Workforce
Making sense of the chaotic state of the civil service
COMMENTARY | Answers to eight questions you may be struggling with after the “deferred resignation” offer.
Workforce
Trump exempted public safety roles from his hiring freeze. Federal firefighters, prison guards and food inspectors wonder why they don’t count.
Current and former employees say public safety agencies are still freezing hiring they claim to have exempted and liken the approach to a 'self-imposed gunshot wound to the head.'
Updated
Workforce
Federal judge blocks USAID leave notices and reinstates workers
Attorneys representing the Trump administration confirmed Friday that upwards of 2,200 employees, many of whom are stationed overseas, would have been put on administrative leave Friday night, absent the court’s intervention.
Workforce
Trump administration environmental justice removals cut across agencies
Agencies leaders placed nearly 200 on administrative leave as they wound down programs at the Justice and Energy departments and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Updated
Workforce
Trump administration’s 'deferred resignation' deadline blocked until next week
OPM is required to notify all employees who received an initial "deferred resignation" offer by Thursday evening that the deadline for accepting the legally dubious offer has been pushed until Monday.
Workforce
Many federal supervisors this week had just hours to send tweet-length justifications to save their employees’ jobs
OPM renewed its push at some agencies to glean information on recently hired federal employees.
Updated
Workforce
USAID begins sending administrative leave notices ahead of expected shutdown
The agency also reportedly has ordered overseas missions to shut down by the end of the week.
Workforce
Thousands more recent federal hires receive warnings of their easy-to-fire status
The Trump administration is ratcheting up its efforts to push federal workers out of government.
Workforce
FBI agents sue over DOJ-demanded lists of personnel involved in Jan. 6 investigations
The lawsuit follows a Jan. 31 memo from the acting deputy attorney general ordering the firing of several FBI leaders and calling for the identification of other agents.
Updated
Workforce
Agencies ramp up pressure on their workers to quit
New guidance continues to defend the Trump administration's "deferred resignation" program as legal, though it fails to address its apparent violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act.
Workforce
Union chief: It’s not just a threat to federal employees
COMMENTARY | "Either we fight for our federal workforce now...or we will suffer the consequences of a government ill-equipped to protect and deliver for the taxpaying citizens of our nation," writes Doreen Greenwald, national president for the National Treasury Employees Union.
Workforce
Unions sue Treasury over DOGE access to payment systems
Anonymous plaintiffs also called for a temporary restraining order Tuesday to prevent OPM from using a newly installed email system to mass-message federal employees.
Workforce
OPM claims agencies can ignore union telework contracts
A new memo instructing agencies to cease enforcing union-negotiated telework policies under the guise of “management rights” could portend future assaults on collective bargaining.
Workforce
Trump signs memo that claims to cancel late Biden-era union contracts
Although the president railed against collective bargaining agreements signed at the Social Security Administration and the Education Department shortly before his inauguration, it’s unlikely any of those deals will be upended by the measure.
Workforce
OPM will grant VERA authority to all agencies, as confusion around ‘deferred resignation’ program continues
With just one week before the deadline, many federal workers are still unclear whether they can trust the Trump administration’s offer, or if they are even eligible for it.
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Workforce
As the Trump administration gathers names of recent hires, some are being asked to justify their jobs
New federal workers are the easiest to fire and the administration is gathering information on their names, backgrounds, roles and performance.
Workforce
Employee groups, Democrats, experts warn feds not to accept ‘deferred resignation’ offer
The lack of a legal underpinning for the purported eight-month severance package, and Elon Musk’s history of offering—and then revoking—severance payments have many federal workers wary of the measure.
Workforce
EPA employees told to pause most external communications and cancel meetings with outside parties
The agency joins several across government at which the Trump administration has issued at least a partial gag order. An agency spokesperson has denied that a pause is in place.
Updated
Workforce
Trump reportedly will offer 'buyouts' to all 2 million federal workers
The White House’s plan to offer “deferred resignations” that pay departing federal employees their salary through Sept. 30 will likely run afoul of rules governing buyout payments.
Workforce