Author Archive
Workforce
Probationary appeal rights under further threat by OPM proposal
Under proposed rules issued last week, newly hired federal workers would no longer be able to appeal adverse actions to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
Pay & Benefits
OPM finalizes 3.8% raise for federal law enforcement
The additional 2.8% pay increase set aside for law enforcement personnel takes the form of a special pay rate.
Workforce
Arbitrator: Trump’s union EOs violate ‘hierarchy of law’
Independent federal arbitrator Marvin Hill defied the Trump administration's demand that he dismiss an internal grievance against the Defense Department, remarking that to do so would require "re-writing" most legal textbooks.
Pay & Benefits
Domestic TSP funds falter to close out 2025
Most portfolios within the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program were flat last month.
Workforce
The twists and turns of Trump’s 2025 war on unions
Since returning to office, the Trump administration has engaged in a series of efforts to sideline labor representatives within the federal government.
Workforce
Supreme Court won’t halt judge’s probe into civil service laws’ virility, for now
The unsigned order, which prompted no public dissents, suggested the Trump administration could return to the high court if the federal district court’s factfinding mission commences before justices consider whether to formally take on the case.
Pay & Benefits
Trump finalizes 1% pay raise for most feds
The president also tasked OPM Director Scott Kupor with analyzing whether to provide federal law enforcement officers with a 3.8% pay increase, in line with what military service members are set to receive next month.
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Management
Trump to limit top ratings for all feds and consolidate scoring in forthcoming rule
Though the forced distribution of performance ratings is “categorically prohibited” under current rules, federal agencies already appear to be adopting the system, before the proposal has even been announced.
Workforce
Appellate judges mull challenge to Trump’s efforts to bust most federal labor unions
Much of the discussion in oral arguments for three separate lawsuits revolved around whether an administrative board could hear unions’ legal claims and whether President Trump used a faulty definition of 'national security' when he devised two executive orders banning unions at most federal agencies.
Workforce
TSA plans to bust labor union despite court order blocking it
The Trump administration’s efforts to unwind collective bargaining for airport security screeners have been blocked since June, when a federal judge found the initiative was aimed at “punishing” the nation’s largest federal worker union.
Workforce
House passes bill nullifying Trump’s anti-union EOs
Twenty Republicans crossed party lines to support legislation to unwind what opponents described as the largest act of “union busting” in U.S. history.
Workforce
FBI agents fired over 2020 protest actions sue for reinstatement
A dozen former FBI agents said their decision to kneel while responding to 2020 protests against police brutality was a tactical one, required as the result of the first Trump administration’s decision to deploy federal agents without crowd control equipment or training.
Workforce
House strips its own provision protecting Defense civilians’ union rights from NDAA
A source familiar with congressional negotiations said that the bipartisan language effectively nullifying President Trump’s anti-union executive orders as they pertain to the Pentagon was dropped due to lack of support in the Senate.
Workforce
Ex-feds axed in DEI purge file class action suit
A group of four former federal employees described the mass reduction in force of those in purportedly “diversity”-related jobs as a means for the Trump administration to “punish perceived political enemies” and disproportionally targeting protected-class employees for dismissal.
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Workforce
EPA workers fired over dissent letter appeal to MSPB
Only a fraction of the more than 130 employees who signed an open letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin accusing the Trump administration of “recklessly undermining” the agency’s mission were ultimately terminated, purportedly because they worked in “public-facing” roles.
Workforce
House panel advances bills extending probationary periods to two years
Democrats decried the measure as a Trojan horse aimed at more easily screening new federal workers and job seekers on ideological grounds.
Pay & Benefits
TSP funds mostly flat in November
Though only one of the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program’s portfolios lost value last month, none exceeded 1% in returns.
Management
OPM reassures managers of ‘extremely narrow’ liability in performance management actions
The federal government’s HR agency reminded federal supervisors that they can be partially reimbursed for insurance against lawsuits that may arise from taking adverse actions against subordinates.
Management
Bureau of Prisons to ‘suspend operations’ at California penitentiary
Federal Correctional Institution Terminal Island needs more than $100 million in repairs, including decaying concrete ceilings in some maintenance tunnels.
Workforce
Correctional officers sue for restoration of union rights
The American Federation of Government Employees’ agency-specific lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s executive orders aimed at excising unions from most federal agencies accused the U.S. Bureau of Prisons of arbitrary and capricious decision-making.
