The end of remote work could be near for federal workers. President Donald Trump’s new Executive Order means federal workers must return to the office five days a week. It’s a policy change that’s getting support from D.C.’s Democratic mayor. FOX 5’s Tom Fitzgerald is at the Capitol with reaction from residents.
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00:00While the end of remote work could be near for federal workers, President Trump's new
00:04executive order means federal workers must return to the office five days a week.
00:08It is a policy change that's getting support now from D.C.'s Democratic mayor.
00:12Fox 5's Tom Fitzgerald is at the Capitol, and Fitz, President Trump did not delay on
00:17this one.
00:18He did this day one.
00:21He certainly did, Angie, and I expect that this is just going to be the first step of
00:26the president's efforts to remake the federal workforce, cut through bureaucracy, and instill
00:33more of what he says is efficiency.
00:35Now, remember, work from home began during the first Trump administration.
00:40Back then, COVID-19 led to precautions and shutdowns, but the federal health emergency
00:46has been over since May 2023, but yet many federal workers still work from home.
00:52A recent Senate report found that only 6 percent of federal workers work a five-day
00:58full-time basis, and nearly one-third of the entire federal workforce still works from
01:04home.
01:05Many taxpayers who are in the nation's Capitol right now for the inauguration tell Fox 5
01:10they've had to go back to work.
01:12They think all federal workers should as well.
01:15We will also require that federal workers must return to the office in person.
01:22People do need to go back to work, in my opinion, because it's, come on, it's, everything's
01:27over now.
01:28I don't necessarily think it's a valid, I think it's a political stunt.
01:34Imagine how much money it's taking to actually run those buildings.
01:37I don't mean no one's working there.
01:41One of the supporters of this return to work effort is none other than D.C.'s Democratic
01:46Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has cited several times over the last few years that the lack
01:50of federal workers in the nation's Capitol has hurt the local economy.
01:54And while some labor attorneys tell Fox 5 they expect lawsuits to try to stop the White
02:01House effort, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen says he does have concerns about this one-size-fits-all
02:07approach.
02:10This is something we're very focused on.
02:12Again, this is an area where we want to take a scalpel and not a meat ax to the issue.
02:18Look, the reality is that before President Trump took office, there were collective bargaining
02:24agreements where a number of workers were allowed to work remotely.
02:31Now while there's been a lot of talk about this, the when of when it kicks in, that still
02:36isn't clear.
02:37The White House releasing an announcement on this saying that they're directing federal
02:41department heads to act as, quote, as soon as possible.
02:44Live on The Hill tonight with Senator Becky DeVos.
02:46All right, Fitz, thank you.