Workforce
IRS and Social Security bar employees from taking advanced leave
A union official says advanced leave functions as a sort of short-term or long-term disability insurance program for many federal employees.
New documentary recounts ‘free-for-all attitude of cruelty’ toward axed federal employees
The movie, which was filmed during the start of the second Trump administration, examines the human and societal effects of recent federal job cuts.
AFGE sues over EEOC’s apparent shutdown of class action cases against agencies
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chairwoman Andrea Lucas surreptitiously ordered a halt on all class-action proceedings in which a federal agency is a defendant last December, despite regulations requiring such cases be handled “promptly.”
Updated
As USDA relocation deadlines near, employees say questions remain unanswered
Employees say they still lack key details about exemptions, moving costs and next steps as USDA continues issuing relocation notices.
Federal employees say they’ll quit if they have to move to New Jersey
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging the Trump administration to reconsider the planned move of local offices of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Unions ask for injunction restoring collective bargaining at Defense
The latest filing from a pair of federal employee unions highlights the ways in which the Pentagon strayed from the Trump administration’s own guidance for implementing the president’s executive order banning collective bargaining at most agencies on national security grounds.
OPM shrinks its workforce by a third, seeks further staffing cuts
The agency is giving employees in its healthcare and insurance division another shot at opting into the deferred resignation program.
Arbitrator restores telework for IRS workers
The Internal Revenue Service withdrew from participating in the National Treasury Employees Union’s grievance against the agency for its 2025 return-to-office push in March, forcing independent arbitrator Christopher Shulman to conduct proceedings with management in absentia.
Pentagon closes cyber apprenticeship applications early after receiving over 15,000
A Defense Department official told Nextgov/FCW that the agency is “rolling out additional apprenticeship positions over the next few weeks.”
A year after State layoffs, ex-feds say U.S. is paying the price in Iran and Ebola crises
Democratic lawmakers at a Thursday press conference also touted a new bill that would exempt foreign service officers who were pushed out by the Trump administration from being required to take the Foreign Service Officer Test if they wish to rejoin.
More than 50 Dem lawmakers demand more Schedule F transparency
Efforts to understand the true scope of the recent executive order moving around 8,000 career federal jobs into Schedule Policy/Career, making their incumbents effectively at-will employees, have been stymied by the administration’s scant public documentation.
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Arbitrator restores telework and remote work at the Forest Service
The U.S. Forest Service violated its collective bargaining agreement with the National Federation of Federal Employees last year when it unilaterally canceled telework and remote work agreements en masse as part of the Trump administration’s return-to-office mandate.
The biggest story in the federal workforce cuts isn't how many left, it's who wasn't replaced
COMMENTARY | The data suggest the workforce reduction reshaped not just the size of government, but the expertise available to carry out its work, one expert argues.
Fired EPA dissenters sue for reinstatement, alleging First Amendment violations
Seven former EPA employees said they were targeted for removal for signing an open “declaration of dissent” in their personal capacities because they had fewer civil service protections rather than any wrongdoing.
Judges block Trump effort to narrow public service loan forgiveness
The rulings preserve existing eligibility rules for now while testing how much authority the Education Department has to reshape a popular benefit for public service workers.
Unions sue to restore DOD collective bargaining rights, asserting ‘chaos’
A new lawsuit alleges that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s order last April to terminate most union contracts led to a slapdash implementation process that stripped bargaining rights even from those exempt from President Trump’s anti-labor executive orders.
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Some disabled veterans say losing telework accommodations is making it harder for them to keep working at the VA
Employees with disabilities at several agencies have alleged that they’re being forced to return to the office, even though the Trump administration’s directive ending telework flexibility for the civil service exempted those with qualifying reasonable accommodations.
Trump wants to scrap a key framework for federal employee discipline
Officials said the Douglas factors, 12 criteria federal agencies have used for 45 years to devise and justify discipline for misconduct, are too restrictive and “mechanistic.” Practitioners disagree.
OPM proposes ‘decentralized’ FEVS with fewer questions and less transparency
Agencies would be expected to conduct their own workforce surveys each year, with little rules on how much, or how little, they divulge to the public about it.
OPM finalizes ‘Nixonian’ rule centralizing and enabling some federal firings
Under final regulations published this week, the federal government’s dedicated HR agency can remove federal employees from across government over suitability and conduct issues—blocking most avenues for appeal.
