U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) is scrutinizing federal government agencies in Washington D.C. for allowing too many of their employees to work from home instead of showing up to the office.
“Americans across the nation show up to work, in-person, every day while federal employees are consistently abusing work-from-home policies within their respective agencies,” Aderholt told Yellowhammer News Thursday. “Agencies with direct service to the public, like the Social Security Administration, are some of the biggest perpetrators of this abuse of the system. Some of these employees are even living in other states, while still receiving D.C. locality pay.”
In response to the problem, House Republicans are planning to direct agencies to publicly post how many employees come to work in person in Washington.
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Aderholt, who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, believes this is needed because it’s past time for these employees to “return to work.”
“Federal agencies that provide direct service to the public must return to work to better serve the American people,” he said. “Telework should be judged solely on a case-by-case basis, not blanket policies.”
The directive would be a part of the would be included in the committee report that accompanies the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill.
“The American people deserve a federal workforce that reflects the reality of showing up to work every day,: Aderholt added. “This is why abuse of telework across the federal government must end. I urge the Secretaries of these agencies to bring federal employees back to the workplace immediately so that the American people can be served in a way they deserve. Simply put, it’s time to get back to work. The rest of the country has, and it’s past time for our federal employees to do the same.”
The directive also includes an accounting of Education Department and Health and Human Services employees who receive Washington-area locality pay, but don’t frequently work in office.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
