On May 7, Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced the Back to Work Act (S. 4266), legislation that would cap federal employee’s telework usage at 40 percent of a pay period. The bill could also jeopardize current remote work agreements for most feds.

“It has been nearly a year since President Biden formally ended COVID-19 public health emergency declarations, yet most of our federal office buildings remain empty -- wasting millions of taxpayer dollars every day. Americans deserve to have a federal workforce that is both present and productive,” Senator Romney said in a press release upon introduction. “Our bipartisan legislation would require federal employees to work in the office for a majority of the time, while still allowing reasonable flexibility for telework. Federal employees play an important role in ensuring that the government works for the American people, and it is past time for them to get back into the office to do the work that our constituents expect from their government.”

Senator Manchin concurred. “I’m proud to introduce the bipartisan Back to Work Act with Senator Romney to require federal employees to work in-person at least 60 percent of the time. Federal workers have a unique obligation to connect with the citizens they serve, and exclusively remote work hinders this essential collaboration. Local businesses in West Virginia and across the country are also suffering from a lack of consumer traffic during the work days, which is negatively impacting our local economies. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this commonsense legislation that brings our society closer to pre-pandemic normalcy,” said Senator Manchin.

S. 4266 was referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and has no other cosponsors at this time. Neither Romney nor Manchin are seeking reelection when their Senate terms expire at the end of this year.

Telework in the federal workforce has been a hot topic on Capitol Hill for much of the 118th Congress.

In March, Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced the Telework Transparency Act (S. 4043). The bill would require agencies to gather data and monitor how telework impacts agency performance and federal property decisions, “creating more transparency and providing oversight to weigh the pros and cons of telework policies.” That legislation followed the fall 2023 introduction of the bipartisan Telework Reform Act (S. 3015), endorsed by FMA.

“Federal agencies must track and consider the impact of telework on their ability to deliver services, recruit and retain talent, and ensure office operations are cost-efficient,” said Senator Peters in a statement upon introduction. “My bipartisan bill will require agencies to gather accurate data on telework policies to provide more transparency and help ensure federal agencies are effectively carrying out their missions for the American people.”

Additionally, the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations package passed in late March requires that agencies share data related to telework usage, policies, and more. FMA supports further collection of data in order to make informed decisions related to telework and remote work in the federal workforce.