The D.C. region will be hearing more and more about the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, in the coming months as he leads a task force that will make recommendations to President-elect Donald Trump on how to reshape the federal workforce.

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At least in some areas, Musk and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser seem to agree.

Musk will lead a task force called the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Vivek Ramaswamy. The group posted a statement on social media late Wednesday saying federal agencies are using, on average, just 12% of the space in their D.C. headquarters.

“Why are American taxpayer dollars being spent to maintain empty buildings?” the statement asked.

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When asked whether Bowser had any advice for the group related to that topic, the D.C. mayor said, “We think the federal government needs a centralized remote work policy.”

“Our message about that is the same as it’s been for the last almost four years,” Bowser said. “We think that government workers should be in their offices more than they’re on telework.”

When asked whether Bowser would be willing to work with the task force if it reached out to her, she responded by saying, “I absolutely will share my ideas.”

Plans for the Department of Government Efficiency are still coming into focus.

The group put out a call for “small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.”

Applicants are encouraged to submit their resumes through X, the social media company that Musk owns.

In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, Musk and Ramaswamy said that they want to “identify the minimum number of employees required at an agency for it to perform its constitutionally permissible and statutorily mandated functions,” leading to “mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy.”

Some employees could choose “voluntary severance payments to facilitate a graceful exit,” the pair wrote.

Others would be encouraged to quit by mandating that they show up at the office five days a week, ending the pandemic-era flexibility that remote work provides.

The requirement “would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome,” Musk and Ramaswamy said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Dozens of law enforcement officials from across the country gathered Wednesday at the Australian Embassy in Northwest D.C. to discuss strategies for strengthening partnerships with international police agencies.

It was part of the D.C. Police Leadership Academy, a program designed to develop law enforcement leaders.

“This program targets … mid-level ranks, which is typically lieutenant or captain,” said Jessica Bress, the director of the D.C. Police Department’s strategic projects office.

The department first started the program in early 2023.

It’s about three weeks long and includes seminars from law enforcement experts.

The latest class, which is set to graduate on Friday, has more than 70 people in it, including 19 from the D.C. police force. All the others are from various departments nationwide.

Bress said people generally join the program to “learn leadership skills, network and meet a group of like-minded colleagues from across the country.”

“The problems that we’re dealing with in policing and law enforcement in America are sometimes the same everywhere,” said Bress. “There are also some differences, and there’s always benefits from learning and getting exposure to agencies outside of our own.”

John Fitzgerald, a lieutenant detective with the Boston Police Department in Massachusetts, is among those graduating this week.

“I’m learning a lot from working with people from state, local, federal and international law enforcement,” said Fitzgerald. “What I’m getting from it is perspective on how other places do it.”

Fitzgerald said the program has focused on technology, evidence-based policing and teaching people how to lead by example.

“It’s leaders wanting to lead,” Fitzgerald said. “Everybody who’s here has asked to be here or … worked really hard to get a slot here, and that means a lot.”

According to Bress, Wednesday’s visit to the Australian Embassy demonstrated the importance of building relationships with international law enforcement agencies.

“In D.C., we have more exposure to it, but these are participants from across the country,” said Bress. “A lot of them probably aren’t even aware of these international liaison networks.”

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WASHINGTON – Leaders in D.C., Maryland and Virginia are gearing up to welcome the Trump administration back into Washington. 

While Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin hopes to benefit, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is facing questions about a move to hire an outside contractor to deal with the president-elect. It comes as the state faces a budget crisis.

That contract pays the consulting company Accenture $190,000 to provide the Moore administration with “risk management and scenario planning,” which may mean possible legal challenges to the Trump White House.

In an email to FOX 5, a spokesperson for Gov. Moore’s office defended the move, saying hiring outside consultant help is a standard part of any organization and that the state needs to prepare for any challenges it may face. 

But Maryland’s House Republican leader tells FOX 5 that with the state facing a possible billion-dollar budget gap, there are better uses for taxpayer dollars.

“I think we’d be better off to sort of have a bipartisan approach. Stop the partisanship, stop the constant 24/7 politics and work for things that make Maryland better,” said House GOP leader Rep. Jason Buckel.

DMV Democrats have been warning the incoming Trump administration could have a big impact on issues like the number of federal jobs in this area, from  immigration enforcement to healthcare and policing.  

“Locally, we must prepare to address the potential impacts of the new administration. The president-elect has recommitted to his goal of “dismantling government bureaucracy,” said Fairfax Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay, a Democrat.

Tuesday night, the Democratic Board of Supervisors Chair warned that the Trump administration poses a “risk” but Gov. Youngkin, a long-time supporter of Trump, says the new administration will benefit Virginia. 

“We’ll now have someone in the White House who believes in all of that so I look forward to having the wind at our backs as opposed to in our faces about everything that we’re doing because we’ve gone the bottom of job growth to near the top of the country,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has also requested a meeting with President-elect Trump. 

Bowser previously met with Trump during his first term. A spokesman for the mayor tells FOX 5 they’ve been in touch with the Trump team and don’t have a timeline on when or where that meeting will happen.