OMB Requires Masks for Federal Workers, Encourages Full Telework

Federal agencies should “immediately” require masks and social distancing in addition to allowing employees to telework to the maximum extent possible, according to a new memorandum from the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Agencies must also submit Covid-19 workplace safety plans to the Biden administration by Friday, Aviva Aron-Dine, OMB’s executive associate director, said in the memo.

The directive provides further guidance to agencies on the executive order President Joe Biden issued Jan. 20 that required masks to be worn on federal property—imposing a mandate for federal workers that the Trump administration had resisted.

Dated Sunday, the...