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

Unions Challenge Shutdown RIFs: What Federal Employees Must Know

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Federal unions have filed a lawsuit against the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), challenging recent guidance that encouraged agen...

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Judge Blocks Trump Order Stripping Federal Union Rights

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On September 30, 2025, federal employees won an important reprieve. Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for D.C. issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump admin...

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Federal Employee Guide to the 2025 Government Shutdown

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The government officially shut down last night. Roughly 23% of the federal workforce—about 547,000 employees—are furloughed under the Trump administration’s plan. That leaves appro...

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Partisan Pop-Up on HUD.gov Raises Legal Red Flags

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Recently, visitors to HUD.gov—the official website of the Department of Housing and Urban Development—were met with a startling pop-up: “The Radical Left are going to shut down the...

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RIFs Continue During Shutdown: What Federal Employees Must Know

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When a government shutdown looms, many federal employees assume all personnel actions grind to a halt. But as of September 29, 2025, OPM has clarified: Reduction in Force (RIF) act...

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Senate Report Flags DOGE Data Security Risks

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A new Senate investigation alleges that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been operating outside federal law, exposing sensitive federal data to heightened risk. W...

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When DOGE Policies Hit Home: Federal Workers Speak Out

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When sweeping policies land in Washington, headlines often focus on politics, numbers, and high-level strategy. What’s harder to capture is what those shifts feel like in the cubic...

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Pentagon’s Rare Generals’ Summit: What It Means for DoD Civilians

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Next week, hundreds of generals, admirals, and senior enlisted advisors have been ordered to gather at Quantico for an unusual in-person session with the Secretary of Defense. Whil...

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Gratitude as a Legal Anchor in Uncertain Federal Times

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If you are a federal employee right now, you don’t need a reminder that the landscape feels unstable. Shutdown deadlines, RIF whispers, and questions about pending cases can make e...

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Interior Department RIFs: What Federal Employees Need to Know

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Employees at the Department of the Interior (DOI) are facing a serious development: agency leadership has begun finalizing reduction-in-force (RIF) lists, with potential impacts ac...

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Court Rules Trump’s IG Firings Were Unlawful

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A federal judge recently found that former President Trump unlawfully removed 17 Inspectors General (IGs). By law, the President must give Congress 30 days’ notice and provide a sp...

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OMB Memo Links Shutdowns to RIF Threats

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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 re...

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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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