U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) are calling on federal employees to return to their taxpayer-funded offices or get rid of unused office space that continues to lie vacant. In a letter to the General Services Administration (GSA), the senators request GSA to provide data on the daily occupancy rates of federal office spaces to further determine how many federal employees continue to work remotely.

“While I’m at home in Iowa, I travel all 99 counties to meet with my constituents and hear their concerns. When the Senate is in session, I’ll be in Washington making sure I never miss a vote as their federal representative. Meanwhile, Americans get up and go to work each day in the field, factory or their offices spread across the country – all while D.C. bureaucrats sit at home and phone it in,” Grassley said. “The pandemic is over, and there’s no reason for taxpayer-funded offices to sit empty.”

“News reports indicate that Washington, D.C, which has the largest concentration of federal employees in the country, lags behind other large metro areas in employees return to the workplace since the COVID-19 emergency. Federal building occupancy data would better inform the American people and Congress on how federal office space, paid for by taxpayer dollars, is utilized. After all, it is the American people’s money that support these federal buildings,” the senators wrote.

“Federal agencies that use taxpayer money to lease and maintain buildings must utilize the space they are paying for. No taxpayer should have to front the bill for federal agencies to heat and air condition, replace lightbulbs, and take out unused trash bins in empty buildings,” the senators insisted. “The COVID-19 emergency is over, federal employees cannot work from home forever and must return to office space the taxpayer pays for, or we need to get rid of the unused office space.”