Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin has ordered all of his remote federal workers to “return to work in the office full-time.”
In an update on Tuesday, Zeldin said “it’s time” for EPA employees to comply with President Donald Trump’s greater effort to end remote work in the federal government.
In a video message posted to his X account, Zeldin said that he has met with agency teams across the country.
He asserted that he is honored to be working alongside individuals who he described as “many of the brightest minds on the planet.”
“To the dedicated employees who have been showing up to the office every day, thank you,” he said, before speaking directly to those who have continued to work out of the office.
“Your commitment to our mission does not go unnoticed.
“To all the other great members of the team, it’s time to return to the office, to partner, collaborate, and to deliver,” he said.
Zeldin noted that the average occupancy at headquarters on Mondays and Fridays since January 2024 — over one year ago — has only been “in the single digits.”
“In fact, the highest single day of attendance since January of last year was only just over a third,” Zeldin said.
He noted in his message that EPA headquarters had a daily attendance of 8.9 percent on Mondays and Fridays last year.
“Our spacious, beautiful EPA headquarters spans two city blocks in DC across five buildings,” he said.
“Federal hallways have been too vacant, desks empty, and cubicles filled with unoccupied chairs.”
“The American people rely on every single one of us to protect their access to clean air, land, and water.
“Our mission of protecting human health and the environment is far too important for any of us to ever come up short,” he said.
He continued by ultimately asking employees who have been absent from the office to return.
“As we embark on this journey together, I humbly ask you to return to the office,” Zeldin said.
“I’ll be present every day, and I hope to see you here as well.”
WATCH:
On Mondays and Fridays all of last year, @EPA HQs only had 8.9% daily attendance. Not under @POTUS’ watch.
It’s time for our talented staff to return to work in the office full-time.
Part of being good stewards of tax dollars means showing up every day to do our job. pic.twitter.com/4A7m0B1BVo
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) February 18, 2025
Returning to in-person work has been a priority of the Trump administration.
President Trump took executive action on Day One to advance this plan.
Trump’s order urges heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of government to end remote work and return to the practices of old “as soon as practicable.”
The January 2025 memo reads:
Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, 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.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the first major administration official to take this action.
Rubio swiftly ordered all State Department personnel to return to work at the office.
The order effectively ended pandemic-era changes.
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