The Trump administration is making a rare exception to its strict office-return policy for federal workers during preparations for the president’s military birthday parade.
Tanks and thousands of soldiers will be in Washington, D.C., Saturday—which is Trump’s 79th birthday—for a huge $45 million parade in honor of the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary. Trump, who ordered federal agencies to scrap remote working in one of his first actions of his second term, is seemingly happy to relax those rules for his special occasion.
The administration advised federal agencies to allow situational telework from Wednesday to Friday, according to a memo seen by Politico.
“To help alleviate traffic congestion, prevent disruptions to preparation activities, and minimize any distractions to law enforcement and security officials, agencies [are reminded of] their authority to approve situational/unscheduled telework and other workforce flexibilities for impacted employees at their sole discretion,” the Office of Personnel Management said in the memo, which was circulated last week.
Workers at the United States Department of Agriculture, meanwhile, have been asked to work remotely even longer, with the agency’s D.C. office temporarily converted into a barracks for soldiers.
USDA workers will be forced to work from home for up to three weeks, according to Politico. An internal email recommended “maximum telework” while the department’s South Building is in restricted access from June 1 until June 20, the report added.
“It’s hypocritical for this administration to encourage telework when it’s convenient for the planning of President Trump’s birthday party, after forcing workers back into office under baseless claims of reduced productivity while working remotely,” Everett Kelly, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, told Politico.
On the day of Trump’s inauguration in January, the White House hailed his order ending remote work as a means to improve the “accountability of government bureaucrats.”
“Nobody’s going to work from home, they’re going to be going out, they’re going to play tennis, they’re going to play golf,” Trump said of remote workers in February. “They’re going to do a lot of things. They’re not working.”
