The Republican-controlled Congress will work alongside President-elect Donald Trump to “demand” that federal employees return to in-person work.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced on Thursday at Capitol Hill that he and other lawmakers would be working with Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — run by tech billionaire Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — to ensure that federal employees return to their desks and be required to actually work in person from now on.
“One of the first things that I think you’ll see is a demand from the new administration and from all of us in Congress that federal workers return to their desks and get back to the work that they’re supposed to be doing. I think that is common sense,” Johnson told reporters.
This news comes as it was revealed that only 6% of federal employees actually work in-person full-time, while a third are working remotely 100% of the time, and many aren’t even actually doing work while they “work from home,” according to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), who is leading the Senate DOGE Caucus.
“There was a report that came out today. I don’t know if you all have seen it, but someone did a little survey of how many federal employees are actually working in the office,” Speaker Johnson said. “By one estimate, it may be about 1% if you don’t count the security personnel that are covering these buildings. That is absurd, and it’s not something the American people would stand for.”
Speaker Mike Johnson: "One of the first things that I think you'll see is a demand from the new administration, and from all of us in Congress, that federal workers return to their desks." pic.twitter.com/ZJ4XwE9S6y
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) December 5, 2024
Elon Musk responded to a post on X from Ernst, highlighting an even more shocking statistic.
“If you exclude security guards & maintenance personnel, the number of government workers who show up in person and do 40 hours of work a week is closer to 1%!” Musk exclaimed. “Almost no one.”
If you exclude security guards & maintenance personnel, the number of government workers who show up in person and do 40 hours of work a week is closer to 1%!
Almost no one. https://t.co/4IGzbLqP3R
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 5, 2024
Vivek Ramaswamy also highlighted some shocking numbers in a post on X a few weeks ago, writing: “Most federal workers don’t physically show up, yet the cost of maintaining & providing energy for govt office buildings is $15BN/year (not counting billions more spent on office furnishings). The government owns 7,967 vacant buildings. This is nuts. Sounds like a job for DOGE.”
Most federal workers don’t physically show up, yet the cost of maintaining & providing energy for govt office buildings is $15BN/year (not counting billions more spent on office furnishings). The government owns 7,967 vacant buildings. This is nuts. Sounds like a job for DOGE.
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) November 23, 2024
