More than four years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has lowered office space lease costs even though about half of employees regularly work from home, according to a new report. It is estimated that $7 billion was wasted on
The House Oversight Committee will investigate the Biden administration's remote work policies after pandemic restrictions are lifted, finding that U.S. taxpayers will “pay for the ownership and rental of dozens of federal office spaces that remain largely vacant.” It was reported that he had invested a billion dollars. 41 page report Published on Wednesday.
a Government Audit Board Report A July 2023 study cited in the report found that the federal government pays about $7 billion annually to lease and maintain office space. That's despite 17 of the 24 federal agencies using just 9% of their building capacity, or up to 49%. .
According to subsequent findings from the Office of Management and Budget, by May 2024, “more than half of federal employees were regularly working from home or fully remote,” the report said. It is unclear whether many people have returned to offices in the capital in the seven months since.
“In other words, the federal government is wasting billions of taxpayer dollars paying for underutilized office space,” the report said.
Federal agencies still purchased $3.3 billion in furniture between 2020 and 2022, according to an audit by taxpayer watchdog OpenTheBooks that followed the GAO report.
Other findings from the report, conducted by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), show that the government has 7,000 completely vacant buildings, with 2,500 occupied only by a portion of federal employees. It has been shown that there is.
In a separate report, exclusively reported by the Post, Ernst said Interior Department employees extorted taxpayers out of $400,000 by falsely claiming to reside in Washington, D.C.
The report also said that many government agencies are still maintaining Biden's telecommuting option, which is “harmful” and further evidence compiled by the committee shows that “the administration's self-reported telework data “This suggests that people are exaggerating their attendance at the office.”
This is an impediment to the incoming Trump administration's ability to hold training sessions and other in-person activities, and the committee criticized the federal union's “unsupportably high telework standards.”
“Of the 2.28 million federal employees, approximately 228,000 are not required to come into the office, and nearly all of the other 1.1 million employees who are technically eligible to telework are telecommuting.” The report adds.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bower is pleading with the Biden administration to bring staff back to Washington, while requiring city workers to report to work at least four days a week for in-person office work.
Comer's committee recommended that President-elect Donald Trump's executive branch use automation and other tools to better track remote work.
Ironically, the Trump administration was the first to implement a work-from-home mandate in early 2020, after the coronavirus pandemic began.
The report says agreements struck with federal labor unions during the Biden administration will make it more difficult for agency heads to reverse work-from-home policies.
In a recent example, aides to Social Security Commissioner Martin O'Malley signed an agreement in November with his agency's union to maintain the status quo on telework until October 2029. The Washington Post reported.
Mr. Biden had paved the way for this move by rescinding several executive orders that President Trump issued during his first term to weaken the power of labor unions.
But the president-elect's Office of Management and Budget could issue new guidance determining which federal employees can work remotely, potentially starting a legal battle with unions.
of show up actpassed the Republican-controlled House two years ago but never the Senate, which could approve strong return-to-work policies.
“The lights may be on in federal buildings, but too many federal officials continue to work from home,” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement. said.
“The House Oversight Committee’s investigation into extended work-from-home orders during the pandemic finds that the Biden-Harris administration has ceded too much power to federal union leaders, rather than fulfilling the agency’s mission and serving the American people.” It has become clear that the desire to work from home has been prioritized.
The House Oversight Committee held its first meeting of the 119th Congress on telework issues Wednesday morning.
