Republican Senator Proposes Bill to Address Remote Work in Federal Government
Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa has introduced the REMOTE Act, a bill aimed at increasing accountability for federal employees who work remotely. According to reports from the Daily Mail, the legislation would require federal agencies to monitor employees’ computer usage, including the average number of logins and time spent on the federal network. Agencies would also need to assess the impact of telework on productivity.
“The American people gave us a mandate to shake up business as usual in Washington and drain the swamp. That starts with getting the bureaucrat class to climb out of the bubble bath, put away the golf clubs, and get back to work,” Ernst said, as quoted by Politico.
Senator Ernst, who chairs the Senate DOGE Caucus, has reportedly discussed her proposals with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, according to Fox News. One key focus of the bill is reducing the number of federal employees working remotely without regular office attendance.
In a report accompanying the bill, Ernst highlighted instances of federal employees misusing remote work privileges, including taking meetings from a bathtub or engaging in personal activities like golf during work hours. The report noted that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, only 3% of federal employees teleworked daily. Currently, just 6% work full-time in person, while nearly one-third work entirely remotely.
“Most federal employees are eligible to telework, and 90 percent of those are. Some come to the office as infrequently as once a week,” the report stated.
The report also criticized the lack of oversight in remote work arrangements, leading to service backlogs and limited accountability. For example, it mentioned an IRS employee who allegedly abused telework privileges by playing golf during work hours for nearly a decade.
Senator Ernst emphasized that the shift to remote work during the pandemic has left many federal agency headquarters abandoned, with managers failing to adequately monitor their staff. “Washington is still operating as if it’s March 2020,” she wrote, arguing for a return to stricter in-office attendance policies.
One striking example cited in the report was at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where over 90% of employees work remotely, with only one office day required per week. The report also addressed cases of federal employees inflating their pay by falsely claiming to work in high-cost locations while living in areas where salaries would be lower under federal guidelines.
Ernst concluded that federal agencies must ensure remote employees are productive. Those who fail to meet performance standards, she argued, should be required to return to the office.
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