Note from MOAA: The Office of Personnel Management released updated guidance Feb. 12 stating military spouses are "categorically exempt" from the recent return-to-office order and allowing the federal government to "continue to appoint military spouses to remote work positions." MOAA appreciates the work of legislators, advocates, and other supporters to codify these policies. A MOAA.org article from the day before the announcement appears in full below.  

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“I know this is a stressful time for all of us, military families and others. … Will I or will I not have a job? Will I or will I not have the flexibility to keep my job, to have that second income to be able to support myself, my family, my mental health?”

Although this is just one comment from a Facebook group for federally employed military spouses, the sentiment is echoing across the community. Every two to three years, on average, military spouses confront the known and the unknown. We know PCS orders are coming, but we don’t know where those orders will take us and what job opportunities will be available.

To help address the unknown, a 2023 executive order said the federal government should be “an employer of choice” for military spouses by providing career opportunities on the move. Spouses working for federal agencies felt some relief with this announcement and with the inclusion of a provision in the FY 24 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) allowing remote telework agreements for federally employed spouses.

But lately, these spouses are feeling panic and confusion. While MOAA appreciates exemptions for military spouses by some federal agencies in implementation guidance for the recent Return to In-Person Work memorandum, that guidance fails to use specific, clear language, leaving interpretation up to individual departments of human resources.

A bipartisan House bill would address that oversight, allowing spouses to retain their jobs and keep experienced staff in the federal workforce. The Support Military Families Act (H.R. 977), introduced by Reps. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) and Rob Wittman (R-Va.), removes the need for interpretation and clearly states military spouses shall be exempt from any requirement to return to full-time in-person work and may engage in telework or remote work.

[TAKE ACTION: Ask Your Representative to Cosponsor the Support Military Families Act]

“Our military families make great sacrifices in support of their loved ones in the armed forces – for which we are forever grateful for – and should not come at the expense of employability, financial stability, or personal fulfillment,” Wittman sad in a Feb. 5 press release announcing the bill.

“As a 25-year Army veteran, I’ve seen firsthand the sacrifices military spouses make for our nation,” Vindman said in the release. “I know that supporting military families is not a partisan issue, it is an American issue.”

Being part of a military family shouldn’t prevent having a career, but an unintentional lack of understanding of the challenges associated with marrying a servicemember frequently results in just that. Without clear and specific language exempting military spouses from the return to in-person work mandate, there is too much left to the interpretation of the supervisor. MOAA is grateful to congressmen Vindman and Wittman for their work to protect military families from this uncertainty and allow them to remain mission-focused.

Visit MOAA’s Legislative Action Center and ask your lawmaker to cosponsor the Support Military Families Act to ensure that military spouses who work for the federal government can keep their jobs and support their servicemembers and families.