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Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman directed Department of Homeland Security employees to work at their duty stations to the maximum extent on January 20, 2025. The order followed President Donald Trump’s government-wide memorandum directing executive agencies to end remote-work arrangements and return employees to full-time, in-person work, subject to exemptions.
The action was described at the time as an abrupt end to teleworking at DHS. Later DHS policy, however, continued to describe telework as a conditional arrangement requiring an eligible position, supervisory approval and a signed agreement. The January order therefore should not be read as proof that every form of telework was permanently prohibited across every DHS component.
What happened at DHS on January 20, 2025?
Acting Secretary Huffman issued a department-level direction after President Trump’s January 20 memorandum. Huffman’s instruction applied to employees’ designated duty stations, whether those stations were offices or field locations.
As ABC News reported on January 21, Huffman wrote: “It is the policy of this agency for employees to work at their duty station — whether in an office or in the field — to the maximum extent.”
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The practical result was a department-wide push away from routine remote work and toward full-time, in-person attendance at the employee’s assigned duty station.
What did the presidential memorandum require?
The presidential memorandum directed the heads of executive departments and agencies to take the steps necessary to terminate remote-work arrangements and require employees to return to their duty stations in person on a full-time basis.
It also allowed agency heads to make exemptions they considered necessary. That exemption language is important: the memorandum set a government-wide presumption of in-person work but did not state that every employee, position or circumstance had to be treated identically.
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How DHS was expected to implement the return
ABC News’ account of the internal DHS memo described an accountability process for employees who had not returned.
Component reporting
DHS components were reportedly instructed to identify officials who had not returned to their duty stations, explain the reason and provide supporting documentation.
Reported reasons for continued remote work
ABC News identified several possible explanations referenced in the reporting:
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- There was not adequate office space.
- The employee was physically unable to return.
- A legal impediment prevented the return.
The internal DHS memo itself was not available among the published official materials reviewed, so these implementation details should be understood as ABC News’ account rather than as independently verified text from the memo.
Did DHS end telework for everyone?
Not necessarily. The immediate January announcement ended routine remote-work arrangements as the default, but later DHS policy material describes a controlled telework program rather than an absolute, permanent ban.
| Policy question | What the evidence establishes |
|---|---|
| Default after the January 2025 direction | Employees were directed to work in person at their duty stations to the maximum extent. |
| Presidential flexibility | Agency heads could make exemptions they deemed necessary. |
| Later DHS telework framework | A position must be designated telework-eligible; a supervisor or other authorized official must approve participation; and the employee must sign an agreement. |
| Operational control | Management may require a teleworker to report to the regular worksite on a scheduled telework day when business or operational needs require it. |
| Nationwide DHS schedule | Not established by the available published material; individual components may have different implementation details. |
Accordingly, “DHS permanently banned all telework” is broader than the evidence supports. A more precise description is that DHS moved to enforce in-person duty-station attendance while retaining a conditional, management-approved telework structure in later policy.
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What does DHS Management Directive 123-05 say?
DHS Management Directive 123-05, Revision 01, sets conditions for participation in telework.
Eligibility and approval
The employee’s position must be identified as telework-eligible. Participation also requires approval from a supervisor or another designated official, followed by a signed telework agreement.
Return-to-worksite authority
The directive permits management to require a teleworker to return to the regular worksite on a day scheduled for telework when business-related or operational needs justify the request.
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Those provisions explain how telework could remain available in some circumstances without displacing the department’s stronger return-to-duty-station policy.
How later federal guidance affected the picture
The Office of Personnel Management’s December 31, 2025 guide advised agencies to review telework and remote-work policies for consistency with the January 2025 presidential memorandum, agency return-to-office implementation plans and applicable statutory requirements.
That OPM guidance supplies federal context, not a component-by-component report on current DHS schedules. It does not establish how every DHS employee or unit is working today.
What employees and observers should take from the order
- The reported DHS directive came from Acting Secretary Benjamine Huffman on January 20, 2025.
- It followed a presidential instruction for full-time, in-person work at agency duty stations.
- DHS treated office or field locations as duty stations; “return to office” did not necessarily mean a headquarters desk for every employee.
- Exemptions were possible, but the available reporting described them as limited and subject to explanation and documentation.
- Later DHS policy made telework conditional on eligibility, approval and a written agreement, with management able to order a worksite return for operational reasons.
- The available material does not establish one permanent schedule or one set of exemptions for every DHS component.
Why the wording matters
Calling the event an abrupt end to remote work accurately reflects the January 2025 reporting and the change in the default expectation. Calling it a universal, permanent prohibition on telework does not. The distinction matters because “remote work,” “telework” and temporary worksite exceptions can be governed by different rules, and DHS components operate in office and field environments with different operational requirements.
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