The Swamp is in desperate need of draining. This GOP lawmaker may finally have the solution to it.
And the Washington, D.C. Swamp is on fire after this Republican senator announces a new bill to drain it.
Sen. Joni Ernst Proposes Bill to Relocate 30% of Federal Workforce Nationwide
Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) has introduced a bold new legislative proposal aimed at redistributing federal agency workforces currently centralized in Washington, D.C.
The Decentralizing and Reorganizing Agency Infrastructure Nationwide to Harness Efficient Services, Workforce Administration, and Management Practices Act—or the DRAIN THE SWAMP Act—seeks to relocate at least 30% of federal employees headquartered in the nation’s capital to various locations across the United States.
“Actions speak louder than words, and bureaucrats have sent a resounding message that they don’t want to work in Washington,” Ernst explained. “In the Christmas spirit, I am happy to make their wish reality by relocating them. DOGE has a lot of work to do and draining the swamp is a great place to start.”
Under the proposed legislation, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) would oversee the effort to decentralize federal agency workforces, ensuring the reassignment of a significant portion of employees to regions across the country.
For those employees who remain in Washington, remote work would be eliminated, requiring full in-office attendance. Additionally, the bill mandates the sale of unused or underutilized federal office space, ensuring all office facilities operate at full capacity.
This initiative builds upon Ernst’s earlier legislative efforts, including a bill targeting the relocation of 30% of the Small Business Administration (SBA) workforce.
The rationale behind the SBA bill was rooted in data showing that even with full in-person attendance, only two-thirds of the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters capacity would be utilized. Ernst is now applying that framework to the broader federal workforce.
The proposed relocations aim to “promote geographical diversity, including consideration of rural markets,” and to “ensure adequate staffing throughout the regions of the Administration, to promote in-person customer service,” as stated in the bill. Ernst argues that redistributing federal employees would bring them closer to the communities they serve, fostering a stronger connection to the public.
“If mom-and-pop shops had the work ethic of SBA bureaucrats, they would be forced to close immediately,” Ernst said in support of her SBA proposal.
She emphasized the need for federal agencies to emulate the customer-first approach of small businesses, stating, “Connecting with an agency employee should not be a rare occurrence worthy of celebrating. There is no better way to fix the broken culture at the SBA than to bring them closer to the people they serve so that they perform more like a family business and less like a bloated bureaucracy.”
Ernst has long championed initiatives aimed at curbing government waste. Through her work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), she has consistently pushed for reforms to streamline federal operations.
Earlier this month, during the first DOGE caucus meeting, Ernst released a detailed report highlighting the financial and operational impacts of telework in federal agencies.
According to the report, telework has surged since the COVID-19 pandemic, with only 6% of federal workers now reporting to the office full-time and one-third working entirely remotely.
The report pointed to concerning trends, including instances of workers engaging in non-work-related activities while on the clock. It also detailed the financial burden of maintaining underused office spaces, estimating that the federal government spends $8 billion annually on leasing and maintaining office buildings and an additional $7.7 billion on energy costs.
Moreover, it noted the existence of nearly 8,000 vacant government buildings and over 2,000 partially empty facilities.
By decentralizing federal workforces and reducing excess office space, Ernst’s DRAIN THE SWAMP Act seeks to address these inefficiencies while fostering a more geographically diverse federal workforce. The proposal reflects her broader mission to make government more efficient, accountable, and connected to the people it serves.
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