Trump's federal return-to-office orders are massively backfiring

Lots of details through different departments here

https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/5266355-federal-offices-return-to-office/

V. A.
These are not isolated anecdotes but rather symptoms of a broader dysfunction. Mental health counselors who once led private, secure telehealth sessions now scramble to maintain confidentiality behind thin cubicle dividers while coworkers conduct noisy calls nearby.

But even beyond medical services, the mandate has exposed severe infrastructure shortfalls across multiple agencies. At the IRS, for example, a federal spending cap of just $1 per purchase has led to startling shortages of basic office necessities, from soap to paper towels.

At the Department of Agriculture, the chaos manifests in IT bottlenecks and wireless network failures as staffers struggle with unfamiliar on-site systems. In one case, employees hired for fully remote positions now find themselves conducting private meetings from parked cars outside agency buildings due to inadequate workspace. Ironically, many are still using Microsoft Teams and other virtual tools — only now with more stress, less efficiency, and significantly higher overhead.


At least some agencies are paying attention. The FDA recently reversed course, telling drug, vaccine, device, biotech, and tobacco reviewers that they may telework up to two days a week — a concession outlined in an internal email and confirmed by multiple employees. The retreat follows a turbulent overhaul of the agency’s workforce under the Trump administration: roughly 3,400 employees — about 15 percent of the FDA — were laid off or pushed out, wiping out entire policy, communications, and inspection‑support offices and sparking further resignations that threatened critical tasks such as approving new medicines.