Working Like a DOGE
Trump’s comments are unsurprising, following statements made on the subject by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy since their appointment as co-leaders of the president-elect’s new Department of Government Efficiency – also known as DOGE.
They said in November that they were seeking to “thin federal bureaucracy by 25%”, and were looking at a return to work mandate as one way to prompt voluntary redundancies (not disimilar to Dell’s streamlining strategy earlier in the year).
Subsequently on X, Musk blamed the waste of taxpayer dollars on “literally thousands of empty buildings” left vacant by federal staff teleworking.
“If you exclude security guards & maintenance personnel, the number of government workers who show up in person and do 40 hours of work a week is closer to 1%!” – Elon Musk
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