(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) President Joe Biden is pouring billions of dollars into unused office spaces despite allowing half of the federal workforce to work remotely years after the COVID-19 pandemic ended. Republicans affirmed that this is a glaring example of government waste.
According to a bombshell report by the House Oversight Committee, the federal government spends approximately $7 billion to lease and maintain office buildings. Meanwhile, over half of its 2.2 million civilian employees telework regularly or work remotely.
These findings, reported first by the New York Post, drew condemnation from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., in a press statement issued Wednesday. “The lights may be on in federal buildings, but too many federal bureaucrats continue to work from home,” Comer said.
Feds waste $7 billion on office space, even though half of employees work from home, House GOP report says https://t.co/pmgBBQgSGd pic.twitter.com/EowxZtCVsJ
— New York Post (@nypost) January 15, 2025
Comer added, “The House Oversight Committee’s investigation into prolonged pandemic-era telework reveals the Biden-Harris Administration has ceded too much authority to the federal union bosses, allowing their preference to work from home to take precedence over fulfilling agencies’ missions and serving the American people.”
Unlike Biden, President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to demand federal workers return fully to their respective offices, emphasizing that American taxpayers fund their salaries.
Comer affirmed that Trump was elected “to bring accountability to Washington,” pointing to the committee’s proposed solutions to “get federal employees back to their offices” and “dispose of unused and vacant federal property.”
🚨Biden-Harris Administration officials are actively working with federal labor union bosses to cement telework. This is an effort to undermine President Trump’s electoral mandate & his agenda.
How is this good for Democracy?
We must hold unelected bureaucrats accountable. https://t.co/TwfhVNPpWO
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) January 15, 2025
This, Comer said, would “prioritize the needs of the American people over the wants of federal bureaucrats.”
In December 2024, Trump announced that workers who did not “come back into the offices” would be “dismissed” after Jan. 20, 2025, the day of his inauguration.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who Trump tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, supported the move, arguing it would save taxpayer dollars.
“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 and Ramaswamy wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller echoed this sentiment in a fiery interview on Fox News:
BREAKING: Trump's incoming Deputy Chief of Staff in the White House, Stephen Miller, announces that Trump is going to "rip up" Covid-era work from home agreements, fire bureaucrats who betrayed the American people's trust, and bring those who violated our rights to justice. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/iRRI08MU6Q
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) January 4, 2025
