Sen. Joni Ernst is rolling out her next step on Thursday to overhaul the federal workforce as she embraces President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The bill from Ernst, known as the DRAIN THE SWAMP Act, would require each executive agency to relocate at least 30 percent of employees currently working at a Washington, D.C., headquarters to an office located outside of the metro area, according to a copy of the legislation obtained by POLITICO.
For employees remaining at a Washington, D.C. headquarters, the bill would restrict their ability to telework full-time. And it would require the Office of Management and Budget to issue a memorandum directing for the office space of executive agency headquarters located within Washington, D.C., to be reduced by at least 30 percent.
“Not only will we be saving money by relocating federal employees, but we will be moving them closer to the people they serve. The federal workforce is broken, and this is one step forward in getting it back to work,” Ernst said in a statement.
The bill comes a week after Ernst introduced legislation to require the Small Business Administration to relocate at least 30 percent of its headquarters workforce outside of the Washington metro area.
Ernst, who has long focused on cutting federal spending, has embraced Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, including leading the Senate DOGE caucus. She used their first meeting to distribute a report on remote and tele-work.
Trump’s out-of-government effort is tasked with coming up with ways to shrink the size of government and cut spending. It earned early champions in Congress even though its actual authority is murky at best.