GOP lawmakers hear Musk and Ramaswamy’s push for remote work reforms
Elon Musk shaking hands with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. (Getty Images)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy met with Republican lawmakers on Thursday to discuss remote work policies as part of broader efforts to reduce federal spending by $2 trillion. The discussions, held behind closed doors, were part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory board established by President-elect Donald Trump.
According to a report from ABC News, Musk and Ramaswamy presented proposals urging stricter oversight of federal employees’ work habits, highlighting concerns about inefficiencies in telework arrangements. Musk pointed to a report by Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, which claimed only 6% of federal employees work in person full-time. The report also cited examples of telework misuse, including an anecdote about a Department of Veterans Affairs manager allegedly working from a bathtub.
“If you exclude security guards and maintenance personnel, the number of government workers who show up in person and do 40 hours of work a week is closer to 1%! Almost no one,” Musk wrote on his social media platform, X.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson expressed support for the initiative, stating that a return to in-office work could enhance productivity and accountability within federal agencies.
The creation of DOGE, announced by Trump in November, aims to streamline federal operations by cutting excess regulations and restructuring agencies. Musk and Ramaswamy are tasked with leading the advisory group.
In a statement, Trump praised the pair for their leadership, saying they “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
