As promised on the campaign trail, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring federal employees to return to in-person work.
The order comes after Trump indicated that he planned to push back on former President Joe Biden’s move allowing federal workers to remain in a hybrid work arrangement through 2029.
“Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary,” the order reads.
Agencies must begin the move to fully in-person work by 5 p.m. on Friday, the order stated.
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Elon Musk leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and is tasked with finding ways to cut government spending and improve the efficiency of federal initiatives.
One of those initiatives was ending remote work and viewing the requirement that federal workers return to the office as a way of spurring voluntary layoffs.
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“Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them for the COVID-era privilege of staying home,” Musk wrote in an op-ed published with Vivek Ramaswamy, former DOGE co-leader, in The Wall Street Journal last month.
In addition to the return-to-work order, Trump also signed an order freezing the hiring of federal civilian employees, to be applied throughout the executive branch.
The order stated, “As part of this freeze, no Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided for in this memorandum or other applicable law.”
The freeze excludes military personnel and positions related to immigration enforcement, national security and public safety.
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