Ernst chairs the fledgling Senate DOGE Caucus, named for President-elect Trump’s planned government efficiency advisory commission, and delivered her report to co-chairmen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk and Ramaswamy have mused in interviews and on social media about ending telework for federal workers and issuing reductions in force as strategies to shrink the size of the federal government.
“For years, I have been tracking down bureaucrats relaxing in bubble baths, playing golf, getting arrested, and doing just about everything besides their jobs,” Ernst said in a statement. “It would almost be funny if it wasn’t happening on the taxpayers’ dime and at the expense of veterans, seniors, small business owners and Americans in need of competent service from government agencies.”
In a press release announcing the delivery of her report, Ernst claimed that “90% of federal employees telework,” that only 6% of federal employees work entirely in-person, and that “nearly 33%” of federal workers are entirely remote workers. None of these figures are accurate when compared to the most recent report on federal telework.
As of May 2024, 54% of federal employees spent all of their work hours at traditional work sites because of the nature of their job precludes telework. Though 46% of the federal workforce is eligible for telework, only about 41.4% actually use the workplace flexibility to telework at least situationally. The data comes from the Office of Management and Budget in a nearly 3,000-page report ernst report documenting telework abuse obscures reveals
