Biden pushes to end remote work for more federal workers after Dems opposed similar GOP effort

President Joe Biden is pushing for federal agencies to end remote work for more federal workers after his own party overwhelmingly opposed a Republican House bill to do just that earlier this year.

There were 205 House Democrats who voted against the Stopping Home Office Work's Unproductive Problems Act, or the SHOW UP Act, which passed the GOP-led House at the beginning of February.

Under the legislation, federal agencies cannot "implement expanded telework policies unless the Office of Personnel Management certifies that such policies will have a positive effect on the agency's mission and operational costs." Agencies would be able to allow teleworking only at pre-pandemic levels.

The bill was not taken up for a vote in the Democratic-led Senate.

Many Democrats had argued remote work options helped the government stay competitive and retain employees. Democratic Reps. Gerry Connolly of Virginia and John Sarbanes of Maryland introduced a bill in June 2022 that would have expanded teleworking within the federal government. 

"Congress must ensure that the federal government has the tools it needs to compete with the private sector for top talent," Connolly said. "The reform included in the Telework Metrics and Cost Savings Act are critical to strengthening federal telework programs in a way that both captures some of the telework gains we made amid the pandemic while also ensuring federal telework is deployed appropriately. This bill will help attract top talent to federal service—regardless of their location.”

Representatives for Sarbanes and Connolly were not available for comment before publication on Biden's push to end remote work for more federal workers.

Fast forward to the present, Biden is now asking Cabinet officials to bring more federal employees to the office for in-person work this fall.

"As we look towards the fall, and with the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, your agencies will be implementing increases in the amount of in-person work for your team," White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients wrote to each member of Biden's cabinet on Friday. "This is a priority of the President — and I am looking to each of you to aggressively execute this shift in September and October."

Biden's policy directive on remote work has been greeted with criticism with some pointing out that the president himself works from home at the White House.

"Says the guy who works from a home office and has people drive/fly him everywhere," wrote user Phil Myers on social media in response to a local news article about Biden now supporting less teleworking.

"Why?" wrote Bonnie Anderson, another social media user. "Thought he cared about the environment and pollution, etc."

User Ian Tillman wrote: "More cars driving to work! Who cares about pollution."

User Martin Henry chimed in on the issue, writing, "Sure - make Federal workers pay more for Child care - that will go over well."

Congress allocated billions of dollars in various stimulus bills during the pandemic for enhanced telework support at cabinet agencies.

Since then, federal employees appear to prefer telework, according to polling.

AFGE, which is the largest federal employee union, surveyed 3,100 of its members and found that 71% believe teleworking has increased productivity.

A separate survey in May found that almost half of federal employees would consider quitting if remote and hybrid teleworking schedules ended.

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who sponsored the SHOW UP Act, has argued that telework policies have reduced the quality of government services. 

"President Biden’s unnecessary expansion of telework has crippled the ability of agencies to get their jobs done and created backlogs. Seniors have experienced delays with the Social Security Administration, American taxpayers have struggled to get help from the IRS during tax filing season, and veterans have been unable to access their records to obtain care and benefits they have earned," Comer said in a statement about the passage of the SHOW UP legislation. 

Comer's committee is pressing the Biden administration for documents related to the effectiveness of the federal government's remote work policies. They renewed their May 2023 request for documents related to the issue on Monday.

"Central to this issue is the concern that agencies—and certainly the Office of Personnel Management—do not know how many employees are teleworking or working remotely, or how often they do so," they wrote in a letter to cabinet officials. "A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) study on federal building occupancy suggests that in some components of federal agencies, the vast majority of employees are not coming to the office on a regular basis. Indeed, some agency headquarters reported occupancy rates as low as nine percent."