EXCLUSIVE: Federal Gov’t’s Telework Obsession Is Way Worse Than You Thought

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa a response to an August 2023 request for a report on the effects of telework on the federal government, showing it increased by more than 500% during the Biden administration, the Daily Caller News Foundation exclusively learned.

Ernst sent a letter to 24 government agencies requesting a review of the issues involved with telecommuting in August 2023, with some agencies refusing to send data during the Biden administration. Ernst told the DCNF that when President Donald Trump took office, things changed. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Ted Cruz, Joni Ernst Team Up To Demand News Outlet Answer For Taxpayer-Funded Partisanship)

“While the Biden administration slow walked releasing the data to hide the true extent of telework abuse, the Trump administration has made a commitment to transparency in addition to getting bureaucrats back to work,” Ernst said.

In a letter sent to Ernst Tuesday, OPM Deputy Inspector General Norbert E. Vint claimed staffing issues at the agency delayed the start of the investigation by almost a full year. The report from OPM revealed that the number of employees engaged in remote work increased by 528% from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2024.

Federal employees have been on a four-year vacation from work but were quite busy locking in pay raises and cushy telework agreements with the Biden administration.

Bureaucrats should serve taxpayers not themselves. https://t.co/l15wd9TOqf

— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) February 12, 2025

OPM found multiple problems, including missing or lapsed telework agreements for 45.1% of workers, failed to address 21.1% of discrepancies within four months and that 8.1% of timesheets didn’t comply with the agency’s remote work policies. OPM also admitted that 58.1% of employees on telework agreements did not meet in-office work requirements based on “badging data.”

“Work from home policies under the Biden Administration lacked oversight and accountability the American people deserve,” OPM acting Director Chuck Ezell told the DCNF. “From missing agreements to inaccurate time reporting and failure to enforce in-office policies, these finding confirm even basic compliance measures were routinely ignored. That’s why, under President Trump’s leadership, OPM immediately ended remote work to rebuild a culture of responsibility and results.”

Trump issued an executive order Jan. 20 requiring agencies to terminate remote work arrangements and for employees to work in-person on a “full-time basis,” roughly six weeks after Ernst unveiled a scathing report on the effects of telework on the federal government on Dec. 5, covering findings from her investigations into telework since she sent an August 2023 letter to 24 government agencies seeking requesting a review of the issues involved with telecommuting.

“I exposed widespread telework and locality pay abuses under the Biden administration that led to government buildings being ghost towns,” Ernst told the DCNF. “It should come as no surprise that those setting telework policy under Joe Biden were some of the worst abusers of it.”

“Now that I have worked with the Trump administration to get out-of-office bureaucrats back to work, we’re right-sizing the federal government’s portfolio of vacant and underutilized buildings that cost billions every year,” Ernst continued. “DOGE is a lifestyle, and we must constantly look for ways to increase efficiency in Washington and save tax dollars!” (RELATED: GOP Senator Introduces First Major DOGE Bill That Could Save Taxpayers Eye-Popping Amount)

🧵In just one year, federal employees spent 2.6 million hours (296 years) negotiating higher salaries, cushy perks, and remote work for themselves when they were on the clock.

It cost taxpayers $160 million. Then Biden hid the cost.

I am putting a stop to this nonsense.👇

— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) April 10, 2025

Ernst’s Dec. 5 report detailed issues telework created involving locality pay, an adjustment to the basic pay of civilian employees in the federal government intended to make sure that federal employees have comparable compensation to private-sector counterparts in a given area of the country, and from the effects that largely vacant office buildings had on the working environment.

Kiran Ahuja, who was the director of OPM during the Biden administration when Ernst requested the review, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.

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