7 months ago
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(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump’s executive order putting an extremity to remote enactment for national workers is poised to alteration the occupation setup of much than a cardinal employees.
Half of the national workforce had been allowed to enactment remotely arsenic a portion of a larger civilization displacement that occurred during the pandemic. Under caller policies, officials estimation that much than 1 cardinal national workers could beryllium present beryllium impacted, reported The Washington Post.
Few agencies person a precocious measurement of employees who tin enactment remotely, government data from the Office of Management and Budget showed.
At the Environmental Protection Agency, astir 98% of 16,000 employees are telework-eligible, with 15% moving remotely, reported The Washington Post. In the Department of Veterans Affairs, 26% of 485,000 employees are eligible, with 8% moving remotely.
However, the Trump medication said it's looking to capable ample national facilities similar the Department of Energy, wherever less than 1% of the bureau spaces are being used, according to the Public Buildings Reform Board.
A 2023 Government Accountability Office study said that 17% of the 24 national agencies are utilizing arsenic small arsenic 9% of national buildings and lone arsenic overmuch arsenic 49% of their building’s capacity.
In summation to bringing workers backmost to the bare desks, Trump says helium wants to merchantability unused national buildings.
However, the displacement could origin strain connected the agencies if employees leave. It could besides hamper opportunities that person helped summation employment for underserved populations, according to a 2023 report from the Office of Personnel Management.
Nearly 42,000 veterans and subject spouses are teleworking, and 2,250 are doing distant work. About 131,000 individuals with disabilities are capable to bash telework, and 14,000 tin enactment remotely, the outlet reported.
Several unions person pushed back, including 1 that represents 800,000 national workers.
“President Trump’s bid is simply a blatant effort to corrupt the national authorities by eliminating employees’ owed process rights truthful they tin beryllium fired for governmental reasons,” said American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley. “It volition region hundreds of thousands of national jobs from the non-partisan civilian work and marque them answerable to the volition of 1 man.”
NewsNation's Elina Shirazi contributed to this story.
