Comer calls out Biden's ‘failure’ to get federal employees to return to the office, vows to get it done

Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., isn’t playing astir erstwhile it comes to bringing national employees backmost to the office. In the committee’s archetypal proceeding of the 119th Congress, Comer delivered remarks slamming the Biden administration’s "failure" to get national employees backmost to the office.

"When President Trump’s squad enters national bureau office successful and astir DC, they’ll find them to beryllium mostly empty. That’s owed to the Biden administration’s nonaccomplishment to extremity telework and to bring national employees backmost to the office," Comer said.

While determination are inactive a fewer days near successful President Biden’s term, Washington is preparing itself for a displacement up of President-elect Trump’s instrumentality to DC. According to the Oversight Committee’s report, which cites "the Biden-Harris Administration’s ain data," arsenic of May 2024, 1,057,000 telework-eligible national employees were in-office 3 times a week, and different 228,000 distant employees "never travel to the bureau astatine all."

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The report, titled "The lights are on, but everyone is astatine home: Why the caller medication volition participate mostly vacant national bureau offices," is 41 pages and was prepared by Republicans connected the committee. In its report, the committee makes the lawsuit that telework policies person been "detrimental" to authorities agencies.

In the hearing, Comer pointed the digit astatine Democrats, successful particular, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-Ny. He slammed Schumer for allegedly letting the Show Up Act "collect dust." The authorities would bring national employees’ telework backmost to "pre-pandemic levels."

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"The Government Accountability Office recovered that 17 of the largest 24 national bureau office successful the DC country were little than 25% occupied, immoderate overmuch little than 25% occupied. A abstracted survey by the Public Buildings Reform Board recovered that occupancy rates were conscionable fractional that astatine 12%, 12% occupancy," Comer said astatine the hearing. "Taxpayer wealth is being wasted to lease and support each that expensive, bare bureau space."

The committee writes successful its study that Trump is inheriting "a mostly absentee workforce," blaming it connected the telework policies "entrenched" by the Biden administration.

Comer besides noted that the telework argumentation for national workers has resulted successful a "lack of ft traffic" that is "economically devastating" for DC, thing Mayor Muriel Bowser has besides pointed out. Bowser has been "imploring the White House to change" the telework argumentation for astir 2 years.

In fact, the Democrat lawmaker met with President-elect Trump to sermon what could beryllium done with the "underutilized national buildings" astir the city.

Bowser expressed optimism aft the Dec. 30 meeting, saying some she and Trump "want Washington, DC to beryllium the best, astir beauteous metropolis successful the satellite and we privation the superior metropolis to bespeak the spot of our nation."

The committee’s study acknowledges that Trump "invoked monolithic telework and distant work" astatine the opening of the COVID-19 pandemic and adds that helium "quickly sought to instrumentality national employees to their offices to present for the American radical erstwhile it became wide that widespread, indiscriminate lockdowns were not the close societal reply to the pandemic."

Brooke Singman contributed to this report.