By Hadas Gold and Brianna Keilar, CNN

(CNN) — Some military spouses who work in the federal government were notified by their respective agencies this week their remote work exceptions were being rescinded, despite them being granted just days or weeks earlier, several military spouses told CNN.

The guidance from the Office of Personnel Management, the federal government’s Human Resources department, that would have forced them to return to the office was changed Thursday after a CNN inquiry into the matter. Military spouses now expect orders from their agencies will ultimately reflect change again, after weeks of whiplash that left military spouses in the federal workforce deeply worried about their jobs.

Many of these spouses were hired specifically for remote work positions, a lifesaver for spouses of active-duty military personnel. Even after the Trump administration issued a return to offices order, a February 12 memo from OPM explicitly exempted military spouses from the order.

But then the Office of Personnel Management sent out a FAQ document last week on “return to in-person work” that said military spouses who live within a 50-mile radius of “an agency worksite” were not exempt from the return to office mandate.

“Military spouses working remotely within 50 miles of an agency worksite are expected to return to the office unless covered by exceptions based on disability, qualifying medical condition, and/or other compelling reason,” the guidance read. The guidance allowed for “an agency head” to provide exemptions on a “case-by-case” determination.

This new guidance, OPM said at the time, superseded the guidance sent on February 12 which explicitly exempted military spouses.

Military spouses then began receiving emails from their agencies that their previous exemptions were rescinded, as a result of the updated OPM guidance.

One military spouse, whose husband is an active-duty pilot, told CNN she had just received her exemption one week ago. Like others in this article, she spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

But on Tuesday night, she was told that when they find her any office “within 50 miles” the approval will be rescinded. This despite the fact her coworkers would likely not be at that site and are spread out across the Southeast.

“My husband is on Temporary Duty Assignment at least once a month and is a pilot who flies very early mornings and late evenings many days. There is no way I could deal with a morning/evening commute when our childcare’s hours start at 8am,” she told CNN. “I will have to quit if they force me into an office.”

Another federal employee and military spouse told CNN she also had her exemption rescinded on Tuesday because she is “within the commuting area” of a regional office building for her agency. That commute would be two hours each way, she told CNN.

Her team is still geographically separated, which means she will continue to hold most if not all meetings on virtual platforms, just from an office building.

“I turned down two jobs last week because [my agency] had originally approved [my remote work arrangement,]” she said. “It’s a nightmare.”

OPM changes its guidance

On Thursday afternoon just before 2:00 p.m., CNN reached out to both OPM and the White House for comment.

At 2:15 p.m. an OPM spokeswoman said “Our guidance was always that military spouses were exempt. We are currently working to revise our FAQs to correct any impression that they were not.”

The FAQ guidance was soon updated to remove the mention of military spouses within a 50-mile radius of an agency office. According to the document properties, the update was made at 2:27 p.m.

When reached for comment, a White House spokesperson initially insisted the story was false, but when asked for comment after OPM changed its guidance, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields replied with a screen grab of OPM’s FAQ document, saying, “this is the updated guidance.”

One of the military spouses told CNN they were “shaking and crying” after being notified of the updated guidance, saying the careers of many military spouses were being saved.

Maria Donnelly, an active-duty Army spouse and military family advocate, celebrated the update but said the disorganization and whiplash is “really harming” the military community.

“The military life is already really challenging, and we do all of these things without asking for a lot in return,” she said. “What we really need is clear direction from the top that supporting military families is a priority,” she added.

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