U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20) led House and Senate Democrats in a letter asking the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to explicitly exempt military and national security families from the Trump administration’s new restrictions on telework and remote work for federal employees.

Spousal employment challenges are a major cause of forced attrition in both the military and the national security community. While OPM has issued limited guidance exempting military spouses from the termination of remote work opportunities, advocates for these families have expressed frustration about the lack of clarity surrounding full implementation of this exception. Additionally, OPM has not announced exemptions for the families of other national security professionals, such as those in the State Department and the intelligence community.

“We write to express our deep concerns about the unintended consequences of the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) January 22, 2025, implementation guidance regarding a recent Presidential Memorandum on remote and telework arrangements for federal employees. The broad implementation overlooks the economic security and well-being of America’s military families, diplomatic spouses, and other national security professionals who are stationed away from home in service of the U.S. government. The impacted personnel are less than one percent of the federal workforce, but their ability to work from their families’ duty stations for limited periods of time (typically 2-3 years) is essential to recruitment for hard-to-fill assignments, family unity, and retention of their valuable experience and contributions to national security. We urge you to revise OPM’s guidance to explicitly exempt the small number of affected spouses and dependents and avoid attrition issues that could negatively impact American military readiness and national security, “the lawmakers wrote.

“It is commonly said that when one person joins the military, the whole family serves. This maxim is no less true for diplomats, intelligence professionals, federal law enforcement officers, and other national security professionals who are routinely required to relocate to postings across the world. As a result of these relocations, spouses and dependents often struggle to find consistent employment, creating personal and financial strains that have been cited as a major cause of attrition,” the lawmakers continued.  

Booker, Van Hollen, and Castro are senior members of the House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over foreign affairs and international relations.

The letter is cosigned by U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA-08), Johnny Olszewski, Jr. (D-MD-02), Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16), Jonathan L. Jackson (D-IL-01), and Sara Jacobs (D-CA-51).

To read the full text of the letter, click here.