Watchdog report says telecommuting ‘wastes billions’ of taxpayers’ money ahead of first hearing

FIRST ON FOX: The House Oversight Committee found that it was extended remote work in the pandemic era was “detrimental” to government agencies and the training of new employees, and a new report outlined proposed recommendations for the Trump administration to put federal workers back into unused and vacant federal office buildings.

Fox News Digital has obtained a House Oversight Committee report on the Biden-Harris administration’s policy to keep federal workers telecommuting, work from home format, even after COVID restrictions were lifted across the country and private sector workers returned to in-person work settings.

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The report, titled “The Lights Are On, But Everyone’s Home: Why the New Administration Will Move Into Mostly Empty Federal Agency Offices,” is 41 pages long and was prepared by Republicans on the committee.

During the last Congress, the committee investigated the extent of federal telecommuting and telecommuting, the degree of oversight over their use, and its impact on mission outcomes. The commission found that American taxpayers wasted “billions to pay for the ownership and lease of federal office space that remains largely vacant.”

The report states that “physical and anecdotal evidence points to this [Biden] The administration’s telecommuting data exaggerates the presence in the office.”

“But even the self-reported data is staggering: Of the 2.28 million federal civilian employees, approximately 228,000 never have to report to the office, and nearly all of the other 1.1 million employees who are technically eligible to telecommute are included into telecommuting,” the report states. “Furthermore, telecommuting-eligible employees at several agencies collectively spend less than half their work time in the office—below management’s own RTO goal.”

The report added: “American taxpayers waste billions paying for owned and leased federal office space that remains largely vacant. The Biden-Harris administration has done little to reduce the federal footprint despite maintaining massive levels of telecommuting.”

The committee also found that the Biden-Harris administration worked with federal labor unions and their allies to maintain “intolerably high levels of telecommuting,” which investigators say undermines the new Trump administration’s ability to reduce it.

“The lights may be on in federal buildings, but too many federal bureaucrats continue to work from home,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The House Oversight Committee’s investigation into extended telecommuting in the pandemic era finds that the Biden-Harris administration has ceded too much power to federal union bosses, allowing their preference for working from home to take precedence over fulfilling agency missions and serving the American people.”

Comer also told Fox News Digital that President Trump was “elected overwhelmingly to bring accountability to Washington.”

“Our report not only identifies many of the problems with massive federal telecommuting, but also suggests solutions for returning federal employees to their offices, disposing of unused and vacant federal assets, and prioritizing the needs of the American people over the desires of federal bureaucrats,” Comer said. “We look forward to working with President Trump and his administration to ensure that the federal bureaucracy is fully accountable to the American people.”

Comer and committee investigators said the Trump administration should base telecommuting and telecommuting policies “on achieving mission outcomes, not on employee preferences or union demands.”

They also recommended establishing automated systems to track telecommuting usage and creating “clear, measurable metrics to assess costs and benefits.”

Comer also recommends that the Trump administration introduce “more frequent and timely telecommuting reporting requirements at the agency level” to better inform executive branch officials and members of Congress.

Meanwhile, Comer also recommends using the White House and central government agencies to implement an enterprise-level telecommuting approach that prioritizes the public interest. He said the administration “should not allow a telecommuting bidding war among agencies that want to attract federal workers who move between them on the basis that it will allow them to stay home the most.”

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The report from the House Oversight Committee comes just hours before the first hearing of the new Congress.

The hearing called “Stay at home The Federal Workforce: Another Legacy of the Biden-Harris Administration” is scheduled for 10 a.m.

Former commissioner of the Social Security Administration Martin O’MalleyFederal City Council Board Chair Tom Davis and Rachel Greszler of the Center for Economic Policy Innovation are set to testify.

O’Malley signed telecommuting contracts for 42,000 Social Security workers through 2029 before his term ends.

“It’s past time for the federal workforce to get back to working for the American people in person,” Comer told Fox News Digital last week, following the announcement of the hearing. “The House Oversight Committee remains committed to ensuring that federal employees show up for the American people they serve.”

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According to a Senate report authored by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the federal government owns more than 7,000 vacant buildings and nearly 2,500 buildings that are partially vacant.

The report also states that the average occupancy of government buildings is 12%.

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During the hearing, the committee plans to examine how the Biden-Harris administration “failed to bring federal workers back to the office” and that failure could “hinder” the new Trump administration’s ability to bring them back because of long-term telecommuting guarantees in contracts signed with federal employee unions.