One federal Interior Department employee who is supposed to be working in the Washington area lives in sunny Southern California and rarely, if ever, makes it to the nation’s capital.
Two others live in Oregon, three live in Colorado, and others are spread across the Southeast and Midwest.
The department’s inspector general warned that these employees may be bilking the government of extra pay by claiming enhanced wages while living in lower-cost regions. A memo just before Christmas prodded department officials to finish reviewing dozens of similar cases.
The memo was provided this week to Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Republican, who said it was a wake-up call for no-show workers.
“Department of Interior employees rarely see the interior of their office,” she said. “Just 14% of Interior’s headquarters is being used while D.C. employees living elsewhere are overpaid more than $400,000. I am giving bureaucrats a simple choice: Get back to work or be fired.”
Federal telework policies are under increasing scrutiny after workers who fled offices during pandemic lockdowns refused to return. The Biden administration has been unable or unwilling to prod them. Congressional Republicans have called for President-elect Donald Trump to get tough on the holdouts.
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A report released Wednesday by the House Oversight and Accountability Committee said remote work has consumed the federal bureaucracy, with 10% of the workforce — some 228,000 employees — never having to show up at an office.
Another 1.1 million employees are designated as eligible for some telework, and nearly all of them take advantage of it. Committee investigators said they work from somewhere other than their official worksites an average of two days a week.
Nearly one-third of Health and Human Services employees are full-time remote workers. Meanwhile, 55% of the Education Department never has to set foot in the office, according to the report, and those who don’t telework full time spend more than half their work hours out of the office.
Biden administration officials have tried challenging the data and telling lawmakers their employees “show up every day.”
The result is agency buildings that resemble ghost towns. House Oversight and Reform investigators photographed the 6,300-employee Social Security building’s parking lot completely empty at 11 a.m. on a Wednesday workday.
“The lights may be on in federal buildings, but too many federal bureaucrats continue to work from home,” said Rep. James Comer, Kentucky Republican and committee chairman.
He said the government’s approach to telework is based on what employees want rather than on the government’s mission or taxpayers’ best interest.
In most cases, agencies haven’t even measured whether telework advances their mission.
The committee said it knew of only one agency, the Veterans Benefits Administration, that includes a “meaningful” measure of the effectiveness of teleworking employees.
When challenged, federal managers say they must be generous with telework to compete with the private sector.
IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, who led a massive hiring spree at the tax agency, told Congress last year that telework was a crucial benefit.
“We have to stay competitive in the labor market, and we want to make sure that we’re providing good flexibility versus what other employers might provide,” he said.
During a committee hearing called to investigate telework policies, Democrats generally defended the practice while Republicans were more skeptical.
They complained that the Biden administration had locked in deals with labor unions, making it difficult for the next president to return workers to their offices.
Social Security reached a deal with its labor union in November to lock in generous telework policies that allow employees to be in the office as little as two days a week.
That agreement lasts beyond the next Trump administration.
Former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley told lawmakers that teleworking employees were producing good results and that his agency was more productive despite a cut in staff.
At the Interior Department, the issue goes beyond productivity.
Last year, the inspector general identified 48 employees who claimed enhanced Washington area pay but lived elsewhere. Of those, 40 didn’t report to their worksites at least twice per pay period, as required by the rules.
Department officials said more than three dozen cases were suspicious enough to warrant investigations. After their reviews were completed, eight employees were either ousted or had their agreements reworked.
As of late last month, 29 cases were still undecided.
The Interior Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, warned employees Wednesday that lenient treatment is about to end.
“President Trump was elected to put the federal bureaucracy in its place, and that includes back in the office,” she said.
Russell Vought, nominated for White House budget director, told senators on Wednesday that Mr. Trump’s presidential commission, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, will be in charge of filling office seats.
“This is a major area that they’re looking at,” he said.
• Lindsey McPherson contributed to this report.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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