The executive branch employs 2.1 million people, and many of them are angry about President Donald Trump’s comprehensive return-to-office directive for the national civil labor. The District of Columbia government, a strong blue group of the Democratic coalition, is now demonstrating how slowly it comprehends Trump’s efforts to conserve Washington from economic ruin.
Isolated work rules in place for nearly five years, since the epidemic of the COVID-19 crisis, and in many governmental agencies, dating back a century or so to President Barack Obama’s management, are adversely affecting the local market. D. C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the District of Columbia Council, governing a Democratic behemoth where Trump in 2024 won about 6 % to Democratic rival Kamala Harris‘s 90 %, are unlikely to denigrate the president’s get-federal-workers-back-to-the-office efforts.
D. C. Democrats understand, as national Democrats do certainly, that Trump’s RTO attempt is reviving the city’s sector from the homicidal stupidity of the pandemic panic and its aftermath.
The Monday after Trump signed a return-to-office attempt for professional tree employees, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority posted a postpandemic history of rush-hour ridership, with 92, 000 inhabitants of the DMV riding the Subway between 8 a. m. and 9 a. m., while the D. C. government reported that an influx of income tax revenue increased by 6 % from last year. Restaurant reservations in Washington listed on OpenTable rose by 7 % in February, more than twice the national average, compared to the same period last year.
The consulting firm CBRE’s REVIVE Regional Vibrancy Index for the Washington metro region increased by 2.5 % in the month to date. That brought it 11.5 % higher than the year prior. The figures suggest that local business and development leaders have a good reason to support Trump’s non-consecutive term’s second visit to the White House.
While federal employees may only comprise one-tenth of the metropolitan area’s total workforce, the district’s economy runs downstream of their workday. Federal employees “meeting” on Skype seminars and Zoom synods amounted to employees across industries no longer using their Metro cards to commute into the city, ordering local food from restaurants, stopping by watering holes for happy hour, or attending meetings for “meeting.”
The commercial real estate sector also experienced a decline. Nearly 1 in 4 office spaces remain empty in areas with high concentrations of federal workers, such as the Golden Triangle, which includes the western part of Washington’s business district, running from the White House to the once-heavily foot-trafficked Dupont Circle. That’s a major blow to an area that advertises itself as “home to more than 550 of D. C.’s best restaurants, shops, bars, parks, and more — just minutes from major D. C. attractions”.
Trump’s second White House visit, as crucial as return-to-work conditions are for federal employees, might be a greater gift to the District of Columbia and the country in general. That would reduce the physical size of the federal government. It’s an idea explored by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency in its first month-plus of operations.
The Trump administration and the Democrats in the D.C. government have overlapping goals for replacing worn-out, underutilized federal buildings close to the National Mall. The millions of dollars that are needed to maintain those buildings are a priority for the Trump administration. District leaders also enjoy the opportunity to resurrect federal enclaves that are dead zones outside of business hours and add value-added real estate to the tax rolls.
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The federal Public Buildings Reform Board, which Congress and Obama established a little over a month before he left office, serves as a current source of guidance. By shedding extra property, the law aims to aid Uncle Sam in slimming down. At least 20 buildings must now be sold or combined by the federal government, according to the Public Buildings Reform Board.
Developers are already encouraged by the district’s local” Office to Anything” initiative to convert overused or pointless office space into desperately needed housing stock. One significant motivating factor for D. C.? Once property is transferred from the federal government, the local government may eventually be able to collect tax revenue. That’s one tax hike even Trump can support.
