House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen. Joni Ernst got fact-checked on their false claims about federal workers’ telework program, and the result is not pretty.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., claimed, falsely, that only 1% of federal workers show up to work in the office. Johnson’s statement set the Truth-O-Meter afire when PolitiFact fact-checked his statement. His fact-free claim earned him a “Pants on Fire” rating, which is reserved for the falsest of false claims.
Johnson appeared to cite a new telework report put together by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, which itself has been fact-checked and flagged for its misinformation and inaccuracies by reporters.
Ernst, who also chairs the new DOGE Caucus, named after Trump’s newly created government commission, claimed falsely that 6% of federal workers work in the office. She based her report on an online survey of a tiny fraction of federal employees by Federal News Network, which has said the survey was non-scientific and should not be used to draw conclusions about the federal program.
Indeed, Federal News Network’s survey conflicted with a nearly 3,000-page report to Congress released earlier this year by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
These misstatements from lawmakers are just an attempt at tarnishing the reputations of civil servants to make it easier to fire them and privatize their jobs. As one appointee in the incoming administration described the strategy related to federal employees, “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains.”
AFGE believes that the patriotic citizens who serve their country in the government deserve dignity, fairness, and respect – not to be made the scapegoats of a political narrative. We also believe facts matter, and that lawmakers should be guided by the facts when making decisions that affect the lives of their constituents.
Here are some facts about federal workers and telework:
President Donald J. Trump spent his first day in office issuing a slew of executive orders directly targeting federal workers.
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AFGE, Public Citizen, and State Democracy Defenders Fund (SDDF) filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for violating a law requiring that an advisory committee such as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) be fairly balanced in its membership and points of view.
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A new bill has been introduced in the House and Senate to give federal employees a 4.3% raise next year as a way to close the pay gap between the federal and private sectors.
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