President Donald Trump just signed an executive order banning federal telework, while Republicans in Congress have turned federal telework into a political target, claiming it wastes taxpayer dollars, undermines productivity, and leaves government office buildings vacant.

A Jan. 15 House oversight committee hearing, accompanied by a 41-page report ominously titled “The Lights Are On, But Everyone Is at Home,” argued that telework arrangements from the pandemic era persisted unnecessarily under the Biden administration. Chairman James Comer (R-KY) went so far as to call telework a “perk” for federal workers, blaming it for inefficiencies and billions in wasted office space. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, echoed calls to end telework under the Trump administration.