President Donald Trump has ordered federal workers to return to the office, and that’s exactly what happened at the Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday.
“This is an exciting day,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a video posted on social media that included footage of him greeting employees. “We’re phasing out telework and remote work and bringing everybody back in, and I think that’s a great thing for what we’re doing. Really, it’s common sense.”
Under Trump’s terse Jan. 20 memo, all federal employees must return to work at their respective worksites full-time, “provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary.” For the VA, exemptions include sick or disabled workers or those on overseas assignments.
“It’s time we bring our whole family back together,” Collins said. “At the end of the day, it’s about getting us back to work, focused on the mission, and that mission is the veterans.”
This return-to-work policy also comes with a threat. On Monday, Elon Musk, who is leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, delivered a warning to federal workers on his platform X, formerly Twitter.
“Starting this week, those who still fail to return to the office will be placed on administrative leave,” Musk wrote.
Lee Zeldin, Trump’s new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said Monday on X that “Full-time, COVID-era remote work is DONE under @POTUS leadership.”
In a video he posted, Zeldin said the average attendance at EPA headquarters on Mondays and Fridays last year was less than 9% of employees.
“Our spacious, beautiful EPA headquarters spans two city blocks in D.C. across five buildings,” Zeldin said. “But our hallways have been too vacant, desks empty and cubicles filled with unoccupied chairs.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
