Even more federal employees in Maryland will need to start commuting again after the Trump administration issued an updated telework policy, which doubles down on workers returning to the office.

The policy, released at the end of 2025, says the government should take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require people to show up in the office full-time.

The policy is a reiteration of the Trump administration’s guidance last year that lessened telework options.

Now, the government will use telework sparingly, according to the memo.

“While telework and remote work can be an effective tool to ensure the continuity of Federal Government operations in emergencies, such work arrangements should generally not be used in a manner that would permit Federal employees to avoid working full-time, in-person from an agency worksite absent approved exemptions,” the guidance states.

The change is a move away from previous administrations, which embraced telework arrangements, especially post-COVID.

Michael Fallings, a managing partner at Tully Rinckey, said telework has largely been a benefit to the government.

“The overall information I've seen has that telework has not negatively impacted the government functioning, and in fact, it's allowed the government to function better by people having more flexible schedules, and allowed work product to even get done faster by people avoiding having to commute and being able to work in their optimal settings,” Fallings said.

Federal agencies have had telework policies and agreements with employees for 15 years.

While most workers were teleworking during the pandemic, a report published in 2024 by the Office of Management and Budget found that teleworking federal employees now spent about 60% of their time in the office.

That’s on par with the teleworking statistics across private industry.

The Office of Personnel Management has produced numerous studies that show federal teleworking improves morale, retention and stress.

Some agencies have done studies that showed productivity increases or stays the same when people telework because they have more flexibility.

There are about 300,000 federal workers who live in the D.C., Maryland, Virginia area.

But even more commute in from West Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Those extra people on the road could add more of a headache for everyone as more cars clog up the highways. In Baltimore, the lack of the Francis Scott Key Bridge also puts a snarl in things as it limits routes to leave and enter the city.