Incrementalism Won't Cut It: Why Senator Joni Ernst's Federal Workforce 'Reform' Misses the Mark
Senator Joni Ernst has put herself forward as the face of the Senate DOGE caucus, leading a campaign to combat inefficiency in the federal workforce. However, instead of bringing in the necessary shake-up, Ernst has chosen to walk the path of caution, preferring incremental steps rather than the radical reform the situation calls for.
The truth about the federal workforce is stark: a vast majority of employees are no longer at their desks. Out of the entire workforce, a paltry 6% actually show up at their offices full-time. And if we exclude security guards and maintenance staff, the number of government employees who come to work every day and put in a full 40 hours is closer to 1%. The work-from-home culture has redefined public service into something that barely resembles actual service at all. Meanwhile, these ghost towns—taxpayer-funded buildings across Washington—stand mostly empty, even as the American people continue to pay for their upkeep. Senator Ernst has done well to spotlight some of these absurdities, but her solutions remain far too timid.
Take, for example, her idea of dispersing federal offices to cities like Omaha or Des Moines. In theory, it's not a bad idea—distribute the bureaucracy more evenly across the country. In practice, this kind of decentralization would take years, perhaps even decades, to achieve. And in the meantime, the core problem remains: government employees refusing to show up and do their jobs. Ernst also proposes tying work-from-home privileges to employee performance, a notion that sounds practical but, upon closer inspection, falls short. Our best performers should not be working remotely, hidden away. They should be in the office, setting standards and motivating their peers, creating a culture of excellence—something remote work simply cannot foster.
The real solution involves more than just incentives; it requires consequences. Some experts estimate that forcing a return to office life could drive 20% to 30% of the federal workforce to seek other employment. This is not a downside—it’s an opportunity. The federal government has become bloated, a massive entity unresponsive to the people it serves, and a workforce reduction is precisely the kind of outcome needed to trim the fat and bring the bureaucracy back to functional size.
Senator Ernst's current approach, unfortunately, epitomizes a typical establishment Republican—small, incremental improvements that, while superficially well-intentioned, lack the forcefulness required to bring about genuine change. It's the kind of halfway measure that treats bureaucracy like an unsolvable condition—to be managed and tolerated rather than decisively confronted. Her reluctance to go after the inefficiencies with more than kid gloves exemplifies why so many in the base are losing patience with traditional GOP leadership.
Her opposition to reformers like Pete Hegseth and Matt Gaetz only underscores her unwillingness to embrace the necessary upheaval. She has actively resisted Hegseth's prospective appointment as Secretary of Defense and undermined Gaetz’s potential role as Attorney General. Both of these men are willing to challenge the stagnant norms of federal governance, yet Ernst seems all too comfortable maintaining the status quo—perhaps fearing what real reform would entail for her and her allies.
The newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), under the guidance of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, has been vocal about eliminating waste and inefficiency. Senator Ernst has pledged to work with DOGE to overturn a recent Biden administration deal allowing 42,000 Social Security workers to continue working remotely for another five years. Ernst expressed her outrage on X, writing: "On its way out the door, the Biden admin is locking in telework for 42,000 @SocialSecurity bureaucrats until AFTER President Trump leaves office! Unacceptable! I'll be working with @elonmusk @VivekGRamaswamy, and @DOGE to fix this ASAP and get bureaucrats back to work." It’s a commendable statement, but I would caution Musk and Ramaswamy about trusting politicians like Ernst who talk tough but act with all the urgency of a sloth.
Study after study confirms what common sense already tells us: mass telework in government is inefficient. The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research found a 10% to 20% drop in productivity among remote workers, largely due to reduced collaboration and communication. Forbes and Harvard Business Review add to the litany of criticism—highlighting increased stress, poorer sleep, and communication breakdowns as endemic to remote work culture. And yet, Senator Ernst continues to hesitate, to delay, to tiptoe where only boldness will suffice.
The federal government’s problem is not a lack of resources or intelligence; it is the lack of accountability and the culture of lethargy that has seeped into its core. Incremental solutions won’t solve this. We need federal workers in the office—every day, 8 to 5—the same as every other hard-working American taxpayer. And if making that happen causes one-third of them to quit? All the better. The problem with the federal workforce isn’t that we have too few employees; it’s that we have too many, and too few of them are actually working.
Ernst's brand of reform falls flat because it lacks the willingness to be disruptive. She still views herself as a reformer, but real reform is neither gentle nor comfortable. Real reform shakes the foundations. If Senator Ernst cannot bring herself to take these steps—if she cannot truly ally herself with President Trump’s bold agenda rather than serving as an obstacle—she will remain what she has always been: a polished voice of the Republican establishment, offering small comforts while the ship sinks.
Elon and Vivek must tread cautiously. The swamp is not limited to Democrats. It’s filled with Republicans too—those who see the problem, know the solution, but lack the courage to enact it. Senator Ernst, for all her rhetoric, risks becoming just another one of those false friends.
If you don't already, please follow me on 𝕏 at https://x.com/amuse or medium.