Ernst introduced on Thursday the Decentralizing and Reorganizing Agency Infrastructure Nationwide to Harness Efficient Services, Workforce Administration, and Management Practices Act, otherwise known as the DRAIN THE SWAMP Act. The bill would direct the Office of Management and Budget to relocate at least 30% of all federal workers headquartered in the capital around the country.

“Actions speak louder than words, and bureaucrats have sent a resounding message that they don’t want to work in Washington,” Ernst said. “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.”

For the remaining employees, remote work would be eliminated, requiring them to show up in the office. The OMB would also be directed to sell excess headquarters office space so that all employees showing up would take up 100% of office space.

The bill follows Ernst’s previous bill, which would relocate 30% of the Small Business Administration’s workforce around the country, followed by the end of telework and the sale of excess office space.

The SBA bill chose 30% of the workforce after it said that even if 100% of employees came to work in person in Washington, D.C., only about two-thirds of headquarters capacity would be used. The data from the SBA is now being applied across the federal government workforce in Washington, D.C.

The moving of a large portion of the SBA workforce, and now a portion of the entire federal government workforce based out of Washington, D.C., would serve to “promote geographical diversity, including consideration of rural markets,” and “ensure adequate staffing throughout the regions of the Administration, to promote in-person customer service,” the bill reads.

“If mom-and-pop shops had the work ethic of SBA bureaucrats, they would be forced to close immediately,” Ernst said about the SBA proposal, with her argument now applying across the board. “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 made eliminating government waste a central part of her tenure, aligning with the Department of Government Efficiency to implement her agenda.

At the first DOGE caucus meeting earlier this month, she released a detailed report outlining the extent and effects of telework.

The report outlined the costs associated with federal workers working from home. Three percent of the federal workforce teleworked daily before COVID-19, according to the report. Now, only 6% of workers report in-person full-time, with a third entirely remote. Ernst’s report warned that telework led to slacking, with workers reportedly caught in leisurely activities while working.

It said $8 billion is spent yearly maintaining and leasing government office buildings and $7.7 billion on the energy to keep them running. The government owns 7,697 vacant buildings and another 2,265 partially empty buildings.