget, about 1.1 million federal civilian employees, which is 46% of the civilian workforce, were eligible for some form of telework. Of these, roughly 228,000 workers, or 10% of the total workforce, had fully remote positions with no obligation to come into an office.
Tangent
Officials confirmed on Monday that Ramaswamy has stepped down from DOGE, as he prepares to launch his campaign for Ohio governor in 2026, leaving Musk as the sole leader of the advisory group, the Associated Press reported.
What To Watch For
The Trump administration is anticipated to implement various measures to shrink the federal workforce, with DOGE aiming to reduce regulations, cut government positions and reorganize federal agencies. These efforts may involve significant transfers of senior officials and the relocation of entire agency offices.
Trump has committed to moving up to 100,000 government jobs away from Washington, a strategy he employed during his first term, when he moved the Bureau of Land Management's headquarters 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 was intended to reclassify an unspecified number of career civil servants, removing their job protections and making it easier to terminate and replace them with individuals loyal to Trump.
