#a16z Co-founder Pushes for Federal Employee Return to Office#

a16z co-founder Marc Andreessen recently said on a podcast that the Department of Efficiency and Effectiveness (DOGE) plans to push for more federal employees to return to the office, noting that federal office buildings in Washington, D.C., are currently at an average of only 25% occupancy. He pointed out that many federal employees are only working from the office one or two days per month, with some employees even going two months without setting foot in the office, questioning whether this model is consistent with the requirements of federal employment. Andreessen also mentioned that DOGE's priorities include streamlining staffing, cutting government spending and simplifying regulations, saying that the team has "very smart ideas" in these areas. He also questioned whether the president has the authority to require federal employees to return to the office, and said that the current prevalence of remote work poses challenges to work efficiency. Previously, Trump advisors Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy had proposed cutting $2 trillion in "government waste", with reports showing that only 6% of federal employees work in the office regularly, and Musk even pointed out that after security and maintenance personnel are excluded, the percentage of full-time office workers may be as low as 1%.