Sponsor
John Neely Kennedy
Senator · R-LA
Senator · R-LA
The bill pushes agencies to consolidate and dispose of underused federal real estate to lower long‑term costs and improve oversight, but it risks short‑term taxpayer expenses, community economic impacts, mission disruption, and reduced telework flexibility for federal employees.
Taxpayers and the federal government could reduce long‑term property and leasing costs by identifying and disposing of underused federal real estate and by limiting resigning leases for noncompliant properties.
Agencies will be forced to divest vacant or noncompliant properties, which can cut wasteful federal holdings and concentrate resources on needed assets and services.
More consistent in‑person staffing and higher office occupancy can improve interagency coordination and public service delivery.
Federal employees will face reduced telework flexibility and likely longer commutes if agencies must meet strict in‑person occupancy requirements (e.g., five days per week).
Agencies and communities could face abrupt relocations or forced divestments of offices, disrupting services and imposing costs on employees and localities.
Short‑term taxpayer costs could rise because of remediation (e.g., Legionella mitigation), relocations, building retrofits, travel reimbursements, and transaction costs when selling or terminating leases quickly.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Mandates agencies require 80% of employees in-person Mon–Fri and 60% occupancy of usable office space, with disposal or non-renewal of underused federal properties for noncompliance.
Official title: Require Federal agencies to impose in-person work requirements for employees of those agencies and to occupy a certain portion of the office space of those agencies, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 15, 2025 by John Neely Kennedy · Last progress January 15, 2025
Requires federal agencies to force most employees back to full-time in-person work and to occupy most usable office space, with deadlines and penalties for noncompliance. Agencies must change policies within 120 days to require at least 80% of employees in-person Monday–Friday and certify that at least 60% of usable office space is occupied; agencies that cannot meet the space target must submit a plan to reach it within a year or face mandatory disposal or termination of underused property. The measure creates interagency placement expectations, certification requirements by OPM and GSA, a GAO implementation report, and a hard enforcement rule: owned properties must be sold and leases must not be renewed (or must be terminated early where possible) if agencies miss deadlines or fail to reach occupancy targets.