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.
New podcast spotlights stories of historical postal employees, offering a ‘playbook’ for defending public institutions
“People of Agency” recounts the history of the U.S. Postal Service by focusing on civil servants who have shaped the agency.
OPM says 92% of fed departures this year were voluntary. Those who left disagree
Staff only left "the most amazing job I could ever have" under significant pressure, former federal employees said.
200 DOJ employees who left under Trump say admin is making ‘coordinated effort’ to undermine career staff
The Justice Department is actively pushing out career employees working on civil rights, they say.
Education Department civil rights staff returning to work to tackle complaint backlog
More than 200 Office for Civil Rights employees targeted as part of a larger RIF effort at the Education Department in March, they are now being brought back to the office.
Trump is using $70K bonuses for a hiring surge at one agency. Democrats want to stop him
The hiring of hundreds of new officers will allow Trump to centralize his power in Washington, senators say, though administration suggests the effort is boosting safety.
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.
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.
DOJ says lower court ruling would ‘wreak havoc’ on the civil service absent Supreme Court intervention
A federal judge was set to review whether Trump has neutered civil service laws, but the Supreme Court has paused that effort while it considers the administration's request.
Updated
Judge temporarily blocks layoffs at State as unions seek to apply shutdown deal pause at 4 other agencies
The Trump administration had argued the blanket RIF moratorium does not apply at five agencies.
Feds will probably have to work on Christmas Eve, but a holiday miracle would not be unprecedented
Because Christmas falls on a Thursday this year, President Donald Trump may give government workers Dec. 26 off rather than Christmas Eve.
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.
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HHS adds new conditions to telework for employees with disabilities
The Trump administration has sought to largely prevent federal employees from working remotely.
State becomes the latest agency to proceed with RIFs despite statutory pause
The deal to end the shutdown placed a moratorium on any action to implement layoffs, but some agency are moving forward anyway.
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.
Government transformation is badly needed
COMMENTARY | The federal civil service could use an update, but it's not the workforce that's the problem, it's the culture. And there's already a proven playbook on how to fix it.
Social Security occupational data update appears stalled after agency drops regulatory overhaul
The Social Security Administration has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to update the occupational data used in disability adjudications. When the agency will actually move to newer data is unclear.
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.
A federal employee morale survey is worthwhile...but not this way
COMMENTARY | The future of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey may be in question, but while the Partnership for Public Service aims to preserve its own version of the employee poll, there may be another way to gauge the organizational climate of the federal government.
In spite of more public awareness about federal workforce cuts’ impacts, opposition to them hasn’t grown, survey suggests
Democrats and young adults are more likely to report being affected by or knowing someone impacted by the Trump administration’s government workforce reductions.
Satisfaction with government services rises, despite recent layoffs and turmoil
The Trump administration has touted some service delivery projects and launched a design initiative, but it has also fired and pushed out thousands of civil servants.
