Sen. Ernst Demands Agencies End Talks With Unions on New Work-From-Home Deals

Cost-cutters looking to eliminate wasteful government spending are taking aim at teleworking bureaucrats.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) speaks to reporters as she walks to a Senate luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Nov. 19, 2024. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) told Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials on Dec. 10 to stop negotiations with federal employee unions on new agreements that would extend costly teleworking rules for five years.

“It has come to my attention that you and Chief Human Capital Officer [Lori] Michalski are allegedly today engaging in discussions with federal employee unions representing HUD to extend the current labor agreement concerning teleworking [to 2029],” Ernst told Acting Deputy HUD Secretary Elizabeth de León Bhargava.