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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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2026 Federal Pay Raise: The August 31 Deadline That Shapes Your Pay
Every year, federal employees wait to see whether the president will allow automatic pay adjustments to take effect. By law, if the president does nothing, federal workers receive ...
OPM Orders FEHB and PSHB Plans to End Gender-Affirming Care Coverage
On August 15, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a carrier letter that will dramatically change federal employee health benefits starting in 2026. For the first time, ...
CDC RIF Terminations: Your 30-Day MSPB Deadline
When final termination notices arrive, the clock is already ticking. This week, at least 600 CDC employees received notice that their positions are being eliminated through a Reduc...
OPM Cancels 2025 FEVS: What Federal Employees Need to Know
For years, the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) has been the government’s tool to measure morale, engagement, and inclusion across agencies. But after months of delay, OPM ...
USAID Shutdown Class Action: What Federal Workers Need to Know
Federal employees and contractors at USAID just won an important development: a federal judge in Maryland certified a class action lawsuit challenging the agency’s shutdown plan. F...
Probationary Feds: Why “Fully Successful” Ratings Won’t Always Save Your Job
A recent watchdog report revealed that the IRS terminated over 7,000 probationary employees—even though 99% of those with ratings were marked “Fully Successful” or higher. Performa...
OMB Apportionments Database Restored
Federal employees working in program management, budgeting, or oversight know that an agency’s ability to act often comes down to funding flows. That’s why the Office of Management...
How VA Union Contract Cancellations Impact Workers and Veterans
On August 6th, the Department of Veterans Affairs voided union contracts covering nearly 400,000 employees. Overnight, provisions protecting schedules, staffing levels, and even pa...
VA Cuts Extra 4 Weeks of Parental Leave After Union Contract Termination
On August 6, 2025, the Department of Veterans Affairs terminated most of its union contracts — an unprecedented move that immediately impacted between 377,000 and 400,000 workers. ...
HHS RIF Pause in Rhode Island Case: Here's What You Need to Know
Federal employees at HHS have been hit with a whirlwind of updates in the Rhode Island litigation. Last week, a federal judge extended the pause on certain reduction-in-force (RIF)...
IG Oversight Under Strain: Safeguarding Your Federal Career
Every federal agency has an Inspector General (IG) office, established to serve as the independent watchdog. Their role is to audit, investigate waste, fraud, and abuse, and to ens...
The Risk of Replacing Monthly Jobs Data with Quarterly Updates
For decades, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has been one of the few agencies consistently trusted across party lines. Its monthly jobs report is more than a headline—it’s the...
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