Workforce
NSF is using its HQ move to revoke telework for workers with disabilities, employees say
Most of the science agency’s workforce is currently teleworking, as they are being relocated to a new office building that is close to the former headquarters.
In rare move, full appeals court agrees to hear case challenging Trump’s ‘Article II’ firings
Federal circuit courts typically hear cases via randomized three-judge panels, reserving review by the entire judicial bench for its most important cases.
NTEU sues IRS over destruction of employees’ pro-union decorations
The Internal Revenue Service last month issued a directive barring employees from posting flyers and other decorations related to the National Treasury Employees Union, which the union says violates the First Amendment.
Most Americans think government workers are competent and should be nonpartisan, according to recent surveys
A survey from the Partnership for Public Service also found that a majority of Americans oppose the Trump administration’s changes to government.
A year after sounding the alarm, NIH dissenters say political influence is entrenched at research agency
The Trump administration has cut staff and grants at the National Institutes of Health, and employees warn further overhauls appear to be likely.
NDA proposal for feds draws scrutiny on Capitol Hill
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorth, D-Ill., expressed “serious concern” about the Office of Personnel Management’s controversial proposal, including its impact on whistleblowers and employees who report wrongdoing.
Union renews call for lawmakers to override Trump’s anti-union EO at the Pentagon
Last year, the House voted to pass its annual defense policy bill with a provision that would have halted implementation of President Trump’s executive order banning collective bargaining at the Defense Department and other agencies, but the Senate axed the measure.
Another lawsuit alleges DOJ is illegally rejecting telework requests from employees with disabilities
Some of the plaintiffs said that the revocations of their telework reasonable accommodations have forced them to take leave and worsened their health.
Trump’s edict making 8,000 feds at-will employees draws swift outcry
Agencies have just one week to reclassify thousands of federal workers in purportedly policy-related roles into the new Schedule Policy/Career, stripping them of most civil service protections.
Lawsuit claims DOJ is retaliating against employees with disabilities who request telework
Many agencies have instituted policies to more strictly scrutinize telework as a reasonable accommodation for workers with disabilities since the Trump administration’s return-to-office mandate.
Trump signs order moving thousands of federal employees into Schedule F
Roughly 8,000 career federal employees were stripped of their civil service protections Wednesday, making them effectively at-will employees.
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Federal oversight faces ‘structural conflict’ as political appointees enter IG offices
The 16 agencies that now have non-Senate-confirmed political staffers for the first time in 15 years include the IRS and Forest Service, according to a new report.
Federal employee NDAs aren’t new, but expanding them requires careful guardrails
COMMENTARY | A new proposal would expand federal nondisclosure agreements beyond classified work. Will it curb leaks or chill legitimate whistleblowing?
OPM moves to allow agencies to promote workers faster
Officials said the nearly 80-year-old requirement that federal employees serve in their current positions for at least one year before they may be promoted is “outdated.”
Supreme Court rejects lower court bid to review immigration judge gag order
Justices reversed an appeals court decision that would have greenlit a fact-finding expedition into whether President Trump had effectively nullified review of personnel policies under the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act.
They were told they’d move on. A year later, many fired federal employees say they haven’t been able to
A group of former federal probationary employees surveyed more than 300 of their fired colleagues to assess their job searches, mental health and several other topics.
OPM proposes requiring all feds to sign an NDA
Experts warned the measure, when combined with the federal HR agency’s new power to target employees’ suitability for federal employment, creates a new pathway for Trump administration officials to purge those deemed insufficiently loyal to the president.
Appeals court upholds order reinstating VA’s union contracts
A unanimous three-judge panel found that only a district judge’s requirement that the Veterans Affairs Department “comply” with its collective bargaining agreements should be put on hold while litigation proceeds.
Nuclear waste oversight at risk as staffing vacancies mount, watchdog warns
After a wave of departures tied to the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program, nearly half the positions in the Energy Department office overseeing nuclear cleanup sit empty, including many critical safety and engineering roles.
EEOC says government must pay damages to some employees subject to Biden's vaccine mandate
The Biden administration unlawfully failed to accommodate a handful of employees' religious objections to the COVID-19 vaccine, the EEOC ruled Monday.
