It’s a funny situation when it comes to government work, because technically the job doesn’t actually produce anything. There are no shareholders and no profits. If an asshat micromanager wants to see a bunch of people keeping their office seats warm, they don’t give a shit about productivity.
My office would genuinely rather I take the day off, and that mindset is never going to change. Luckily, I get a decent amount of remote time, but there is literally no reason that it couldn’t just be 100% remote.
You underestimate the capacity for corporate pettiness