Pay & Benefits
OPM lays out early plans for law enforcement-only pay raise
Federal employee groups decried President Trump’s plan to raise pay for most civilian employees by just 1% next year while giving military service members and law enforcement officers 3.8%.
Workforce
More unions sue following second edict banning them, alleging retaliation
Although left off the initial list of agencies where the Trump administration wants to ban unions, two labor groups said they were targeted after seeking to enforce their collective bargaining agreements.
Pay & Benefits
All TSP funds were back in the black in August
The Thrift Savings Plan’s international investments rebounded last month after lagging behind other portfolios in July.
Updated
Workforce
A fresh executive order aims to ban unions at more federal agencies
A new edict published alongside President Trump’s proclamation celebrating Labor Day seeks to outlaw collective bargaining at more than half a dozen additional agencies under the auspices of “national security.”
Workforce
Appeals court will reconsider decision to allow Trump’s anti-union order to take effect
The announcement comes as the Trump administration has seemingly reneged on promises to hold off on fully implementing the edict until lawsuits seeking to block the order are complete.
Workforce
HHS the latest to cancel union contracts and implement Trump’s order
The decision seemingly contradicts the Office of Personnel Management’s guidance not to terminate collective bargaining agreements while litigation challenging the edict progresses, though it was recently amended only to prohibit NTEU contract terminations.
Pay & Benefits
Trump’s pay freeze plan expected by end of month
The president must publish his alternative pay plan by Aug. 31 if he wishes to avert automatic large-scale increases to locality pay under the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act.
Oversight
OPM will forego FEVS in 2025, despite law requiring it
The Office of Personnel Management did not answer questions regarding how the federal government will administer a survey of the 16 core Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey questions, which are spelled out in statute.
Workforce
Judge certifies class in lawsuit on behalf of ex-USAID workers, contractors
Though a federal appeals court previously blocked Judge Theodore Chuang’s injunction finding the Trump administration’s efforts to shutter the foreign aid agency to be ‘likely unconstitutional,’ the case is again moving forward under an amended complaint.
Oversight
House Dems: Trump is starving inspectors generals of resources, blocking investigations
Some inspector general offices have reported 20 to 30% decreases in staffing as a result of the administration’s myriad efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce.
Workforce
On Social Security’s 90th birthday, the Trump administration continues to tout faulty stats
At a White House ceremony, the president and Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano repeatedly recited already debunked myths about the Social Security Administration’s customer service and benefits fraud.
Workforce
Trump administration nixes union contracts at FEMA, USCIS, food safety agencies
Union officials warn that their excision from federal workplaces will ultimately degrade service to the public.
Workforce
EPA becomes the second federal agency to cancel its union contracts
In an email Friday, an official claimed the continued recognition of unions at EPA would constitute “irreparable harm to national security” at the agency responsible for fighting pollution.
Workforce
OPM orders deletion of federal workers’ vaccination records
The announcement came hours after a formal dissolution of a lawsuit challenging the Biden-era requirement that federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, which hasn’t been enforced since 2023.
Workforce
In partisan letter, Bisignano shifts blame on 1-800 call times, cites dated stats
Current and former Social Security officials said the commissioner at various points blamed his predecessor for problems that did not exist and took credit for Biden-era improvements.
Workforce
VA terminates most of its union contracts, appearing to disregard OPM guidance
The move runs against the Trump administration’s claims to federal jurists that agencies would wait until the conclusion of litigation challenging the president’s executive order seeking to outlaw collective bargaining at most federal agencies on national security grounds.
Workforce
A second appeals court has allowed Trump’s anti-union EO to go into effect
A three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court rejected claims that President Trump’s barring collective bargaining for two-thirds of the federal workforce was retaliatory in nature, finding that the administration would have done so regardless of labor groups’ various legal challenges.
Pay & Benefits
TSP funds post mixed returns in July
While domestic investments in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program posted gains last month, its international fund faltered.
Workforce
Senate panel advances bills to protect whistleblowers, fix CBP workers’ retirement benefits
More than 1,300 CBP officers spent more than a decade contributing toward their retirement annuities for which they were not eligible, due to a mistake the agency made in 2008.
Workforce