Trump's return-to-work policy could impact a million federal workers

President Donald Trump’s executive order putting an end to remote work for federal workers is poised to change the job setup of more than a million employees.

Half of the federal workforce had been allowed to work remotely as a part of a larger culture shift that occurred during the pandemic. Under new policies, officials estimate that more than 1 million federal workers could now be impacted, reported The Washington Post.

Few agencies have a high volume of employees who can work remotely, government data from the Office of Management and Budget showed.

At the Environmental Protection Agency, nearly 98 percent of 16,000 employees are telework-eligible, with 15 percent working remotely, The Washington Post reported. In the Department of Veterans Affairs, 26 percent of 485,000 employees are eligible, with 8 percent working remotely.

However, the Trump administration said it's looking to fill large federal facilities like the Department of Energy, where fewer than 1 percent of the office spaces are being used, according to the Public Buildings Reform Board.

A 2023 Government Accountability Office report said that 17 percent of the 24 federal agencies are using as little as 9 percent of federal buildings and only as much as 49 percent of their building’s capacity.

In addition to bringing workers back to the empty desks, Trump says he wants to sell unused federal buildings.

However, the shift could cause strain on the agencies if employees leave. It could also hamper opportunities that have helped increase employment for underserved populations, according to a 2023 report from the Office of Personnel Management.

Nearly 42,000 veterans and military spouses are teleworking, and 2,250 are doing remote work. About 131,000 individuals with disabilities are able to do telework, and 14,000 can work remotely, the outlet reported.

Several unions have pushed back, including one that represents roughly 800,000 federal workers.

“President Trump’s order is a blatant attempt to corrupt the federal government by eliminating employees’ due process rights so they can be fired for political reasons,” American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley said.

“It will remove hundreds of thousands of federal jobs from the non-partisan civil service and make them answerable to the will of one man," Kelley added.

NewsNation's Elina Shirazi contributed to this story.

NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.

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