Trump’s executive orders threaten remote work: here’s what will happen to federal workers

On Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump signed 26 executive orders, several of which target the federal workforce. Of those, some will require remote workers to return to full-time, in-person work, while others would eliminate job positions entirely.

As the orders are already being met with lawsuits, here’s what federal workers can expect.

What Trump’s executive orders mean for federal workers

Of the executive orders Trump signed, here are the main points that would affect federal workers:

• All agencies in charge of federal workers must “take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary.”
• A freeze on federal hiring with exceptions for military personnel and jobs “related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety”, effective immediately.
• Revision of an executive order Trump previously signed in 2020 (which President Biden had reversed), which makes it easier for federal workers to be fired, stripping them of their employment protections.
• New performance plans for senior government officials who are not political appointees and the reassignment of officials to ensure they are “optimally aligned to implement” Trump’s agenda.
• Total elimination of government diversity programs, including the termination of federal offices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and environmental justice.

What will happen to remote federal workers?

Department and agency heads will decide if their employees must return to work, as they are permitted to make exceptions “as they deem necessary”. It is Trump who will be appointing those agency heads though, so it is not likely we will see many exceptions.

Which federal workers are at risk of losing their jobs?

Career civil servants are much more at risk of losing their jobs now, and DEI employees have already been placed on paid administrative leave.

During his first term as president, Trump sought to reclassify civil servants under Schedule F, which would allow them to be fired in the same way as political appointees. Biden reversed the order and passed a rule to prevent it from being reinstated. Trump has now redefined Schedule F as a “policy/career” in order to get around the rule and allow for these workers to be dismissed more easily.

DEI offices were ordered to place their employees on paid leave by Wednesday at 5 p.m. and they have until January 31 to present a written plan to eliminate the positions entirely.

The legal backlash

The National Treasury Employees Union has already sued Trump over the order which targets civil servants.

The return-to-office order will also have to get around the 56% of workers who are covered by collective bargaining agreements, many of which have remote work provisions that would protect them.

Washington Senator Tim Kaine, along with other lawmakers, will insist that Trump comply with all the rules as he implements these new orders.

“I am going to insist these measures not take place unless President Trump jumps through all the hoops, and goes through all the hoops in the right order,” Kaine told The Washington Post.

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