BALTIMORE — Friday marked the first day all federal workers, like Donald Malcolm Smith, had to go back to the office.
WMAR-2 News caught up with Smith outside of Penn Station after he came back from working in Washington, D.C.
"An hour and fifteen minutes," he said explaining how long it takes him to get to work, "I come to Penn Station and I go right to Union Station and take the metro to my office. It's not bad at all."
But that's a trip he'll have to make more often following President Donald's executive order sending federal workers back to the office full-time.
"And prior to having to come back, I went into the office three days a week."
But Smith told WMAR-2 News the order doesn't bother him.
"I've been commuting to DC for almost 20 years. I'm actually used to it."
But it could be a different story for other remote federal workers who had to file back to the nation's capital.
Federal workers speak on the commute to D.C. on the first day of returning to the office
After President Trump announced this executive order, many employees worried what traffic would look like when they all had to go back to the office.
But like the music that echoed in Penn Station Friday, Smith said it was a calm atmosphere.
"It just seemed like the same amount. Because I think more federal agencies had already started coming back to the office so I hadn't noticed anything more than usual but I'm in office three days a week so I've seen more people over the last two years."
He added that while other may not be loving the change, he chooses to look at the situation from a different perspective.
"I'm happy to have a job and so if it means I have to go in the office five days a week, then I go in the office five days a week."
The future of federal workers has been a hot topic so far in this administration especially with President Trump offering employee buyouts.
Thursday, a judge paused a deadline until Monday for those workers to accept that deferred resignation offer.
