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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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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...
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...
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, le...
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 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 longti...
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...
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...
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 track...
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, u...
A new filing in the California RIF lawsuit reveals the Biden administration’s decision to keep federal layoff plans—formally called Agency RIF & Reorganization Plans (ARRPs)—under ...
The July 11 layoff notices at the U.S. State Department sent shockwaves through the federal workforce. More than 1,350 employees—civil service and Foreign Service alike—were told t...
A new Supreme Court order has intensified the uncertainty for federal employees affected by Reduction in Force (RIF) actions—and it’s part of a growing trend. In McMahon v. New Yor...
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Podcast
Hear Shaun Southworth and Lydia Taylor explain federal employee rights, public service, workplace systems, and the people navigating them.
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