Remote work crackdown: How Trump’s DOGE could push federal workers to quit

President-elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, a nongovernmental entity helmed by billionaire Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, is expected to make a push for an end to remote work across federal agencies as a way to help reduce the federal workforce through attrition.

President-elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, a nongovernmental entity helmed by billionaire Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, is expected to make a push for an end to remote work across federal agencies as a way to help reduce the federal workforce through attrition. Both Musk and Ramaswamy have recently publicly lamented the number of employees working remotely across the government. A source familiar with early discussions about the focus of DOGE, as the initiative is known, told CNN that while nothing is final, early priorities include an effort to immediately end remote work across federal agencies, making a five-day work week a requirement for all federal employees. “It’s a no-brainer step and many companies have done this. So why shouldn’t federal employees who are paid with taxpayer dollars be required to be in office?” the source said. The thinking is this kind of mandate, coupled with moving agencies out of Washington, DC, would cause many federal workers to voluntarily leave, helping the new Trump administration thin out the federal workforce ranks and save the government money. Ending remote work across government is being considered a potential “early candidate” for executive orders that members of DOGE will recommend to Trump, the source said. “It’s definitely on the table,” the source said, though it’s unclear how much they believe this will save the federal government.