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Shaun Southworth leading a federal employment training session with members of the Southworth PC team
 

Federal Workers and the New Management Agenda: What It Really Signals

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Every federal employee eventually asks the same quiet question: Is this it, or is more change coming? The newly released President’s Management Agenda — a brief two-page document —...

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Supreme Court Signals Shift on Independent Agencies

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When the Supreme Court devotes nearly two hours to questioning whether the President can fire leaders of “independent” agencies at will, federal employees should take notice. The a...

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Presidential Removal Power and What It Means for MSPB Independence

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A divided D.C. Circuit decision on Friday did something federal employees can’t afford to overlook: it upheld the president’s ability to fire members of the Merit Systems Protectio...

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Presidential Removal Power: What Today’s Supreme Court Case Means for Feds

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or many federal employees, the fear sits quietly beneath the usual stressors: Could a president fire people simply for not falling in line? Today’s Supreme Court arguments bring th...

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Judge Halts State Department RIFs: What Federal Employees Need to Know

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Hundreds of State Department employees woke up on December 5 believing it was their final day in federal service. Overnight, that story changed. A federal judge issued an emergency...

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FEMA Whistleblowers and the Red Flags of Retaliation

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When fourteen FEMA whistleblowers were reinstated in the morning and removed again by the afternoon—right after national reporting embarrassed DHS—many federal employees saw someth...

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Alleged DEI “Purges” and What Fell v. Trump Means for Federal Employees

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A new class action, Fell v. Trump, alleges something no federal employee should take lightly: that the administration directed agencies to identify, isolate, and remove anyone link...

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Presidential Power vs. Civil Rights: What Nemer v. Bondi Means for Federal Employees

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A new lawsuit—Nemer v. Bondi—is raising a question most federal employees never thought they’d have to ask: Can a President legally fire you even if the motive is discriminatory? T...

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Two-Year Probation? What the EQUALS Act Could Mean for Federal Employees

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Congress just moved a significant step closer to reshaping how long new federal employees must work before gaining full MSPB appeal rights. The EQUALS Act, which passed the House O...

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Why “Minor” Discipline Isn’t Minor for Federal Employees

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For many federal employees returning from Thanksgiving with a knot in the stomach about what their agency might do next, that feeling is not misplaced. Small shifts in the discipli...

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Unlawful Orders in Federal Service: What You Need to Know

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When a headline suggests the Pentagon may have crossed the line into a war crime, the instinctive reaction many federal employees feel isn’t just shock — it’s recognition. Because ...

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Kalkines Warnings After Shows v. Treasury: What Feds Must Know

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When a headline suggests the Pentagon may have crossed the line into a war crime, the instinctive reaction many federal employees feel isn’t just shock — it’s recognition. Because ...

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The Mindful Federal Employee is part of a broader public-education ecosystem from Shaun Southworth, Lydia Taylor, and Southworth PC. Use the resource that fits the question and the moment.

Podcast

Civil Rights for Civil Servants

Hear Shaun Southworth and Lydia Taylor explain federal employee rights, public service, workplace systems, and the people navigating them.

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About the people behind the work

Shaun Southworth & Lydia Taylor

Meet the federal employment attorneys behind this public-education work and the podcast Civil Rights for Civil Servants.

Meet Shaun & Lydia

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