Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, reintroduced a trio of bills this week that aim to track computer usage for teleworking and in-office Federal employees, as well as relocate Federal agency headquarters outside of Washington, D.C.
The senator refreshed these bills for the 119th Congress that began last week after releasing a report in December focused on reforming the Federal workforce, particularly teleworking employees who she claims are “relaxing in bubble baths.”
The trio of bills proposes similar actions to the December report – which Sen. Ernst shared with President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory group. Specifically, the report calls for reforming government telework policies, relocating Federal employees away from Washington, and selling off underutilized government real estate.
“While DOGE stands ready to clean house, I will be leading the fight in the Senate to disrupt the business-as-usual bureaucrats who spent the last four years out of office,” Sen. Ernst said in a Jan. 7 statement. “The Federal workforce has shown they clearly don’t want to work in D.C., and I am going to make their dreams come true.”
The first bill reintroduced this week, called the REMOTE Act, takes aim at Federal telework policies. It looks to create accountability by requiring Federal agencies to track and report computer usage for teleworking and in-office employees.
Under the bill, managers of teleworking employees would be required to “periodically review” the network traffic generated by each employee while they are working remotely. According to the text of the bill, managers would be required to collect data such as the average number of daily logins and the average daily duration of the connection to the applicable computer network.
The bill also instructs managers to collect the same data for in-person employees, who will be required to use a Personal Identity Verification Card or Common Access Card to log in.
Additionally, the legislation calls on department heads to submit a report on their findings comparing the login rates. It also directs the chief human capital officer of each agency, in collaboration with the telework managing officer, to submit an annual report “on agency management efforts to promote the efficient use of telework.”
The second bill, called the DRAIN THE SWAMP Act, looks to relocate at least 30 percent of D.C. agency headquarters to the states and would require the reduction of Federal real estate in D.C. by at least 30 percent.
According to Sen. Ernst’s report, maintaining and leasing Federal office buildings costs more than $8 billion every year – and another $7.7 billion is spent on energy to keep the buildings running. According to her findings, the government also owns 7,697 vacant buildings and another 2,265 that are partially empty.
Similarly, the final bill, titled the SWAMP Act, looks to relocate non-security Federal headquarters outside of D.C. and across the states.
The three bills align with Sen. Ernst’s plan that she provided to DOGE which outlines ways to save over $2 trillion in taxpayer money. Sen. Ernst took the Senate floor on Jan. 8 to outline her plan to cut down Federal spending and downsize the government.
“Henceforward every cent being spent will now be scrutinized,” the senator said on Wednesday. “All regulations must be justified – and continually re-justified – using data and outcomes, not just ideology.”
“There’s no time to wait for DOGE to get to work because even being a lame duck isn’t slowing down Biden’s reckless spending,” she added. “So, I would invite anyone in this body, and everyone who may be watching at home who has ideas, to join this conversation and our movement – because DOGE is inevitable.”
It’s worth noting that a report from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) conflicts with Sen. Ernst’s report on teleworking employees.
The senator’s report found that 90 percent of Federal employees telework. Her report asserts that 6 percent of workers report in person on a full-time basis, while nearly 33 percent of Federal employees are entirely remote.
According to OMB, 54 percent of the Federal government’s 2.28 million employees work fully on-site. The remaining 46 percent of the Federal workforce is telework eligible, with only 10 percent of Federal employees – 228,000 – in fully remote positions.
