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.

 
OMB Memo Links Shutdowns to RIF Threats federal employment federal shutdown furlough rights mspb appeals rif notices Sep 25, 2025

Shutdowns are never easy for federal employees. Normally, the drill is painful but familiar: furloughs stop your paycheck, then Congress eventually funds the government, and you receive full back pay ...

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Hidden OMB “Spend Plans” and Risks for Federal Staff anti-deficiency act budget officers federal employment mindfulness at work omb apportionments Sep 24, 2025

In recent weeks, watchdog groups have revealed a troubling development at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Although a federal court ordered OMB to restore its public apportionments website, ...

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Federal Employee Shutdown Survival Guide federal employment federal shutdown mindfulness at work pay and benefits tsp Sep 24, 2025

If funding lapses after September 30, both furloughed and excepted employees stop receiving pay. The 2019 Government Employee Fair Treatment Act guarantees back pay—including overtime—once Congress re...

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GSA Rescinds PBS RIF Notices: What Returning Employees Need to Know benefits continuity federal employment gsa layoffs mindfulness at work rif notices Sep 23, 2025

The General Services Administration (GSA) has just made a surprising move: rescinding RIF notices for hundreds of employees in the Public Buildings Service (PBS). Many of you now face an urgent choice...

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Supreme Court Puts FTC Independence on the Line federal employment humphrey’s executor independent agencies separation of powers supreme court Sep 23, 2025

On September 22, the Supreme Court allowed President Trump to remove Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, despite the Federal Trade Commission Act’s explicit protections against at-will remov...

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Federal Employee Rights in a Government Shutdown excepted employees federal employment federal shutdown furlough rights mindfulness at work Sep 23, 2025

With just over a week until the September 30 funding deadline, federal employees are left in limbo. Unlike prior years, when the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published every agency’s continge...

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Religious Accommodation Rights for Federal Employees federal employment mindfulness at work religious accommodation telework policy title vii rights Sep 22, 2025

For decades, agencies could deny religious accommodations by pointing to any “more than tiny” cost or inconvenience. That changed in Groff v. DeJoy. Now, under Title VII, an agency must show a substan...

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No, One-Size-Fits-All Doesn’t Cut It”: What HHS/CDC Did This Week—and Why Blanket Bans on Accommodations Violate the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act Sep 22, 2025

By Shaun Southworth — Attorney for Federal Employees

  • What just happened: CDC told staff it was pausing approvals of telework as a reasonable accommodation (RA)—and indicated renewals wouldn’t conti
  • ...
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Reassignment and Disability Retirement for Federal Employees disability retirement federal employment mspb appeals reasonable accommodation reassignment Sep 22, 2025

For federal employees navigating the reasonable accommodation process, one question looms large: what if your agency says it can’t accommodate you? The law provides an answer. Before an agency can sep...

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CDC Paused Disability Telework Approvals, Then Hit Hold After Pushback disability accommodation eeo process federal employment mindfulness at work telework rights Sep 22, 2025

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it was pausing approvals—and even renewals—of telework as a disability accommodation. The agency pointed to a new HHS-wid...

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NASA’s New “Spy Agency” Label and Federal Employee Rights collective bargaining federal employee rights federal employment nasa national security Sep 19, 2025

At the end of August, the President signed an executive order that reclassified several science and service agencies — including NASA, the National Weather Service, and parts of the Patent Office — as...

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OPM Pauses Relocation Push: What Federal Employees Should Do Now federal employment management directed reassignment mindfulness at work mspb appeals opm relocation Sep 19, 2025

In February, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) ordered many remote employees living more than 50 miles from an OPM worksite to accept a management-directed reassignment (MDR) or risk terminatio...

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