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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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Black Federal Workers and Civil Service Stability
For many Black federal employees, recent layoffs and anti-DEI actions are not just policy developments. They feel like a warning sign about whether one of the country’s most reliab...
Article II Firings and Federal Court Rights
For most federal employees, removal cases follow a familiar path. If an agency fires someone for performance, conduct, or as part of a reduction in force, the Merit Systems Protect...
MSPB Ruling on Immigration Judges Explained
A recent MSPB decision—Jackler and Jaroch v. Department of Justice, 2026 MSPB 3—raises a fundamental question for federal employees: when does the Constitution override traditional...
MSPB Ruling on Immigration Judges and Article II
A recent Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) decision, Jackler and Jaroch v. Department of Justice, marks a significant shift in how certain federal employees may be classified—a...
OPM’s New Performance and RIF Rules: Why Feds Should Pay Attention
Federal employees often experience policy changes one rule at a time. But sometimes the legal significance becomes clear only when multiple proposals are viewed together. Three rec...
The Schedule Policy/Career Rule Just Cleared the Runway
As of March 9, the 30-day waiting period following the Office of Personnel Management’s final rule creating Schedule Policy/Career has expired. That technical milestone carries sig...
MSPB Will Not Hear Schedule Policy/Career Appeals
Federal employees watching the rollout of Schedule Policy/Career should understand a critical procedural change: the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) has announced it will not...
Schedule Policy/Career: A Major Change to Federal Job Protections
Some federal employees may soon be presented with paperwork acknowledging a change in their employment status to something called Schedule Policy/Career. If that happens, it is imp...
DOE Personal Email Use and Federal Records Law
NOTUS recently reported that political appointees at the Department of Energy used personal email accounts to discuss official government business while DOE was involved in a contr...
FAIR Act 2027: 4.1% Federal Pay Raise Explained
Democrats have introduced the FAIR Act proposing a 4.1% federal pay raise for 2027—3.1% across-the-board plus an average 1% locality adjustment. Whether it ultimately passes remain...
Musk’s Deposition Order Explained
Federal employees have been watching headlines about a federal judge ordering Elon Musk to sit for a deposition under oath regarding DOGE and actions surrounding the USAID shutdown...
Can the Department of Education Be Dismantled?
If you work in the federal government right now, the headlines can feel destabilizing. One day your agency is supposedly being “dismantled.” The next, your job is “moving.” And no ...
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