WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and colleagues introduced two bills to hold the federal government accountable for managing taxpayer dollars. The Commission to Relocate the Federal Bureaucracy Act would establish a commission to send a report to Congress on moving non-national security related agencies out of the Washington D.C. metropolitan area based on a variety of factors and instruct the commission to develop the report with an aim of relocating at least 100,000 federal employees out of the D.C. metro area.
“Just like agencies such as the FAA is in Oklahoma City, and CDC is in Atlanta, then other federal agencies can be scattered across our nation,” said Dr. Cassidy. “That will work better to connect those agencies with the Americans they are serving and also help other communities benefit from the economic development of having highly skilled workers in their community.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, Republicans have the opportunity to slash wasteful spending and rein in outsized bureaucracy,” said Senator Blackburn. “The DOGE Acts would get the federal government back on track by requiring federal employees to return to the office, move federal agencies into the heartland of America, cut bloated federal spending, lower taxes on social security for seniors, and freeze federal hiring and salaries until we can right size the federal government.”
The Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems (SHOW UP) Act would require government agencies to reinstate their pre-COVID telework policies within 30 days and direct agency heads to submit to Congress a report on the adverse impacts of agencies’ expansion of telework policies for employees during COVID. Further, it would prevent federal agencies from permanently expanding telework without submitting to Congress details on how remote work policies will bolster agency mission performance.
“When someone calls the Social Security office and is put on hold and stays on hold and then the call drops, they understandably believe that if workers were in the office, there would be more oversight and quality control,” said Dr. Cassidy.
Cassidy and Blackburn were joined by U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Pete Rickets (R-NE) in introducing the Commission to Relocate the Federal Bureaucracy Act.
Cassidy and Blackburn were joined by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in introducing the SHOW UP Act.
Background
In January, Cassidy introduced the Federal Employee Return to Work Act would exclude certain federal employees who telework at least one day a week from receiving raises and special locality bonuses for their office location being in a high-cost-of-living area despite working from home.
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