The SHOW UP Act of 2025 mandates that Executive agencies revert to pre-pandemic telework policies and requires a study and plan for future telework expansions, certified by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, to ensure positive impacts on agency mission, cost reduction, and adequate resources for teleworkers.
James Comer
Representative
KY-1
The SHOW UP Act of 2025 mandates that Executive agencies revert to pre-pandemic telework policies and levels from December 31, 2019, within 30 days. Further telework expansion is prohibited until agencies submit a study to Congress on the impacts of telework during the pandemic, along with a plan certified by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. This plan must demonstrate positive effects on the agency's mission, cost reduction, and adequate resources for teleworkers, and agencies cannot implement telework expansion plans without the Director's certification. The Act aims to address concerns about the impact of expanded telework on agency performance, costs, and workforce distribution.
SHOW UP Act: Feds Could Be Back in the Office Full-Time, Pre-Pandemic Style, Within 30 Days
The SHOW UP Act of 2025 is basically hitting the rewind button on federal telework. This bill, if passed, forces all executive agencies (except the Government Accountability Office) to ditch their current telework setups and go back to the way things were on December 31, 2019, within 30 days of the bill becoming law. That's the core of it – a rapid return to pre-pandemic office life.
Back to the Office Blues?
This section (SEC. 2) is the immediate game-changer. No more gradual adjustments; it's a hard reset. For federal employees, this could mean a sudden shift back to daily commutes, in-office meetings, and potentially, a scramble for childcare or other arrangements they've adjusted to during the expanded telework period. Think about a federal employee in Des Moines who's been working remotely for an agency based in D.C. They might suddenly be faced with a cross-country move or a job change.
The Telework Deep Dive (and Potential Roadblocks)
SEC. 3 is where things get a bit more complex. The bill orders every agency to do a deep dive into how expanded telework during the pandemic affected, well, everything. Within six months, agencies, along with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), need to report on:
- Customer Service: Did helping citizens get harder or easier with more folks working from home?
- Empty Offices, Extra Cash: How much money was spent on unused office space, or on paying people as if they were still working in high-cost cities when they'd moved somewhere cheaper?
- Tech Check: Did everyone have the secure internet, communication tools, and access to data they needed to do their jobs properly from home?
- Spreading Out: Did telework help spread the federal workforce across the country, or did everyone stay clustered in the same few areas?
Agencies also have to come up with a new plan if they want to expand telework beyond those 2019 levels. But here's the catch: the Director of the OPM has to certify that this plan will:
- Improve how the agency serves the public.
- Save money on real estate and locality pay (basically, adjusting salaries based on where someone actually lives and works).
- Provide all the necessary tech for teleworkers without breaking the bank.
If the OPM Director doesn't like the plan, it's back to the drawing board. This certification process could be a significant hurdle for agencies that have found telework beneficial and want to continue or expand it. The bill defines "secure network capacity, communication tools, data access, and equipment," which, while providing clarity, could also limit flexibility in how agencies approach telework in the future. It might even lead to increased spending justified under a broad interpretation of 'security'.
The Bottom Line
The SHOW UP Act is a major move to bring federal employees back into traditional offices. It's framed as a way to improve government efficiency and accountability, but the rapid rollback and the OPM's gatekeeper role raise questions about how it will play out in practice. While potential cost savings from reduced real estate are a plus, the disruption to current work arrangements and the potential for bureaucratic bottlenecks are real concerns. It also defines key terms like 'telework' to include 'remote work,' which could impact a wide range of work arrangements.