By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-23 21:03:42 | Updated at 2025-01-24 00:47:31
3 hours ago
Donald Trump's White House sent out a memo on Wednesday night advising federal agencies on how to guide their employees back to the office full-time.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) directed those receiving the memo to 'revise their agency's telework policy… to state that eligible employees must work full time at their respective duty stations' by close-of-business on Friday.
Agencies are advised to set a target for full compliance within 30 days of the memo's receipt.
'Study after study shows that employees are more productive, more focused, and more collaborative when working in the office rather than at-home,' White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told DailyMail.com.
'It's one of President Trump's top priorities to make the federal government more efficient for American taxpayers – and that's why he signed this executive order.'
It's not clear what will happen to employees or agency officials who do not enforce this new rule – and it's not immediately understood how it will be enforced.
Trump signed an executive order on day one of his second administration directing the federal government to 'terminate remote work arrangements' and 'require employees to return to work in-person.'
Federal offices spaces have sat empty – or virtually empty – for years. But Donald Trump is requiring all federal agencies and departments to direct their employees on returning to work full-time in-person
'[M]ost federal offices presently are virtually abandoned,' the OPM memo obtained by DailyMail.com reads.
'The vast majority of federal office workers have not returned to in-person work, even though the COVID-19 pandemic ended years ago,' it goes on. 'Many federal office workers never show up to the federal worksite at all.'
Acting OMB Director Charles Ezell lambasts the federal workforce for allowing office buildings to 'sit mostly empty' and in turn 'devastating the local economy and serving as a national embarrassment.'
'Virtually unrestricted telework has led to poorer government services and made it more difficult to supervise and train government workers,' he claims in the memo, which was sent to all heads and acting heads of U.S. departments and agencies.
He also details that the office is taking a centralized approach to enacting this policy so it remains consistent across agencies and departments within the federal government.
'Seeking to cajole individual agencies to try to get employees to return to the worksite has not succeeded,' he noted.
The memo requires that the changes be laid out by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 24.
'The agency head or acting agency head should email all employees notifying them of President Trump's PM Return to In-Person Work… and notify employees of the agency's intention to fully comply with the [presidential memorandum],' the memo reads.
Additionally, each agency is required to reassign and notify OPM of their Telework Managing Officer – or establish one – to oversee the return to work effort.
'Fairness requires that federal office employees show up to the worksite each day like most other American workers,' the memo insists.
