Management
Rubio denies that Trump will politicize the Foreign Service and slash embassies
State Department says a draft executive order, which would have created new loyalty requirements for career staff and eliminated many offices, is fake. A reorganization of the department is still expected shortly.
Workforce
OPM proposes rule to formally revive Schedule F
The federal government’s dedicated HR agency estimates that 50,000 federal workers will be stripped of their civil service protections and become at-will employees.
Updated
Workforce
VA is selectively enforcing Trump’s order stripping workers of union rights
VA Secretary Doug Collins this week issued a notice allowing employees at the department whose unions have not been involved with lawsuits against the Trump administration to retain their collective bargaining rights.
Updated
Workforce
Mass layoffs paused at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
A union argued that CFPB has violated an order limiting how it can conduct reductions in force.
Workforce
SBA hit with more layoffs
The agency's COVID-19 EIDL Servicing Center staff were told they would be fired on Friday.
Breaking News
Workforce
White House extends federal hiring freeze until July for most
The Trump administration’s halt on federal civilian hiring, which was supposed to be lifted Monday, will be extended through July, per a memo released late Thursday.
Workforce
Unions sue to stop demolition of mediator agency
The congressionally authorized Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service worked to avoid costly litigation between labor groups and their employers—in both the private and public sectors—until President Trump ordered officials to effectively shutter the agency last month.
Management
Trump administration wants new headquarters for the Housing and Urban Development Department
The headquarters announcement comes days after the president repealed decades-old executive orders in an effort to reshape where agencies decide to establish their office locations.
Exclusive
Contracts
COMMENTARY: Trump officials explain his plan to make government acquisition great, for once
Three senior Trump officials explain why revamping the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and the $1 trillion in government spending it governs each year, is now a top priority.
Contracts
Trump orders structural changes to rules covering $1T in federal spending
The Tuesday mandate — which aims to streamline the way government buys goods and services — was accompanied by a second order requiring agencies to predominantly use commercial products, rather than custom-built.
Exclusive
Management
White House pitches layoffs, local office closures and program eliminations at USDA
“These are the people that are directly where the farmers are,” one official says of the planned cuts.
Companies
WT Survey: Contractors see dark clouds hanging over the market
Our survey shows widespread concerns over budget constraints and federal workforce cuts by the Trump administration, with small businesses feeling the most impact.
Management
SBA investigating staff for talking to press, former colleagues
SBA’s general counsel warned staff Monday it was investigating employee communications with media and former colleagues in a memo. It was promptly shared with reporters.
Management
How cyber vulnerabilities and workforce cuts threaten the crisis lifeline program
A bipartisan, bicameral measure is hoping to prevent cyber incidents from limiting access to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline after a 2022 attack on a system operator disrupted calls to the hotline.
Workforce
Federal contract oversight employees contemplate resignation offer, as agency faces layoffs and mission realignment
Employees at the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs had less than two weeks to decide whether to opt into the second round of the deferred resignation program.
Tech
Deep cuts hit HHS tech offices
Current employees say that dramatic cuts to leadership and career staff within FDA and HHS have left critical projects at risk.
Workforce
Employees swarm to second ‘deferred resignation’ offer, though some are receiving unexpected responses
At USDA, 16,000 employees have signed up for the “DRP.”
Pay & Benefits
Trump likely to propose pay freeze for federal workers in 2026
In OMB’s response to agency budget submissions, the White House budget office told officials to prepare for a freeze on federal civilian pay next year.
Workforce
Top homeland security lawmaker calls for cautious cuts to CISA
“We have to be very careful about who and what we cut, because [the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency] does have a mission to overwatch our critical infrastructure and make sure the bad guys aren’t getting in,” said Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn.
Management