At the start of the year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order mandating all federal workers end remote work and return to the office full-time. Since then, thousands of employees have been subjected to a rushed process that has evolved into an untenable working environment, pushing many to their limits.
'Plummeting' productivity and morale
Some early reports of the return-to-office process highlighted the "initial confusion and disarray" caused by "forcing tens of thousands of employees back to the office all at once," said Wired. Weeks later, employees say the "situation is getting worse." Despite claims that the mandate would lead to productivity increases and financial savings, employees say it has resulted in "widespread chaos, plummeting productivity and significantly reduced services to the public."
For some federal employees, returning to the office has meant an "expansion of their duties to include cleaning toilets and taking out the trash," said The New York Times. For others, it means "commuting to a federal building only to continue doing their work through videoconferencing."
Spending freezes have exacerbated logistical issues like a lack of Wi-Fi, shortages of supplies like toilet paper, or insufficient desk space or furniture for everyone. The "lack of planning and coordination by the administration" has led to "confusion, plummeting morale and more inefficiency," said the Times.
'Constant concern'
Employees directly affected by the chaotic return to in-person work express fear over what comes next. The looming threat of a reduction in force, or RIF, "remains a constant concern for employees as they return to federal offices," said the Times. There's a lot of "very dark humor at the office," a Treasury employee said to Wired. Many are "expecting to get RIFed or fired or something, but we are just waiting." Until then, it's "business as usual while everything is on fire."
.webp)
For some, the return-to-office push falls in line with what they see as an "effort to drive them to the point of quitting," because at the same time, agencies are "planning large-scale job cuts at the direction of the Trump administration," said NPR. It has "seemed like an arbitrary punishment to lower morale," a Maryland FDA employee said to NPR.
Despite President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs causing economic calamity and potentially harming millions of Americans, his congressional backers remain in the White House's corner. But some Republican lawmakers are beginning to cautiously speak out.
What did the commentators say?
Republican lawmakers have expressed "varying degrees of shock and alarm" at the "scale" of Trump's sweeping global tariffs, said The Hill. Many of Trump's latest tariffs have been "met with skepticism from even his strongest allies on Capitol Hill." Worried about a "brutal week ahead," a "growing number" of Republican lawmakers are joining bills designed to "rebuke Trump's tariff strategy," said Politico.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been "raking in surprising praise from his Democratic colleagues" for pushing back on Trump's apparent "overreach" into Congress' constitutionally allotted power of the purse, said The Washington Post. Congressional efforts to curtail tariffs are a "win-win situation" for Democrats, said James Downie at MSNBC. If Republicans block those bills, Democrats can "hang those votes around GOP necks next fall."
Already "unpopular with the American public in general," Trump's tariffs are "even more unpopular" with his 2024 supporters, said Vox. "I don't know if I would be this worried about what will happen to the economy if Bernie f---ing Sanders were president," said one "big Trump and Republican Party donor" to Rolling Stone.
What next?
For many Republicans, Trump's tariffs are a "risk like no other," said The New York Times. If the "economic fallout" from these market-roiling measures is "bad enough," leading to previously safe red states looking "plausibly competitive" ahead of the midterms, GOP support for Trump "could be in jeopardy." Trump's tariffs are like a "long ball deep into the end zone," said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on his "Verdict" podcast this week. If the lasting impact is a "bad recession," then the 2026 midterms would be a bloodbath" for Republicans.
For now, however, GOP defections from Trump's tariff agenda are relatively rare. House Republicans are "going to give" Trump the "space necessary to do it," said Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to reporters. "We'll see how it all develops."
What did the commentators say?
Republican lawmakers have expressed "varying degrees of shock and alarm" at the "scale" of Trump's sweeping global tariffs, said The Hill. Many of Trump's latest tariffs have been "met with skepticism from even his strongest allies on Capitol Hill." Worried about a "brutal week ahead," a "growing number" of Republican lawmakers are joining bills designed to "rebuke Trump's tariff strategy," said Politico.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been "raking in surprising praise from his Democratic colleagues" for pushing back on Trump's apparent "overreach" into Congress' constitutionally allotted power of the purse, said The Washington Post. Congressional efforts to curtail tariffs are a "win-win situation" for Democrats, said James Downie at MSNBC. If Republicans block those bills, Democrats can "hang those votes around GOP necks next fall."
Already "unpopular with the American public in general," Trump's tariffs are "even more unpopular" with his 2024 supporters, said Vox. "I don't know if I would be this worried about what will happen to the economy if Bernie f---ing Sanders were president," said one "big Trump and Republican Party donor" to Rolling Stone.
What next?
For many Republicans, Trump's tariffs are a "risk like no other," said The New York Times. If the "economic fallout" from these market-roiling measures is "bad enough," leading to previously safe red states looking "plausibly competitive" ahead of the midterms, GOP support for Trump "could be in jeopardy." Trump's tariffs are like a "long ball deep into the end zone," said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on his "Verdict" podcast this week. If the lasting impact is a "bad recession," then the 2026 midterms would be a bloodbath" for Republicans.
For now, however, GOP defections from Trump's tariff agenda are relatively rare. House Republicans are "going to give" Trump the "space necessary to do it," said Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to reporters. "We'll see how it all develops."
