Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who have been chosen by President-elect Donald Trump, to head the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) have proposed to end remote work for federal workers and implement layoffs among federal employees
Musk and Ramaswamy shared this idea in an opinion piece that was published in The Wall Street Journal.
For the two tech industry figures, the proposal will be a straightforward means to reduce the workforce on the federal level. They also call remote work a "privilege" that is still being enjoyed despite having been instituted during the pandemic.
"Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don't want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn't pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home," Musk and Ramaswamy wrote.
Much remote work was actually started after the 9/11 attacks to keep the government running during the aftermath.
The pair also said Trump wants them to "cut the federal government down to size" and called the "entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy" an existential threat to the republic. Both Musk and Ramaswamy underscored that they are businessmen and not politicians, which is why they will be doing things differently.
The plan, if implemented, would affect more than 1 million federal workers. The Office of Management and Budget, in an August report, revealed roughly 46% of civilian personnel are eligible for some kind of remote work. There are also approximately 228,000 employees who work in remote positions and with no expectation of working in person again, NBC News reported.
In 2023, President Joe Biden's administration ordered federal agencies to increase in-person work. However, it also allowed departments to implement the order with discretion, acknowledging factors like operational costs.
Musk and Ramaswamy's DOGE will play an advisory role. It also would not be an official department unless Congress passed a law that created it.
The suggestions that both made in the opinion piece are just among the initial suggestions that they have in mind for the DOGE to implement once it becomes a department under the Trump administration.
In the opinion piece, the two also suggested other ways to cut federal jobs including "large-scale firings" and the "relocation of federal agencies out of the Washington area."
