Petty federal workers reveal their ‘revenge’ plot after Trump’s executive order axes work from home
Spiteful federal government workers have vowed to boycott struggling mom-and-pop businesses near their offices after Donald Trump banned remote working.
In a now-deleted Reddit post titled ‘Boycott using local businesses around work site if forced back to office, several federal discussed how to fight back against Trump’s order.
‘For those that end up being forced back to their respective offices I would avoid patronizing the local businesses in those areas,’ the original poster said.
‘Bring your own lunch to avoid using the eateries and grocery stores, avoid parking in pay parking (use mass transit if available), and don’t buy anything at the shops or has stations.’
It is unclear how these forms of ‘protest’ would in any way affect or impede the government bosses forcing the angry workers back into the office.
Meanwhile a worker at a DMV in DC named Katie said on TikTok that Trump’s back to the office order has only made her and her colleagues less efficient.
She said: ‘As a government employee, what’s so ironic about all of this s**t going on with Trump making us go in person five days a week to promote efficiency….
‘because of all of this we are yapping more at work, trying to digest everything that’s going on, we cannot get any work done because of how much information intake that existing in this administration requires.’
Democratic DC mayor Muriel Bowser said she supported Trump’s order because it would bring more people to the downtown economy; she has previously tied a decline in retail and office space revenue to a lack of federal workers in their offices.
A worker at a DMV in DC named Katie said on TikTok that Trump’s back to the office order has only made her and her colleagues less efficient
Some federal employees have revealed their plans to boycott businesses near their work sites after the Trump administration ordered them back to the office
But the federal workers who left comments under the reddit post said it was not up to them to revitalize the capital’s economy, noting a return to the office would mean more costs for them.
One comment read: ‘On principle, I will bring my lunch (or starve) every day rather than give a dime to DC businesses if this is part of the justification. Boycott DC needs to become a thing for all feds ASAP.’
Another said: ‘Local economy was one of the reasons stated in that OPM memo. That’s one of the few things we can control here, and they showed their hand. It’s your choice if you want to nod along and save their local economies like OPM wants.
Randy Erwin, the national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, is against the order to return to the office
‘Personally, I think they can all go to hell. If we are going down, I am more than happy to take them down with us.’
A third added: ‘And I don’t recall seeing “keep the local businesses afloat” in my job description.’
President Donald Trump has ordered federal workers to return to the office five days a week and weakened job protections for civil servants, the first salvoes in his campaign to gut the federal bureaucracy.
The one-two punch would force large numbers of white-collar government employees to forfeit remote working arrangements, reversing a trend that took off in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Randy Erwin, the national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, told Business Insider he was against the order to return to the office.
‘There’s this myth that federal workers aren’t coming to work,’ adding it is ‘a bunch of political BS.’
Erwin slammed Elon Musk, who has been assigned to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and has promoted a return to the office for federal workers.
He said Musk does not understand how the federal government works and sees its employees ‘innovation-blocking bureaucrats.’
‘I don’t think he knows the first thing about the federal workforce, who they are, where they are, and the valuable services that they provide,’ Erwin added.
Erwin slammed Elon Musk, who has been assigned to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
In a brief statement posted to the White House website, Trump ordered all heads of departments and agencies to ‘take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary.’
A second statement said that any power government officials have ‘is delegated by the President, and they must be accountable to the President.’
Experts say the aggregate effect of the changes will be to drive frustrated government employees out of their jobs, a goal the Trump team is explicitly gunning for.
Musk – who chairs DOGE – recently predicted that revoking ‘the COVID-era privilege’ of telework would trigger ‘a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome.’
