The Federal Employee Survival Blog
Cut through the jargon and get the clarity you need to stay a step ahead of agency politics. Each article unpacks new policy shifts, court rulings, and workplace trends, then turns them into actionable tactics—so you can head off discipline, invoke EEO or whistleblower protections with confidence, and keep your documentation airtight. We also archive our most popular social-media explainer threads here, giving you the same insights followed by more than 150,000 people online even if you never scroll on those sites. Read, prepare, and keep your federal career firmly in your control.
When a Reduction in Force (RIF) notice lands in your inbox, the panic can be paralyzing. Questions spiral: What’s my deadline? Do I have any rights? Should I hire a lawyer? And while some answers depe...
Last week, something rare happened in Washington: a pause that actually protects the federal workforce. The Senate abruptly yanked the confirmation hearing for Paul Ingrassia, a controversial nominee ...
It’s not hyperbole to say this year has shaken the foundation for many federal employees. Being labeled “swamp creatures” or blamed for systemic dysfunction is not new—but the current political climat...
On July 18, 2025, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to disclose details of 40 reduction-in-force (RIF) plans affecting 17 federal agencies. That breakthrough offered a glimmer of transp...
In recent months, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has quietly shed nearly 7,500 frontline employees—the very people who serve veterans face-to-face every day. The result? A system already stra...
There’s big news coming out of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): the feared mass RIF (Reduction in Force) affecting 80,000 employees is officially off the table. Instead, leadership is opting t...
Russell Vought, former OMB Director and self-styled “trauma king,” once said the quiet part out loud: that his goal was to make civil servants afraid to come to work. But last week, a federal judge pu...
A lesser-known legal challenge quietly gaining traction could have major implications for senior-level federal employees. In Oyer v. Department of Justice, DOJ argues that a longtime career employee—L...
Some agencies that once charged ahead with mass reductions in force (RIFs) are now quietly tapping the brakes. Officially, they’re citing early retirements and voluntary departures as sufficient workf...
On July 16, 2025, the D.C. Circuit Court allowed President Trump’s executive order to take effect, redefining more than 30 federal agencies as “national-security” operations. While the name sounds tec...
If you’re a federal employee watching the Reduction in Force (RIF) situation unfold, you’re likely feeling the emotional whiplash. Just this week, the White House admitted to tracking 70 active RIF ac...
Federal employees, especially those affected by recent RIFs at the Department of Education, are right to feel unsettled. In McMahon v. New York, the Supreme Court issued a brief, unsigned “Shadow Dock...
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