Workforce
Trump’s latest order requires strategic plans reflective of presidential ‘priorities’ to resume hiring
While experts agree that agencies should seek to address new skills gaps created by the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal workforce, language enshrining “administration priorities” into those plans could politicize hiring of career workers.
Management
Proposed FAR changes remove contractor diversity requirements, keep disability rules
COMMENTARY | The new language follows one of President Trump’s first executive orders to eliminate diversity requirements in federal contracts.
Workforce
Trump admin vows to follow court order on layoffs, but some cuts may still be imminent
The Interior Department revealed new details on its planned reductions.
Management
National parks, public lands feared at risk of long-term harm as shutdown drags on
National parks and other public lands remain open, but advocates and former agency employees warn that reduced staffing is putting natural resources and visitor safety at risk.
Workforce
Carpools, side jobs and food banks: How feds working through the shutdown are navigating delayed pay
Employees working without pay are worried about piling bills and distractions in jobs with no room for error.
Workforce
With funding for courts in question, Congress stuck in shutdown gridlock for day 16
The Senate ensured that the government shutdown would last into next week when it failed to pass a stopgap government spending bill for a 10th time on Thursday.
Oversight
Judiciary Democrats launch watchdog website amid withheld funding from inspector general group
The lawmakers are maintaining hotline information for over 20 OIGs, as watchdogs scramble to set up temporary websites after the White House withheld funding from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.
Pay & Benefits
What to know when your child ages out of federal health coverage
Children can stay on a parent’s FEHB or PSHB plan until 26, but understanding the 31-day extension, conversion options and Temporary Continuation of Coverage is key to avoiding gaps.
Workforce
‘We got the people that we want paid’: FBI, military continue receiving paychecks during shutdown
Other federal law enforcement employees, including at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have not been paid due to the funding lapse.
Management
Federal workforce losses are mounting, and agencies need a plan
COMMENTARY | As federal turnover grows, a former IRS human resources chief says agencies have a choice: let expertise slip away or invest in a stronger civil service.
Pay & Benefits
Dems, Murkowski demand White House guarantee backpay for furloughed feds
The White House continues to insist that the 2019 Government Employees Fair Treatment Act does not guarantee backpay to furloughed federal workers after every shutdown.
Breaking News
Management
Judge blocks shutdown layoffs after finding Trump's actions are likely illegal
The Trump administration is leveraging the shutdown to declare "the laws don't apply to them anymore," judge says, adding, "they can't do that."
Workforce
CDC employees sort through chaotic ‘outbreak of firings’ followed by some reversals
The Trump administration laid off more than 1,000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees ostensibly due to the government shutdown, but officials have rescinded more than half of the reduction in force notices, according to the union.
Pay & Benefits
Reintroduced bill would shield federal employees from shutdown-related foreclosures and evictions
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, has reintroduced a bill that would let federal employees and contractors defer financial problems caused by a government shutdown, a proposal he has introduced multiple times since 2019.
Workforce
Legal challenges against Trump’s union EOs continue to proliferate
The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers has filed its second lawsuit seeking to block President Trump’s effort to strip collective bargaining rights from two-thirds of the federal workforce, this time on behalf of NASA workers.
Workforce
Top cyber lawmaker wants answers on CISA workforce reductions
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., penned a strongly-worded letter to CISA’s acting director asking for an update on the status of the cyberdefense agency’s staffing posture.
News
Nonprofit files lawsuit to reinstate digital equity grants
The Trump administration cancelled funding under the Digital Equity Act earlier this year. A group that was in line to receive some of those funds is now suing to get them back.
Workforce
As White House promises more federal layoffs, Democrats say ‘we’ll see them in court’
Trump suggests more cuts coming Friday as lawmakers vow to prevent "terrorism" against federal workers.
Workforce
Multiple CISA divisions targeted in shutdown layoffs, people familiar say
CISA units including its Stakeholder Engagement division are believed to have been hit. A DHS spokesperson said that the RIFs are meant to help get CISA “back on mission.”
Management