Chaos continues in the DOGE sphere as remote federal workers who survived the mass firings have been forced to return to offices — many reportedly without lights, Wi-Fi, electricity and desks. And to some that don't even exist.
Last month, Donald Trump warned federal workers they'd have to show up at central brick-and-mortar workspaces, or lose their jobs. "If they don't report for work, we're firing them," he said. "In other words, you have to go to office." But his Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency proved to be inefficient, at best.
"The facilities were not actually ready for us to return…[and] no one is on-site to try to fix the issues," Department of Education employee Sheria Smith said, via CNN, while another employee said they spent their first week back without basic supplies such as a computer or even pens, and with no private space for work calls.
Other federal employees forced to return to an office said the Trump-Musk demand was impossible, as the so-called "offices" — and the buildings that house them — were no longer available. "At least two office buildings used by the Interior Department in the Western US were told last week their leases had been canceled," reports CNN, "while a third office housing hundreds of people was notified its lease will be up in June."
"The only thing a return to the office has given me is an hour of traffic while driving and a loss in efficiency," one Department of Defense employee said, explaining that their designated office had no Wi-Fi, and the phone's hot spot was "spotty."
Department of Education employees at an office in Dallas returned to ethernet cords in piles around the floor, random wires sticking out of walls, and motion-sensor lights that weren't working correctly, leading to dark workspaces. One employee tripped over a pile of cords on her first day back, resulting in a large gash on her foot. She's submitted a workers' compensation complaint.
And a Department of Defense employee who returned to in-office work and handles sensitive information was stuck in a conference room with people on different teams, forcing them to leave the room to make calls. The employee was eventually moved to an office — but one without Wi-Fi, so they had to use their phone's spotty hot spot….
The space constraint, coupled with the Trump administration's reduction-in-force order, has [one federal worker] fearing their agency will suffer heavy layoffs. "The only way RTO (return-to-office) works in these types of situations is if you now reduce the number of people," the employee said. …
DOGE has kept a running list on its website touting more than 200 building leases the Musk-run agency says it's canceled. The canceled leases, which include Social Security Administration and US attorneys' offices, have raised questions locally about where those employees are supposed to go.
— CNN
"Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome," Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on November 24, neglecting to mention the conditions that at least some of these employees would be returning to. Efficiency at its finest.
Previously: Trump is now mocking federal workers with memes threatening their jobs
