House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has made it crystal clear: federal employees need to get back to their desks. In a bold prediction on Thursday, Johnson announced that Congress and President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will push for accountability and demand that government workers return to the office. And honestly, isn’t it about time?
“One of the first things that I think you’ll see is a demand from the new administration and from all of us in Congress that federal workers return to their desks and get back to the work that they’re supposed to be doing. I think that is common sense,” Johnson told reporters.
It’s no secret that the pandemic-era shift to remote work for federal employees has overstayed its welcome. According to a report spearheaded by Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), only 6% of federal workers are in the office full-time, a third are fully remote, and—brace yourself—some aren’t even working while they’re “working from home.” Let’s call it what it is: a taxpayer-funded free-for-all. Johnson rightly called this “absurd,” and he’s not wrong. Why should hardworking Americans be footing the bill for a bloated federal workforce that’s barely showing up?
If you exclude security guards & maintenance personnel, the number of government workers who show up in person and do 40 hours of work a week is closer to 1%!
Almost no one. https://t.co/4IGzbLqP3R
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 5, 2024
The kicker? Maintaining government office buildings costs a staggering $15 billion annually, and that doesn’t even include the billions shelled out for office furniture to gather dust in vacant rooms. Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk chimed in with a jaw-dropping statistic: excluding security and maintenance personnel, less than 1% of federal employees are actually putting in a 40-hour week at the office. One percent. Let that sink in.
And let’s not forget Vivek Ramaswamy’s zinger about the government owning nearly 8,000 vacant buildings. Yes, you read that right—7,967 empty properties, collecting cobwebs and draining resources. Ramaswamy called the situation “nuts,” and frankly, that’s putting it lightly. If the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Musk and Ramaswamy, can’t whip this mess into shape, who can? At least someone is finally paying attention.
Most federal workers don’t physically show up, yet the cost of maintaining & providing energy for govt office buildings is $15BN/year (not counting billions more spent on office furnishings). The government owns 7,967 vacant buildings. This is nuts. Sounds like a job for DOGE.
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) November 23, 2024
Predictably, labor unions are already grumbling about the push to get workers back into the office. But let’s be real—who else gets the luxury of staying home indefinitely while raking in a full government paycheck? Regular Americans don’t have that option. Small business owners, factory workers, truck drivers—they’re out there every day, doing their jobs. The least federal employees can do is follow suit.
Johnson’s emphasis on “common sense” governance is a refreshing departure from the wasteful status quo. For too long, the federal government has operated like an entitled trust fund kid—spending freely, answering to no one, and ignoring accountability. This administration seems ready to bring some discipline to the ranks, and not a moment too soon.
Of course, critics will howl about how bringing workers back to the office is “cruel” or “outdated.” But let’s call it what it really is: accountability. If these jobs can be done remotely, then why are taxpayers funding billions in office upkeep? And if these workers are as productive at home as some claim, where’s the proof? It’s time to separate the productive employees from the freeloaders.
This isn’t just about dollars and cents—it’s about trust. Federal employees are paid by the American people, and they owe it to their employers (that’s us, by the way) to actually show up and do their jobs. The fact that this is even a debate says a lot about the bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy that’s taken root in Washington.
Speaker Johnson, Senator Ernst, and the DOGE team are asking the tough questions and demanding real solutions. It’s a promising start. Whether they can wrangle the swamp remains to be seen, but at least someone is willing to try. For the sake of the American taxpayer, let’s hope they succeed.
