After President-elect Donald Trump appointed Tesla founder Elon Musk and businessman and politician Vivek Ramaswamy as the heads of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk and Ramaswamy are now looking to end work-from-home for all federal employees.
In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday (November 20), Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy shared their plans to reduce the overall size of the government and cut costs, including their ideas to mandate a five-day work week and full return-to-office by ending work-from-home for all federal employees.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy said that President-elect Donald Trump asked the two of them to not only lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), but he wanted them to help cut the federal government down to size, stating, “The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long.”
They added, “That’s why we’re doing things differently. We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees. Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.”
The duo continued, “We are assisting the Trump transition team to identify and hire a lean team of small-government crusaders, including some of the sharpest technical and legal minds in America. This team will work in the new administration closely with the White House Office of Management and Budget.”
Musk and Vivek added, “The two of us will advise DOGE at every step to pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions, and cost savings. We will focus particularly on driving change through executive action based on existing legislation rather than by passing new laws. Our North Star for reform will be the U.S. Constitution, with a focus on two critical Supreme Court rulings issued during President [Joe] Biden’s tenure.”
Addressing the reduction of federal employees and ending work-from-home, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy stated, “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.”
According to NBC News, this move could affect more than 1 million federal workers. The publication cited an August 2024 report from the Office of Management and Budget, which stated that about 1.1 million federal civilian employees, or 46% of civilian personnel, are eligible for some form of telework. Additionally, about 228,000 employees, or 10% of personnel, are currently working remotely with no expectation of returning to in-person work on a regular or recurring basis.
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