Federal Workers See Risks to Them in Trump Push to Reopen U.S.
- President is pressing states to ease lockdowns to help economy
- Standards across federal agencies vary widely in the pandemic
A pedestrian walks past the Internal Revenue Service headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
As Donald Trump presses states to reopen, government workers and their unions say they’re increasingly concerned that their bosses will force them back to the office without sufficient protection.
Agencies’ approaches to returning to offices have been uneven, they say. Although the Securities and Exchange Commission’s chief told many workers to plan on staying home through at least mid-July, the Internal Revenue Service has called back 11,000 workers to begin processing paper tax returns, responding to a backlog of mail and answering taxpayer calls.