A shocking new Senate report from Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst’s office, highlighted by the New York Post [1], reveals that less than 6% of federal employees are showing up to their offices on any given day. Yes, you read that right – our sprawling federal government has morphed into the world’s largest ghost town.
The rest? Presumably “working” from home, though the jury’s still out on how many Netflix episodes can be watched during a conference call.
Home Sweet Home Office.
To be fair, remote work has its perks – less commuting, fewer distractions, and hey, who doesn’t want to attend a Zoom meeting in pajamas? But the report suggests many agencies are pushing the limits of “remote work” – if you can even call it “work.” According to the report, federal employees are logging fewer in-person hours than a substitute teacher during summer break.
Accountability on Autopilot.
And what about results? Well, according to the Senate’s findings, productivity metrics are conveniently MIA. Surprise, surprise. Agencies have no data on whether these work-from-home arrangements are effective. It’s almost like no one wants to keep receipts when it’s taxpayers footing the bill. “Taxpayers are getting ripped off,” Ernst says.
What else is new?
The Great Government Vanishing Act.
The federal workforce has achieved something remarkable – maximum pay for minimum effort. Bravo, folks. But it looks like the gravy train might end soon with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy looking into this from their DOGE command center and Congress reportedly on top of things. Last Thursday, the Senate DOGE Caucus [2] had it’s first meeting.
Clocking in? More Like Clocking Out.
Yes, Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency is already on the case – and (surprisingly) elected Republicans are on board as well. Musk posted on X about the information found in the report, saying, “If you exclude security guards & maintenance personnel, the number of government workers who show up in person and do 40 hours of work a week is closer to 1%! Almost no one.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said to reporters about the situation, “That is absurd, and it’s not something the American people will stand for.” He said that one of the first things that Congress will do is demand that federal workers return to their desks.
The report shows that federal office buildings rack up about $15.7 billion annually in leasing, maintenance, and operational costs. At the same time, the government owns about 7,697 vacant buildings and 2,265 partially empty ones, costing taxpayers an additional $15 million each year to maintain these underutilized spaces. Looks like the only thing federal workers are excelling at these days is ghosting the office.