Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s bizarre absence from work got plenty of attention, but he wasn’t the only government bigwig who’s gone MIO — missing in office.
Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Republican, said Mr. Austin is an extreme example of a work-from-home culture that has entrenched itself since the pandemic, leaving government buildings empty from the lowest GS-1 employees to Cabinet secretaries.
Ms. Ernst fired off a letter Tuesday demanding the White House get control of the situation before an even bigger mishap.
“Three years into the Biden administration, it is clear: The federal workforce — and major players in the Biden administration — are taking their lead from President Joe Biden, who has spent about 40 percent of his time in office on vacation,” the senator wrote.
She said Pentagon colleagues reportedly were told Mr. Austin was working from home while he was secretly in the hospital.
“If true, this begs the question, is Secretary Austin working from home so frequently that he can disappear into the hospital for an entire week to undergo invasive surgery, and folks simply just think he’s working from home again?” she said. “When department secretaries do work from home, are they as nonresponsive as someone under general anesthesia?”
Ms. Ernst said Mr. Biden is setting the tone that employees like Mr. Austin are following. She noted that the president keeps a limited public schedule while in town, spending nearly 40% of last year out of the White House. While Mr. Austin was off the grid, Mr. Biden was sunning in St. Croix.
Mr. Austin’s deputy defense secretary, meanwhile, was running the ship from Puerto Rico.
Ms. Ernst also pointed to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who she said went “missing for months at a time” from his job, refusing to even take a call from the Senate’s senior Republican.
As another example by the Iowa senator, General Services Administration chief Robin Carnahan spent most of her time working from Missouri rather than Washington.
Ms. Ernst said that behavior from bigwigs undermined White House Budget Director Shalanda Young’s plans to get the federal workforce back in their seats post-pandemic.
“I am left drawing the unavoidable conclusion that the ‘tone at the top’ across the Biden administration has undercut your efforts,” the senator told Ms. Young in a letter.
The White House does appear to be taking the issue seriously — at least for rank-and-file employees. White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told agency and department heads last week he wants them tracking how their offices are getting employees back in the office, according to a report by Axios.
“Some of your agencies are not where they need to be,” Mr. Zients said in an email, according to Axios.
Ms. Ernst said the White House should demand the same accountability of the agency heads themselves.
She suggested Ms. Young order them to publish their schedules online so the public can see where they are working. The senator also said Ms. Young’s Office of Management and Budget should audit the schedule quarterly to avoid mishaps like Mr. Austin’s.
“Yes, agency heads, we want to know what you’re doing and where you’re working from,” Ms. Ernst told reporters on Tuesday.
She has been on a mission to shame government employees back into offices.
She recently released secret government data showing abysmal occupancy rates for the headquarters of major federal agencies.
The GSA’s occupancy rate was just 11%, while the Social Security Administration and Housing and Urban Development Department were the worst at 7% occupancy rates.
The best performer was the State Department, which still didn’t top a 50% occupancy rate.
The GSA’s inspector general has opened an investigation into that agency’s use of telework and whether it’s harming government services.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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