President Donald Trump just signed an executive order banning federal telework, while Republicans in Congress have turned federal telework into a political target, claiming it wastes taxpayer dollars, undermines productivity, and leaves government office buildings vacant.
A Jan. 15 House oversight committee hearing, accompanied by a 41-page report ominously titled “The Lights Are On, But Everyone Is at Home,” argued that telework arrangements from the pandemic era persisted unnecessarily under the Biden administration. Chairman James Comer (R-KY) went so far as to call telework a “perk” for federal workers, blaming it for inefficiencies and billions in wasted office space. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, echoed calls to end telework under the Trump administration.
While these claims sound compelling in political theater, the evidence tells a different story. Far from undermining efficiency, telework has proven to increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve employee satisfaction. Eliminating it, as Comer and others propose, would lead to higher taxpayer costs, disrupt federal services, and create a cascade of inefficiencies across the economy.
The cornerstone of the Republican critique is the claim that a large proportion of federal workers work remotely, with Ernst, for example, claiming that only 6% of federal staff work full-time in-person. Yet data from the White House Office of Management and Budget contradict this. A May 2024 report found that over half of federal employees are ineligible for telework because their jobs require in-person duties, such as conducting inspections or managing public lands.
For the telework-eligible workforce, over 61% of work hours are still spent in the office, reflecting a predominantly hybrid approach rather than full-time remote work. Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office reported that federal employees returned to in-person work faster than private-sector workers.
Productivity gains further debunk the idea that telework fosters laziness. The Social Security Administration, for example, reported a 6% increase in productivity in 2024 while operating with staffing levels at a 50-year low. Rather than being a hindrance, telework has helped federal agencies do more with less.
Critics also fixate on vacant federal office buildings, but here, the issue lies in outdated real estate practices rather than telework itself. The General Services Administration estimates that optimizing office space for hybrid work could save $1 billion annually in rent and maintenance. Selling or repurposing unused buildings could generate billions more. Eliminating telework would only worsen inefficiencies by requiring agencies to maintain costly, oversized office footprints.
The push to dismantle telework would seriously hurt taxpayers. DOGE leader Elon Musk has framed return-to-office mandates as cost-saving measures, but the reality is far more complex. Forcing mass resignations among skilled federal employees would impose enormous costs on taxpayers, from recruiting and training replacements to delays in essential services such as processing veterans’ benefits. Federal salaries account for just 4.5% of the government’s $6.1 trillion budget, and losing institutional knowledge would disrupt services while driving up long-term costs.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The ripple effects would extend far beyond the federal workforce. Industries reliant on government oversight — such as pharmaceuticals, defense, and infrastructure — would suffer delays in regulatory approvals and project completions. Taxpayers would bear the brunt of rebuilding capacity after the exodus of experienced federal employees. Far from saving money, eliminating telework would increase costs and reduce government effectiveness.
Rather than dismantling telework, policymakers should embrace its benefits to modernize the federal workforce. Telework offers a proven path to reducing costs, improving efficiency, and enhancing employee satisfaction while maintaining accountability. The Republican attacks on telework are rooted in ideology rather than evidence.
Gleb Tsipursky, Ph.D., is the CEO of the hybrid work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts and authored the best-seller Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams.