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

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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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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Public Support for Federal Workers Amid Agency Cuts

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Federal employees often move through the year feeling unseen, especially after events like shutdowns, staffing losses, or politically driven restructuring. When programs shrink and...

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Gratitude as a Legal and Mental Clarity Tool for Federal Employees

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Federal employees have spent the year navigating unprecedented disruption: DOGE rollouts, chaotic reorganizations, and constant uncertainty about missions, staffing, and the future...

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Here's What I Would Tell DOGE If It Had an Exit Interview

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Federal employees have spent the last year living inside a case study of what happens when political ambition outruns legal authority. The Department of Government Efficiency—DOGE—...

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After DOGE’s Implosion: The Silent Shift in Federal Workforce Cuts

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When news broke that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had effectively collapsed, many federal employees felt a surge of relief. But the reporting behind DOGE’s implos...

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CFPB Furloughs: What Federal Employees Need to Know

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When an administration decides it doesn’t like an independent watchdog, the pressure rarely comes all at once. More often, it arrives through the quiet weaponization of funding, st...

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When a Grand Jury Never Votes: What Federal Employees Should Learn

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Federal employees know better than anyone: process matters. Whether it’s a performance-improvement plan, a disciplinary proposal, or an MSPB appeal, the government’s actions only h...

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CDC Workforce Cuts and What Federal Employees Need to Know

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Federal employees returning from the shutdown are walking into workplaces changed by months of uncertainty—but nowhere is the disruption more visible than at the Centers for Diseas...

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DHS’s $220M Border Ads: What Federal Employees Need to Know

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When a 43-day shutdown left federal employees scrambling to cover rent and groceries, another story unfolded almost unnoticed: DHS quietly pushed out a $220 million “emergency” med...

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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.

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