(The Center Square) – Commuter traffic is about to see an uptick in the Washington, D.C. metro area as President Donald Trump issues an executive order ending remote work for federal employees.
Within hours of being sworn in as the 47th president, Trump issued a short but blunt order directing federal workers to return to the office.
“Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary,” according to the executive action.
Ending remote work for the federal workforce will be welcomed by Virginia and district leadership on both sides of the political aisle, which has urged a return to in-person work.
In December 2023, Gov. Glenn Youngkin wrote to the Biden administration to asking to end remote work to boost public transit ridership, which has taken a major hit since the pandemic.
As previously reported by The Center Square, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has been bogged with a $750 million budget shortfall.
“Prior to the pandemic, federal workers contributed over $100 million in annual fare revenue and 40% of the ridership to WMATA,” Youngkin wrote in a letter to Kiran Ahuja, director of the Office of Personnel Management.
“We need to get people back in offices, especially the federal government,” Youngkin wrote in a social media post.
Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also appealed to President Joe Biden to end remote work.
“We need decisive action by the White House to get most federal workers back to the office,” Bowser said during her 2023 inaugural address.
Bowser met with Trump in late December to discuss issues such as ending remote work and what to do with “underutilized federal buildings.”
Earlier this month, the mayor issued an order for district employees to cut back on remote work.
According to the Partnership for Public Service, 20% of the federal workforce lives within the D.C. metro area. The district is home to 146,808 federal employees. Virginia has 133,182 and Maryland with 128,223.
