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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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Civil Service Protections Still Stand for Federal Employees
Every week, federal employees write me with the same anxious question: is the civil service dead? With headlines about RIFs, hiring freezes, and reorganization schemes, it’s easy t...
CFPB RIF Ruling: What Federal Employees Must Know
On August 15, 2025, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., issued a major decision on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Reduction in Force (RIF) case. The rulin...
When Workplace Violence Strikes: Mindful Guidance for CDC Employees
On August 8, near CDC’s Roybal campus in Atlanta, a gunman opened fire. More than 500 rounds were discharged, 150 windows shattered, and a DeKalb County police officer—David Rose—w...
VA Union Contracts Canceled: What Federal Employees Need to Know
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has just taken a step that will reverberate across the federal workforce: it voided union contracts covering more than 360,000 healthcare wo...
ICE Hiring Bonuses: A Tale of Two Federal Workforces
Recent DHS announcements confirm that the push to hire Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel is both real and aggressive—up to $50,000 in signing bonuses, student loa...
DEI and Merit Are Not Opposites—They’re Partners
In 1960, about 96% of U.S. lawyers were white men. Women made up less than 5% of the profession, and Black lawyers numbered only in the low thousands nationwide. That wasn’t becaus...
A New Executive Order Puts Federal Museum Staff in the Crosshairs
Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order titled Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History. Now, the White House has launched a sweeping review of eight maj...
Missed the MSPB Deadline? HHS RIF Employees May Have Until Aug. 21
If you were separated from HHS on July 14 as part of the recent RIF and thought you missed your Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) filing deadline, you may still have a window t...
Public “Watchlists” Target Federal Employees: Legal & Safety Risks
Imagine waking up to find your name, photograph, salary, and career history posted online—not by your agency, but by a private group branding you “subversive” for lawful work you p...
OFCCP Layoffs Canceled: What Federal Employees Need to Know
The Department of Labor has announced it will not proceed with planned reductions in force (RIFs) at the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Instead, employees ...
BLS Shake-Up Raises Alarms Over Data Independence
On August 1, 2025, President Biden removed Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer—just days after a weaker-than-expected July jobs report. Internal emails o...
Federal Takeover of D.C. Police: Legal and Civil Rights Implications
On August 11, 2025, the President invoked Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act to declare a public safety emergency, place the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) under federal c...
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