"I'm here to put some giddy-up into telework," said Berry, who was nominated by President Barack Obama on March 4 to serve as the administration's chief adviser on human resources issues for the nation's 1.9 million federal employees. The Senate confirmed his appointment in early April.

"I was raised in the D.C. metropolitan area, so I know a little something about the traffic congestion that frustrates commuters and saps them of energy even before they get to the office," Berry said in a statement released Wednesday. "With a sensible approach to creating model telework programs, thousands more employees will work from home one or two days each week on a regular basis -- and thousands fewer will be on the road."

Today, only 5% of federal employees telework, according to data from OPM.

Telework programs have long been a part of agencies' business-continuity plans, but adoption has despite grassroots and to increase participation. Berry's pitch for greater teleworking cites economic and social benefits. In addition, OPM stresses that teleworking can enable the uninterrupted delivery of government services if employees need to work from home in the event of a natural disaster or pandemic, for example.