DOGE backs RTO | Musk and Ramaswamy target federal payroll with five-day return-to-office push

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have adding further detail to their proposed changes to the federal workforce, including mandatory five-day, in-office schedules, and significant staff reductions.

The proposals are part of with their vision for a streamlined Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), set to lead cost-cutting initiatives when Donald Trump takes office in January.

In a typically blunt joint statement this week, Musk and Ramaswamy emphasized the need to end what they called “the COVID-era privilege of working from home” for federal employees, adding that returning to in-person work would naturally lead to headcount reductions.

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“If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them,” the duo argued, continuing to position themselves as champions of workplace accountability and government cost efficiency.