Biden's Office Return Plan Failed, Comer Promises Success

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., is determined to ensure federal employees return to the office, as he criticized the Biden administration for its "failure" to do so during the committee's first hearing of the 119th Congress.

According to Comer, federal agency headquarters in and around DC are mostly empty when President Trump's team enters, as a result of the Biden administration's failure to end telework and bring federal employees back to the office.

As President Biden's term nears its end, Washington is preparing for a shift with President-elect Trump's return to DC. The Oversight Committee's report, which uses data from the Biden-Harris Administration, shows that as of May 2024, 1,057,000 telework-eligible federal employees were in the office three times a week, while another 228,000 remote employees never came to the office at all.

The committee, comprised of Republicans, has released a 41-page report titled "The lights are on, but everyone is at home: Why the new administration will enter largely vacant federal agency offices." The report argues that telework policies have had a "detrimental" impact on government agencies.

In the hearing, Comer accused Democrats, specifically Sen. Chuck Schumer, of allowing the Show Up Act to gather dust, which would bring federal employees' telework back to pre-pandemic levels.

"The Government Accountability Office discovered that 17 of the 24 largest federal agency headquarters in the DC area were less than 25% occupied, with some being less than 25% occupied. A separate study by the Public Buildings Reform Board found that occupancy rates were only 12%, which is half that of the GAO's findings. Comer stated at the hearing that taxpayer money is being wasted on leasing and maintaining all that expensive, empty office space."

The report by the committee states that Trump is inheriting a largely absentee workforce due to the telework policies "entrenched" by the Biden administration.

For nearly two years, Mayor Muriel Bowser has been urging the White House to alter the telework policy for federal workers, as it has resulted in a "lack of foot traffic" that is "economically devastating" for DC.

The Democrat lawmaker met with President-elect Trump to discuss how to make better use of the "underused federal buildings" in the city.

After the Dec. 30 meeting, Bowser expressed optimism, stating that both she and Trump share the goal of making Washington, DC the best and most beautiful city in the world, and that they want the capital city to reflect the nation's strength.

The committee's report states that Trump implemented large-scale telework and remote work at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but later sought to bring federal employees back to their offices to better serve the American people once it became clear that widespread, indiscriminate lockdowns were not the best solution to the pandemic.

Brooke Singman contributed to this report.