Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote a joint letter to the Trump administration urging them to not prematurely reopen Federal offices.
Each of us have made tough decisions about which employees in our governments are performing essential roles and must still report to work locations, and which staff can telework,” they wrote. “This is a hard balancing act between ensuring the continuation of critical government functions and ensuring the safety and well-being of employees. But we know that the Trump Administration can similarly make these appropriate judgements, and we hope the Federal telework posture is reflective of our own local operating statuses.”
Bowser, Northam, and Hogan note that the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area maintains a large workforce of Federal employees and have over 360,000 Federal employees currently teleworking. They also highlight that President Trump stated in his “Opening Up America Again” guidelines from last week that employers should encourage telework during Phase One and Phase Two.
“We encourage the administration to help ensure the safety of the Federal workforce and our residents as we work together to fight this pandemic,” they wrote. “Failure to do so could lead to a rise in cases and delay our ability to re-open the region.”
