Military spouses face 'whiplash' as CNN inquiry prompts Trump’s OPM to reverse reascended exemptions

28 March

After returning to the White House, President Donald Trump issued an executive order telling federal employees who had been working remotely to return to their offices. But on February 12, a memo from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) stated that military spouses were exempted from Trump's order and could continue working remotely.

Then, in late March, they were told that the exemption was being rescinded, according to CNN reporters Hadas Gold and Brianna Keilar — although OPM appears to be changing its mind again.

In an article published by CNN on Friday, March 28, Gold and Keilar report, "The guidance from the Office of Personnel Management, the federal government’s Human Resources department, that would have forced them to return to the office was changed Thursday after a CNN inquiry into the matter. Military spouses now expect orders from their agencies will ultimately reflect change again, after weeks of whiplash that left military spouses in the federal workforce deeply worried about their jobs. Many of these spouses were hired specifically for remote work positions — a lifesaver for spouses of active-duty military personnel."

For military spouses, conflicting information on whether remote work is or isn't being allowed is creating confusion.

The OPM, according to Gold and Keilar, recently sent out an "FAQ document" stating that military spouses who live within a 50-mile radius of "an agency worksite" were not exempt from Trump's return-to-the-office order.

Gold and Keilar report, "One military spouse, whose husband is an active-duty pilot, told CNN she had just received her exemption one week ago. Like others in this article, she spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. But on Tuesday night, (March 25), she was told that when they find her any office 'within 50 miles' the approval will be rescinded. This despite the fact her co-workers would likely not be at that site and are spread out across the Southeast."

Gold also discussed OPM's remote work guidelines in a March 28 thread on X, formerly Twitter.

Gold tweeted, "When we reached out to OPM and WH for comment, OPM told us military spouses were always exempt and that they were now revising their guidance. When we reached out to the WH, spox initially told us our story was 'false' …(3) … but when asked for comment after OPM changed its guidance, WH Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields replied with a screen grab of OPM’s revised FAQ document, saying, 'this is the updated guidance' (4)."

Gold added, "One of the military spouses told CNN they were 'shaking and crying' after being notified of the updated guidance, saying the careers of many military spouses were being saved. (5)…. Was it a mistake? Or was the guidance real and only changed after we reached out? One things for sure - the agencies these spouses work for understood it to be real and were executing it as written, deeply affecting these military spouses."

Read Hadas Gold and Brianna Keillar's full CNN article at this link.

From Your Site Articles