I applaud you for what you're doing. I also know you've heard this 100 times Matt, but maybe it'll be the 101st time that makes the decisions makers allow this. Allow remote.
This country spans a large area & a lot of it is full of people who would love to help their country do better, but few want to move to DC. The US "Digital" Service should be a shining example to others of how to work remotely.
I hear you. Right now a lot of our meetings involve sitting with or across from decision makers, and being in DC is really critical for that.
For what it's worth, some of our individual agency engagements (e.g. VA or DoD) might allow you to come to DC for a short while like three months and then work remotely after that. But most of our work is in DC, at least for now.
If that was something you promoted for the summer months when school is out & one could bring their family with, I think you would have a lot of takers.
Just keep senior people there as code reviewers and 'account managers' who would sit down with stakeholders from DC. Then open source some of the other projects or at least add approved citizens that could work remotely on low-security projects. (Like some of the commenters above).
This country spans a large area & a lot of it is full of people who would love to help their country do better, but few want to move to DC. The US "Digital" Service should be a shining example to others of how to work remotely.