Earlier this month, a Department of Agriculture employee who works remotely was given a list of possible locations for their upcoming mandatory return to office. One location was described as a “storage unit.”
NPR: “Federal workers have been ordered back into offices only to face shortages of desks, computer monitors, parking and even toilet paper. Others are still waiting to find out if they will be assigned to a building near where they live or asked to relocate across the country in the coming weeks.”
“Some civil servants say the return-to-office mandate feels like an indirect way to get them to quit, and flies in the face of a years-long push by the federal government, predating the COVID pandemic, to encourage teleworking.”
Workers are attempting to comply with the Trump’s Return to Work order issued Jan. 20th only to find they don’t have offices or supplies to return to. The result has been chaos and added expense to taxpayers as utilities, office furniture and supplies are replaced.
To make matters worse, according to RawStory, workers are even being forced to supply their own hygiene products, including toilet paper. At one base, “supplies are so scarce that they have to bring their own toilet paper and paper towels,” said a DOD report. “To help out undermanned cleaning crews struggling to keep up with germ-riddled bathrooms and dirty workspaces, employees are told to pack up their trash and take it home with them.”
All the employees [from the FDA] told the AP that they brought their own drinking water Monday. That’s due to a monthslong issue involving Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, which was detected at several FDA buildings. The General Service Administration, which oversees federal buildings, has been working on the issue since last summer.
Meanwhile, in order to increase chaos, Trump is trying to block rehiring, and Elon has clogged his government inbox, now full, with “5 bullet points” emails.
NPR March 26, 2025
