Ernst Applauds Trump Ordering Washington Bureaucrats Back to Work

Follows Ernst report exposing that just 6% of telework eligible federal employees work in-person five days a week
WASHINGTON – After U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa),chair and founderof the Senate DOGE Caucus,exposeda chronically out-of-office federal workforce, President Donald Trumporderedabsent bureaucrats back to the office full-time.
Today’s executive action is just the start ofErnst’swork with the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to executeher plansto downsize government, prioritize taxpayers, and make Washington finally start to work for the people it serves.
“For years, I’ve been exposing the broken federal workforce and fighting to make Washington squeal. With President Trump back in the White House, taxpayers everywhere see he is already delivering on his promises to drain the swamp on day one,”said Ernst.“President Trump and I will happily tell any bureaucrat who does not wish to return to the office, ‘you’re fired.’ Today is a tremendous step in getting Washington back to work and serving the American people, and we are just getting started.”
Background:
In August 2023, Ernstdemandedinvestigations into 24 federal departments and agencies to determine the impact of telework on the delivery and response times of services.
In December 2023, Ernstexposedthat, almost four years after COVID-19 temporarily closed federal buildings, not a single government agency was occupying even half their office space and called on Biden’s bureaucrats to deck the agency halls with federal workers or sell off unused facilities.
In December 2024, Ernstreleaseda detailedreportshowing how federal bureaucrats have abused telework and locality pay to fleece taxpayers out of billions of dollars.
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