President-elect Donald Trump said he will sue to block a Biden administration deal protecting hybrid work for thousands of federal workers for another five years.
Before stepping down last month, Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Martin O’Malley inked the agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). The deal, first reported by Bloomberg, reportedly extends current levels of hybrid work for the union’s 42,000 SSA employee members through 2029.
“They just signed this thing—it’s ridiculous,” Trump said at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Dec. 16.
“So, it was like a gift to a union, and we’re going to obviously be in court to stop it.”
Trump has repeatedly voiced his intention to trim down the federal bureaucracy, announcing plans to establish the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to help cut costs and regulations. As part of those efforts, tech billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, both tapped to lead the new advisory committee, have advocated for nixing remote and hybrid work options for federal workers.
“Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home,” the entrepreneurs wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
“The Biden–Harris Administration has not only neglected to address longstanding issues of federal employee accountability but has ceded presidential authority to run the federal government to union allies. Moreover, the Biden Administration has actively sought to constrain the ability of a future Administration to manage employees effectively and responsibly, and to increase accountability to the public,” the lawmakers wrote, demanding an end to all collective bargaining negotiations under the Biden administration.
Republican lawmakers over the past two years have pushed for agencies to mandate a return to in-person work, arguing that COVID-era telework policies have led to a decrease in productivity.
“As the rest of America went back to work in person, many federal workers did not, and the American people have suffered as a result,” Comer said on the House floor in February 2023.
“They have waited for months for their tax refunds from the IRS. They have waited for months for the Social Security Administration to answer their questions and provide their benefits. Our veterans have even waited for months to get their medical records from the National Archives.”
In recent weeks, AFGE has pushed back on claims that hybrid work negatively affects productivity.
“Telework and remote work are tools that have helped the federal government increase productivity and efficiency, maintain continuity of operations, and increase disaster preparedness. These policies also assist agencies across the government, including the Social Security Administration, in recruiting and retaining top talent,” the union said in a Dec. 16 statement.
Citing statistics from the Office of Management and Budget, the organization said that only 10 percent of federal workers are fully remote and that those who work a hybrid schedule spend more than 60 percent of their work hours in the office.
Regarding the president-elect’s stated plans to sue, AFGE said it was prepared to fight back.
“Collective bargaining agreements entered into by the federal government are binding and enforceable under the law,“ it said. ”We trust the incoming administration will abide by their obligations to honor lawful union contracts. If they fail to do so, we will be prepared to enforce our rights.”
