Federal workers face chaos, crowding and cleaning toilets as Trump forces full return to office

Federal workers face chaos as Trump forces full return to office

A rushed and chaotic return-to-office order issued by US President Donald Trump has thrown the federal workforce into turmoil. Employees describe overcrowded buildings, shortages of basic supplies, unsafe conditions—and in some cases, being asked to clean toilets. The policy, part of a sweeping overhaul led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, aims to shrink the government by pushing workers to quit or retire. But instead, it has sparked confusion, inefficiency, and plummeting morale across agencies, the New York Times reported.

Workers return to confusion, no desks or supplies

Since January, when Trump returned to office and signed the order to end remote and hybrid work arrangements, hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been summoned back to buildings that often aren’t prepared to receive them. At the FDA’s White Oak campus outside Washington, lines snaked around the block, parking was full, bathrooms ran out of toilet paper, and even the cafeteria ran short on food. Some workers with the CDC were directed to overflow buildings without desks and told to work on laptops using spotty Wi-Fi.

The CDC’s Atlanta campus was already over capacity before the pandemic, part of a decade-long plan to reduce its physical footprint by expanding remote work. That plan has now been scrapped. Employees say it can take up to 90 minutes to get out of the parking lot.

No planning, no consistency, and nowhere to sit

In many agencies, there was little or no notice before return dates. At the IRS, workers showed up only to be told to go home. Some sat on the floor because their cubicles had been taken. Others said their managers contacted them the weekend before their start date to reverse course and tell them to stay remote—only to later be penalized for noncompliance.

At the Forest Service, workers who were hired into remote jobs were told to find any federal building within 50 miles and report there, even if it had nothing to do with their agency. Many are now sitting in unfamiliar buildings on unstable Wi-Fi, still holding virtual meetings like they did from home—but with less privacy and more distractions.

Toilets, layoffs and low morale

Budget freezes and mass layoffs have created another unexpected consequence: janitorial services have been slashed, and some workers are now expected to clean bathrooms and take out the trash themselves. A Forest Service employee said this has caused productivity to drop sharply: “Instead of doing the work I was hired for, I’m scrubbing toilets.”

The return-to-office mandate applies even to employees who were hired into permanent remote roles with government documentation listing their home address as their duty station. And while the Biden administration had supported hybrid schedules, Trump’s order now requires full-time in-person work—even as layoffs loom across departments.

Driven by ideology, not efficiency

Trump has made clear he views the return-to-office mandate as a tool to force resignations. “We think a very substantial number of people will not show up to work, and therefore our government will get smaller and more efficient,” he said.

But federal workers say the policy has had the opposite effect—creating inefficiency, wasted time, and a work environment defined by chaos and fear. The changes are part of a broader strategy led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is overseeing layoffs, contract freezes, and bulk firings with a stated goal of shrinking the federal workforce.

Yet, despite its name, DOGE’s efforts have been anything but efficient. The agency has pushed contradictory mandates, reversed hiring and firing decisions following court rulings, and failed to provide adequate office infrastructure for the nearly one million employees affected.

Families, childcare and job insecurity

Beyond the workplace, the sudden shift has thrown federal families into disarray. Parents are scrambling to adjust school pickup and aftercare plans. Some employees are being asked to move across the country without knowing whether their jobs will still exist next month.

One VA doctor said her workdays are now spent organizing seating charts and sorting out equipment logistics—tasks she never trained for. “It’s hours of lost time every week,” she said. “And we’re still not sure who will be laid off next.”

A federal workforce in limbo

According to agency updates, roughly 85% of Treasury staff, 68% of EPA employees in Washington, and tens of thousands at Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department have already returned. But many more are still waiting—unsure of when or where to report, or whether their jobs are safe at all.

The return-to-office order has also ignored union agreements that allowed for remote work, raising legal questions that may soon end up in court.

For now, the only certainty for federal employees is uncertainty. As one IRS worker put it: “We’re back in the office. But no one knows what comes next.”