EXCLUSIVE: Senator Joni Ernst rolls out a proposal for the Ministry of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that would reduce telework of government employees and sell vacant government office space.
Ernst, R-Iowa, is chairman of the Senate DOGE Caucus and has been working with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy since President-elect Trump tapped them to lead the new agency.
Musk and Ramaswamy will visit Capitol Hill on Thursday to meet with Republican lawmakers to discuss ways to reduce government waste.
MUSK, RAMASWAMY TO DISCUSS DOGE PLANS WITH GOP LAWMAKERS
Senator Joni Ernst speaks during the third episode of The Senate Project at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate on June 12, 2023 in Boston. (Getty Images)
Ernst will roll out her new proposal and a 60-page report at her first Senate DOGE Caucus meeting Thursday morning, where Musk and Ramaswamy are expected to attend.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson will then join Musk and Ramaswamy on Thursday afternoon to hold an event for all Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate, with Ernst in attendance.
Ernst has been investigating the abuse of teleworking for two years and based her recommendations to DOGE on her findings.
First, Ernst proposes that the federal government move the workforce from Washington to the entire country. Ernst proposed legislation that would move the headquarters of non-security government departments and agencies outside Washington to areas with “existing expertise for carrying out the mission and objectives of each.”
MUSK AND RAMASWAMY EXPLAIN DOGE VISION IN WSJ OP-ED: 5 TAKEAWAYS
She also proposed legislation to move at least 30% of employees from Washington, DC, headquarters of non-security government departments and agencies, to field offices in communities across the country.
Ernst also suggested that the White House and executive agencies consider reassigning some staff without any direction from Congress.
Ernst then proposes that Congress set a goal for all federal government agencies to reach 60% daily occupancy of their headquarters, noting that currently no agency is seeing even half capacity.
Trump announced on November 12, 2024 that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would lead the Department of Government Efficiency. (Getty Images)
“There are thousands of other government buildings across the country that are completely empty and unused,” the report said. ‘A large part of this is rented space.
“There is a simple answer,” the report continues. “Use it or lose it!”
Ernst proposed that the General Services Administration “auction vacant, unnecessary, and underutilized buildings and properties without unnecessary strings and conditions.”
She said agencies should “immediately cancel or forfeit $15 million in underutilized leased office space and property.”
“Not a single major agency or department headquarters in the nation’s capital is even half full,” Ernst’s report said. “Government buildings have an average occupancy rate of 12%.”
According to the report, maintaining and leasing government office buildings costs about $8 billion annually, while another $7.7 billion is spent on the energy to keep them running.
Ernst said the government owns 7,697 vacant buildings and another 2,265 that are partially vacant.
She proposed that Congress pass a bipartisan bill, the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act (FASTA) Reform Act, to expand the mission of the Public Buildings Reform Board and identify unused properties for the government to sell.
Senator Joni Ernst speaks to reporters after Senate Republicans’ weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 6, 2024. (Reuters/Bonnie Cash)
She also proposed that Congress pass legislation requiring the “reduction and consolidation of unused space to ensure that all buildings achieve an occupancy rate of 60 percent or greater.”
In the meantime, Ernst suggests that performance will determine whether a federal employee can work from home.
Ernst proposed that Congress pass nearly half a dozen bills that would “make telework transparent and accountable.”
Ernst also noted that federal workers have “padded their paychecks” by claiming they work in higher-wage areas when they actually live elsewhere.
“My audits show that as many as 23 to 68% of some agencies’ telecommuting employees are increasing their salaries by receiving incorrect local compensation,” she said. “Some employees live more than 2,000 miles away from their offices, and a ‘temporary’ telecommuter has received higher local wages for nearly a decade.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Ernst will present her proposal to Musk and Ramaswamy at Thursday’s meeting, after the two said they are largely focused on how DOGE could help identify waste and regulations that can be eliminated through the executive branch.
Republicans will control the White House and both chambers of the legislature President-elect Trump returns to the office in January.
