The Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, under the guidance of Elon Musk, has found that most non-uniformed federal government employees have not been showing up at the office to work for five years. With the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, federal employees (and many others) worked from home. With the help of their union (AFGE) and the Biden Administration, their work-from-home status was extended indefinitely. I’ve seen estimates that only six percent returned to work in person … which is essentially security and janitorial services. Many government buildings are vacant.
Perhaps you have seen the video of Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, on her second day after taking office, walking through the hallways and seeing empty cubicles with no one in-person. The cafeteria at HHS has been closed for more than four years – no one was there to eat. When Fox News arrived to interview Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, they opened the front doors to the Treasury Building for the first time since 2020.