In a scathing report that pulls no punches, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has sounded the alarm on what she calls the “ghost town” state of federal workplaces. According to Ernst, only **6% of federal employees** report to the office full-time, a stark contrast to the pre-pandemic era when telework was a rare perk. Meanwhile, nearly a third of the federal workforce now operates remotely on a full-time basis—a shift that many critics see as a glaring example of government inefficiency and waste.

Ernst’s report comes after a year-and-a-half-long investigation into the ballooning culture of remote work in federal agencies. The findings will be presented to the Senate’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus, co-chaired by tech mogul Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, as they convene in Washington to brainstorm solutions to a bloated and ineffective federal bureaucracy.

A “Ghost Town” in the Capital

“The nation’s capital is a ghost town, with government buildings averaging an occupancy rate of 12%,” Ernst wrote in her fiery report. “If federal employees can’t be found at their desks, exactly where are they?”

Musk echoed Ernst’s sentiments on social media, stating bluntly, *“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%!”*

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) added fuel to the fire, calling the situation “absurd” and pledging that Congress would demand federal workers return to their desks.

Taxpayer Dollars Wasted

The financial implications of the remote work explosion are staggering. Federal office buildings cost taxpayers **$15.7 billion annually** in leasing, maintenance, and operational expenses. Despite this, thousands of these buildings remain underutilized or completely vacant, with nearly **7,700 unused properties** and **2,265 partially empty facilities** draining $15 million annually in upkeep costs.

Adding insult to injury, Ernst’s report revealed widespread abuse of locality pay—a system meant to adjust salaries based on the cost of living in an employee’s official worksite. Some remote workers have exploited this system, earning inflated salaries while living thousands of miles from their designated office.

“My audits are finding as many as 23% to 68% of teleworking employees in some agencies are boosting their salaries by receiving incorrect locality pay,” Ernst reported. “One so-called ‘temporary’ teleworker has been collecting higher pay for nearly a decade.”

The Cost of Incompetence

Beyond the financial waste, Ernst’s report paints a troubling picture of declining federal performance. She cited shocking examples, including a whistleblower warning about bacteria in baby formula that went unread for months, ultimately leading to a **nationwide formula shortage in 2022**.

Another particularly egregious case involved a Department of Veterans Affairs manager who infamously took a bubble bath while on the clock, flaunting his disregard for professional standards.

“If you think this is not a big deal, then what is a big deal? Is it a big deal when a veteran dies?” a furious colleague reportedly said at the time.

Biden’s Leadership Under Scrutiny

Ernst didn’t hesitate to draw a direct line to the top, pointing out President Biden’s frequent absences from the White House. “President Biden is setting the example,” she said, noting that Biden has spent **40% of his presidency away from the Oval Office**.

Her office also accused the Biden administration of lacking transparency, claiming it had redacted work location data for over **281,000 federal employees** in response to public records requests.

Union Roadblocks

Efforts to bring federal workers back to the office have faced stiff resistance from unions. Despite the Biden administration’s call for agencies to “substantially increase” in-person work, union leaders have held firm, arguing that remote work agreements must be preserved under existing collective bargaining agreements.

Proposed Solutions

Ernst’s report offers a roadmap to tackle these issues. Key recommendations include:
– **Decentralizing the federal workforce** by spreading agencies across the country.
– Implementing a **“use it or lose it”** policy for federal properties to eliminate waste.
– Tying remote work privileges to measurable job performance.
– Monitoring teleworker activity through virtual private networks (VPNs) to ensure accountability.

A New Era of Accountability?

As chair of the Senate DOGE Caucus, Ernst has vowed to take a “sledgehammer” to government waste and inefficiency. The caucus, working alongside Musk and Ramaswamy, aims to disrupt a federal culture that critics say prioritizes entitlement over accountability.

“Taxpayers are getting ripped off, and the American people deserve better,” Ernst declared.

The message from Ernst, Musk, and their allies is clear: the era of unchecked remote work and wasteful spending in the federal government must come to an end. Whether Congress and the Biden administration will heed that call remains to be seen.