I think the GOP hates government employees and wants most of them to "get a real job". Plus, as the party that looks to the past for answers, this seems like a pretty natural thing for them to do.

Mostly to appeal to blue-collar people by calling federal employees/office workers lazy and saying they aren't doing work cause they're working from home.

The GOP is pandering to their increasingly working-class base that generally has limited options to work from home and view it as an urban elitist phenomenon.

They're trying to un-do anything pandemic related and they're taking a potshot at government workers while they're at it.

The GOP is anti anything that might be construed as a COVID-19 mitigation measure.

> Whats the incentive for anyone to propose this?

It's just politicians doing politics. Democrats and Republicans both. This Congressional session is two weeks old, and there have already been 368 bills introduced in the House.

Find your representative and all the junk they're already cosponsoring:

https://www.congress.gov/sponsors-cosponsors/118th-congress/...

Based on the name of the bill it seems it's supposed to target "unproductive" workers.

Political capital, both in the form of publicity and donations.

Who does it benefit?

Gas and Oil.

Landlords.

Who does it hurt (because cruelty is the point)?

Workers.

Did you read the article? They allude to reasons. FedGov owns a lot of space in DC and their presence drives a lot of the city's economy, like staffers stopping at Starbucks, etc. The DC Mayor has been asking for many buildings back to be repurposed for housing or other uses, too.

And there is the perception that remote workers aren't working that hard, so somehow this is the fiscally responsible thing, despite the fact that ditching a lot of overheads could save the gub'mnt tons of money. It's not like the GOP thought they worked that hard to begin with...

Lastly there is the "wag the dog" idea that this generates clicks and controversy while other bills, like those funding the IRS, or those that would improve minimum wage limits, languish quietly.

Also, what's the average age in congress? To paraphrase a 60 year old I know, "this sounds like more Boomer Management".