As Trump’s DOGE plans crackdown, Social Security union secures telework deal
By Tami Luhby, CNN
(CNN) — Tens of thousands of Social Security Administration staffers can continue teleworking into 2029 under a recent deal signed between their union and the agency. The agreement comes as the incoming Trump administration and its newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, vow to require federal workers to return to the office full time in an effort to cull their numbers.
The updated contract deal locks in the current levels of telework for American Federation of Government Employees members at the agency until late October 2029, according to a letter written by Rich Couture, AFGE general committee spokesperson and head of the union’s Council 215, and viewed by CNN. The agreement was signed by SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley just before he stepped down to run for Democratic National Committee chair.
“This deal will secure not just telework for SSA employees, but will secure staffing levels through prevention of higher attrition, which in turn will secure the ability of the Agency to serve the public,” Couture wrote.
Depending on their job at the Social Security Administration, AFGE members have to report to the office between two and five days a week. The union represents 42,000 workers at the agency, which employs almost 60,000 people.
The agency noted that the deal did not expand its telework practices.
“The Social Security Administration memorialized its preexisting telework policy into its existing contract with AFGE that was already effective through 2029,” a spokeswoman said.
The agreement was first reported by Bloomberg News.
DOGE in-person push
President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, a nongovernmental initiative headed by billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, is hoping to cut the federal workforce – which would reduce federal spending – by ending employees’ ability to telecommute.
“Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home,” Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed.
The pair plans to speak with Republican House and Senate members on Thursday about DOGE. Some Democrats on Capitol Hill have expressed support for the initiative.
The telework privileges for many unionized federal workers are part of their collective bargaining agreements, making it more difficult to change the terms without negotiations.
Roughly 2.3 million civilians work for the federal government, according to an August Office of Management and Budget report, which looked at 24 agencies that employ about 98% of the federal civilian workforce.
Just over half, or 1.2 million, work fully in person since their jobs require them to be physically present. The remaining 1.1 million staffers are eligible for telework. About 228,000 employees, or 10% of the total, are in fully remote positions and are not expected to work in person on a regular basis.
Overall, federal employees who are eligible to telecommute spend just over 61% of their regular working hours in person, the OMB found. (This excludes fully remote workers.)
Under the Biden administration, the OMB has pushed agencies to increase the time telework-eligible employees spend in the office.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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