II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5647 

To require Federal agencies to impose in-person work requirements for employees of those agencies and to occupy a certain portion of the office 

space of those agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 20 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Mr. KENNEDY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require Federal agencies to impose in-person work requirements for employees of those agencies and to occupy 

a certain portion of the office space of those agencies, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reinforce Occupancy 

5 Obligations for Maximized Interagency Efficiency Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘ROOMIE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 5647 IS

1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv3 ices. 

4 (2) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

5 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

6 621 of title 40, United States Code. 

7 (3) FEDERAL CIVILIAN REAL PROPERTY.—The 

8 term ‘‘Federal civilian real property’’ has the mean9 ing given the term in section 3 of the Federal Assets 

10 Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 (40 U.S.C. 1303 

11 note; Public Law 114–287). 

12 (4) USABLE SQUARE FEET.—The term ‘‘usable 

13 square feet’’ has the meaning given the term by the 

14 Administrator. 

15 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

16 Congress finds that— 

17 (1) according to a 2023 review of Federal agen18 cies by the Government Accountability Office— 

19 (A) 17 Federal agencies ‘‘used on average 

20 an estimated 25 percent or less of the capacity 

21 of their headquarters buildings’’; and 

22 (B) 1 Federal agency headquarters exam23 ined would only occupy 67 percent of the office 

24 space of the Federal agency if 100 percent of 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 5647 IS

1 the employees of the Federal agency worked in2 person; 

3 (2) according to a 2024 report by the Public 

4 Buildings Reform Board established by section 4(a) 

5 of the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 

6 (40 U.S.C. 1303 note; Public Law 114–287)— 

7 (A) in the National Capital Region, the 

8 Federal Government owns or leases almost 

9 90,000,000 square feet of property; 

10 (B) a sample of Federal properties in 

11 Washington, D.C., maintained only 12 percent 

12 capacity on average; 

13 (C) ‘‘billions of dollars are being expended 

14 on buildings that should be disposed of given 

15 the new normal of low occupancy’’; and 

16 (D) some Federal agencies have developed 

17 cultural expectations that they should retain a 

18 ‘‘flagship’’ property despite significant under 

19 usage of that property; and 

20 (3) according to a 2023 report by the Office of 

21 Audits of the Office of Inspector General of the Gen22 eral Services Administration— 

23 (A) Federal Government buildings can 

24 pose significant health risks if they remain un25 derutilized; and 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 5647 IS

1 (B) since July 2023, ‘‘elevated levels of 

2 Legionella’’, which is a bacterium that can 

3 cause serious infection and death, ‘‘were found 

4 in six GSA-controlled buildings, all of which are 

5 open to the public’’. 

6 SEC. 4. IN-PERSON WORK REQUIREMENTS. 

7 (a) FEDERAL AGENCY POLICY MODIFICATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the head of 

10 each Federal agency shall amend the policies of the 

11 Federal agency, if necessary, to require— 

12 (A) not less than 80 percent of the employ13 ees of the Federal agency to work in-person 

14 Monday through Friday of each week, not in15 cluding any day that is a legal public holiday 

16 described in section 6103 of title 5, United 

17 States Code, as certified by the Director of the 

18 Office of Personnel Management; and 

19 (B) except as provided in paragraph (2), 

20 not less than 60 percent of the usable square 

21 feet of the office space of the Federal agency in 

22 any Federal civilian real property owned, 

23 leased, or controlled by the Federal agency to 

24 be occupied by employees of the Federal agen25 cy, as certified by the Administrator. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 5647 IS

1 (2) EXCEPTION.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a Federal agency 

3 does not employ enough individuals to occupy 

4 60 percent of the usable square feet of the of5 fice space of the Federal agency in any Federal 

6 civilian real property owned, leased, or con7 trolled by the Federal agency, the head of the 

8 Federal agency shall, not later than 1 year 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, prepare 

10 and submit to the Administrator, the Com11 mittee on Environment and Public Works of the 

12 Senate, and the Committee on Transportation 

13 and Infrastructure of the House of Representa14 tives an occupancy plan in accordance with sub15 paragraph (B). 

16 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—An occupancy plan 

17 prepared and submitted under subparagraph 

18 (A) shall detail how the Federal agency plans to 

19 reach 60 percent occupancy in the usable 

20 square feet of the office space of the Federal 

21 agency in any Federal civilian real property 

22 owned, leased, or controlled by the Federal 

23 agency through the use of individuals employed 

24 by any Federal agency, with special considerVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jan 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5647.IS S5647

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 5647 IS

1 ation given to individuals employed by different 

2 Federal agencies. 

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

4 that is 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

5 the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 

6 to Congress a report regarding the implementation of the 

7 requirement under subsection (a)(1), as certified by the 

8 Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the 

9 Administrator, as applicable. 

10 SEC. 5. NONCOMPLIANCE. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—If a Federal agency fails to com12 ply with section 4(a) by the deadlines described in that 

13 section, the Federal agency or the General Services Ad14 ministration, as applicable, shall sell, terminate, or be pro15 hibited from re-signing the lease for, the applicable Fed16 eral civilian real property in accordance with subsection 

17 (b) or (c), as applicable. 

18 (b) PROPERTY OWNED OR CONTROLLED BY THE

19 FEDERAL AGENCY.—If the Federal agency owns or con20 trols the Federal civilian real property in which the office 

21 space described in subsection (a) is located, the Federal 

22 agency or the General Services Administration, as applica23 ble, shall sell the Federal civilian real property. 

24 (c) PROPERTY LEASED BY THE FEDERAL AGEN25 CY.—If the Federal agency leases the Federal civilian real 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 5647 IS

1 property in which the office space described in subsection 

2 (a) is located, the Federal agency or the General Services 

3 Administration, as applicable— 

4 (1) if the lease contains an early termination or 

5 other applicable provision— 

6 (A) shall execute that provision and termi7 nate the lease early; and 

8 (B) shall not re-sign the lease; or 

9 (2) if the lease does not contain an early termi10 nation or other applicable provision, shall not re-sign 

11 the lease. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS