Updated Oversight

Inspectors general file lawsuit to fight firings

The litigation comes as a Democratic member of the Merit Systems Protection Board who Trump removed is also asking the courts to stop her ousting.

Workforce

Some agencies begin purges of recent hires even as OPM directs federal offices to pump the brakes

Going forward, agencies are told to prioritize low performing probationers for firing. Some have already taken a different approach.

Workforce

Trump orders agencies to plan for widespread layoffs and attrition-based hiring

The order tasks agencies to work in conjunction with Elon Musk’s DOGE to dramatically scale back government capacity.

Updated Workforce

Trump apparently fires FLRA chairwoman

Susan Tsui Grundmann’s term at the agency that oversees federal sector labor disputes was not set to end until July.

Breaking News Management

Trump fires one-third of federal employee appeals board

The Democratic member was three years into a seven-year term on the three-member panel.

Tech

OPM skirted agency norms in assessing the privacy of its new email system

Anonymous federal employees filed a lawsuit alleging that the new email system could be placing their sensitive personal information at risk.

Transition

Tech is power in Musk’s campaign to roll over federal civil servants

COMMENTARY | Instead of brigades of men with guns storming government buildings, President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk are deploying young men with zip drives to infiltrate federal agencies, argues one observer.

Transition

Senate Democrats call for DOGE to halt until details are provided

The letter to the White House chief of staff and counsel notes that some of billionaire Elon Musk’s actions via DOGE “may be illegal or unconstitutional.”

Updated Workforce

Judge extends pause on ‘deferred resignation’ deadline

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole reportedly said he was considering converting the existing temporary restraining order blocking the administration from advancing its deferred resignation program into a preliminary injunction, but he did not indicate how he would rule in the case.

Updated Management

Ethics and whistleblower officials fired by Trump

Hampton Dellinger, the ousted head of the Office of Special Counsel, filed a lawsuit that argued his removal was unlawful, and a federal judge reinstated him at least through Thursday.

Workforce

Making sense of the chaotic state of the civil service

COMMENTARY | Answers to eight questions you may be struggling with after the “deferred resignation” offer.

Workforce

Trump exempted public safety roles from his hiring freeze. Federal firefighters, prison guards and food inspectors wonder why they don’t count.

Current and former employees say public safety agencies are still freezing hiring they claim to have exempted and liken the approach to a 'self-imposed gunshot wound to the head.'

Updated Workforce

Federal judge blocks USAID leave notices and reinstates workers

Attorneys representing the Trump administration confirmed Friday that upwards of 2,200 employees, many of whom are stationed overseas, would have been put on administrative leave Friday night, absent the court’s intervention.

Exclusive Management

Federal prisons to house ICE detainees as Trump furthers immigration crackdown

The move raises a series of questions as staff remain unclear on how their responsibilities could change.

Workforce

Trump administration environmental justice removals cut across agencies

Agencies leaders placed nearly 200 on administrative leave as they wound down programs at the Justice and Energy departments and the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Transition

What to do on the day after?

COMMENTARY | Once Elon Musk and crew burn it all down, here’s how we might rebuild from the ashes.

Management

Musk's role as ‘special government employee’ raises ethics questions

The SpaceX founder and CEO's moves across federal agencies break with tradition and could result in legal action.

Updated Workforce

Trump administration’s 'deferred resignation' deadline blocked until next week

OPM is required to notify all employees who received an initial "deferred resignation" offer by Thursday evening that the deadline for accepting the legally dubious offer has been pushed until Monday.

Management

OPM asks to dismiss email server lawsuit, citing misinterpretation of law

The agency notably released a privacy impact assessment for the dubious email server used to mass-message federal employees about a deferred resignation offer on the same day as the legal dismissal request.