Almost half of all federal workers support Trump’s return-to-office mandate, a new survey found

• Federal workers appear to be split on Trump’s return-to-office executive order.
• A Washington Post-Ipsos survey found that 49% of federal workers back the order while 50% oppose it.
• The order had long been a priority for Trump, who is working to pare down the federal workforce.

Federal workers appear to be split on President Donald Trump’s return-to-office mandate, a new survey found.

The survey, conducted by Washington Post-Ipsos, showed that 49% of current civilian federal workers support Trump’s executive order. About 50% oppose the measure, which mandates that workers come into the office full-time.

For many workers accustomed to COVID-era working arrangements, the need to now commute has disrupted their work-life balance. Some workers say they have arrived at offices starved for workspaces. Others have lamented the financial costs of the return-to-office order, especially for those who moved away from the Washington area because of their ability to telework.

Overall, 95% of the more than 600 civilian federal workers polled said they were proud of their work from the past five years. Almost 90% of respondents said their respective agency has been a “good” place to work, while 11% said it has been “bad.”

However, with the new administration has come shifting attitudes. Only 67% of respondents said their agency would now be a good place to work, while 31% felt the opposite.

The poll also found that 57% of current federal workers believe Trump’s executive actions to remake the government are illegal. More than 40% said the president’s executive actions are legal.

Trump’s return-to-office mandate and broader cost-cutting efforts from Elon Musk and the White House DOGE office have roiled much of the federal workforce in Washington — as well as many federal employees who work far away from the nation’s capital.

Most federal workers don’t work in the DC area, but they have a disproportionate impact on the region’s economy, given the plethora of departments headquartered in the city and the services and businesses that those workers support.

Musk himself has been highly critical of remote work in the federal government, extending his corporate philosophy, which he is well-known for among employees at Tesla and X, to the government.