Newsom’s Telework Flip-Flop: A Familar Pattern For The Ersatz President

With boldness he declared that workers should return to the office, but… Then his union allies got involved…

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A Bold Announcement Masking Political Ambition

When Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order in early March mandating state workers return to the office four days a week (why not five?) starting in July, he wrapped it in the usual rhetoric about boosting collaboration. But this was political theater at its most transparent. The Los Angeles Times noted this impacted approximately 95,000 of more than 224,000 full-time state employees, and observers immediately recognized it as likely a presidential campaign move designed to pander to voters looking for some sanity and “adult supervision” out of the State Capitol.

The decree projected the tough-guy decisiveness Newsom craves for his national image, yet its timing exposed calculated political posturing.

A Cowardly Retreat to Appease Union Backers

Just three months later, Newsom’s conviction crumbled entirely. By this last Tuesday, as CalMatters reported, he was cutting backroom deals with the Professional Engineers in California Government to delay the mandate for 14,000 engineers—this while facing a crushing $12 billion budget deficit.

The sweetheart agreement included a monthly 3% raise offset by one unpaid day off, a budgetary shell game that rewards workers while pretending to save taxpayer money. Union pressure drove this shameful capitulation.

The implications are infuriating for taxpayers. Any facility cost savings from ending remote work will evaporate as hybrid expenses continue while in-office operations simultaneously ramp up. Newsom has engineered the worst of both worlds.

The Productivity and Soul of In-Person Work

This flip-flop abandons more than fiscal responsibility—it betrays fundamental principles about work and community. In his 2023 book Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life, my friend David Bahnsen argues that in-person work enhances productivity through collaboration and plays a vital role in human flourishing. He criticizes the isolation and stagnation of remote work, noting its contribution to economic and social decay in city centers.

“Work was not valuable because it enabled you to do valuable things. Work was the valuable thing.” - David Bahnsen

Bahnsen sees the traditional workplace as more than a utility—it offers structure, accountability, and purpose that remote work cannot replicate. Newsom’s cowardly wavering undermines these benefits for public-sector employees and abandons the communities desperately needing their physical presence to revive struggling downtown areas.

There is real value in people working together, solving problems face-to-face, and contributing to vibrant urban life. But Newsom has sacrificed these broader benefits on the altar of political expedience.

Fiscal and Ethical Implications of Spineless Leadership

With roughly 108,000 employees working from home at least one day per week, according to CalMatters, many state infrastructure costs remain unchanged despite the budget crisis. Meanwhile, organized labor’s successful bulldozing of the governor’s order exposes how completely unions control California’s supposedly independent chief executive.

Newsom’s pathetic telework reversal—driven entirely by political calculation—burdens taxpayers while destroying faith in government consistency. His weakness invites further union overreach while genuine fiscal responsibility gets trampled.

So, Does It Matter?

Californians deserve a governor who puts governing over campaigning, but Newsom has proven over and over to be incapable of such leadership. His telework shuck-and-jive perfectly encapsulates how electoral posturing and union appeasement consistently override genuine public service. The benefits of in-person work offered a straightforward path forward, but Newsom lacked the spine to see it through.

Instead, his about-face has left state workers whipsawed by contradictory policies, and taxpayers funding an incoherent mess. Authentic leadership means making principled decisions and defending them against special interest pressure, not folding when unions that have funded (and will fund) his campaigns start making demands.

California, and America, needs leaders with the courage of their convictions, not politicians who mistake press conferences for actual governing.