Workforce
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.
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.
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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.
Final Schedule F regulations to describe civil service protections as ‘unconstitutional overcorrections’
OPM officials told agency HR leaders Tuesday that President Trump has Article II constitutional authority to remove tens of thousands of career federal workers in jobs over potential “resistance to policy.”
Lawmakers force House vote on bill nullifying anti-union EOs
A pair of Republicans were the final signatures needed to on a bipartisan discharge petition in support of legislation that would strike President Trump’s pair of executive orders aimed at stripping two-thirds of the federal workforce of their collective bargaining rights.
Federal employees face lingering uncertainty as some shutdown RIFs are reversed
COMMENTARY | The continuing resolution approved last week ordered agencies to reinstate some employees who had been laid off during the shutdown, but inconsistent follow-through is leaving civil servants in limbo as January’s deadline approaches.
‘We'll probably waste millions again': Feds dig out of 43 days’ worth of piled-up work
Hundreds of thousands of employees stepped into their offices on Thursday for the first time in more than six weeks, with daunting backlogs before them.
Nonprofit launches FEVS alternative after OPM’s cancellation of official survey
The Public Service Viewpoint Survey aims to at least partially fill the void left by the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, which OPM cancelled this year despite a legal requirement that it be administered annually.
Education Department can’t use furloughed employees’ out-of-office emails to blame shutdown on Democrats, judge rules
The American Federation of Government Employees filed a lawsuit after Education staffers reported that their out-of-office messages had been modified.
Unions sue over ‘loyalty question’ for federal jobseekers
Earlier this year, the Office of Personnel Management added a series of essay questions to the federal hiring process, including one that asked jobseekers about their favorite Trump executive order or policy priority.
