Podcast
Civil Rights for Civil Servants
Hear Shaun Southworth and Lydia Taylor explain federal employee rights, public service, workplace systems, and the people navigating them.
Listen to the podcastNews, rights, tools & learning
Federal Employee Resource Center
Search timely updates, plain-English explainers, practical guides, podcasts, and mindful-action resources. Start with the question you are trying to answer.
State Department Screens GS-13s for Schedule Policy/Career: What the Questionnaire Means
If a Schedule Policy/Career questionnaire has landed in your State Department inbox, it is not a survey β it is the front end of a legal determination about your job. Government Ex...
A Year After the CDC Shooting, Here Is What the Law Still Gives Federal Employees
Federal employees processing a traumatic event at work often assume the legal protections available to them ran out when the news coverage stopped. They did not. A year after a gun...
The IRS Restored Union Email for Managers and Left It Blocked for Bargaining Unit Employees
Your right to a union representative in a federal adverse action case is only as good as your ability to reach that representative β and at the IRS, Government Executive reports, t...
A FEMA Contractor Was Paid Through a DOGE Staffer's Company. Her Deposition Is Now Public.
The rule against using contracts for inherently governmental functions is one of the least discussed protections in the federal workplace, and a newly public deposition in the FEMA...
Ninety Seconds Before Your First Meeting: A Monday Reset for Federal Employees
Federal employees are heading into another Monday where the news found them before they were fully awake. This is a 90-second reset you can do at your desk, in your car, or in the ...
The Senate Passed a Funding Patch 90-6. Why October 1 Is Not Safe Yet.
The Senate passed a continuing resolution 90-6 early Saturday morning, funding the government through December 11 β but a shutdown on October 1 is not off the table yet. The bill s...
A Federal Judge Blocked the VA From Ending Its AFGE Contract β Again
A federal judge has blocked the VA from ending its union contract with the American Federation of Government Employees β the third time this year the same court has stopped the sam...
Under Investigation as a Federal Employee? What to Do First
If you are a federal employee under investigation, the most damaging mistake is usually not the wrong decision. It is the decision you never made because you waited too long. That ...
GAO Audited DOGE's Wall of Receipts. The Numbers Did Not Hold Up.
A new GAO audit of DOGE's "Wall of Receipts" found that the savings claims used to justify two years of federal workforce cuts do not hold up when checked against the government's ...
September 2: OPM Starts Deciding Appeals About Its Own Rules
On September 2, 2026, three categories of federal employee appeals β reduction in force, probationary and trial period actions, and suitability actions β move out of the Merit Syst...
Are FBI Agents At-Will Employees? What Garman v. Patel Means for Your Due Process Rights
Are FBI agents at-will employees? The Justice Department says yes, and it has said so in writing to a federal judge. The FBI Agents Association has now filed 31 pages arguing the o...
DOGE Cuts Delayed a $10 Million Wildfire Prevention Grant. Minnesota Is Paying for It.
DOGE cuts to the U.S. Forest Service did not just take people off a payroll β in northern Minnesota, they took away the work those people were doing, and this summer the bill arriv...
More ways to learn
Choose the format that helps you understand what is happening.
The Mindful Federal Employee is part of a broader public-education ecosystem from Shaun Southworth, Lydia Taylor, and Southworth PC. Use the resource that fits the question and the moment.
Mindfulness
Work Peacefully
Use practical mindfulness tools to create space between workplace pressure and the decision you make next.
Explore mindfulness resourcesAbout 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.
Meet Shaun & LydiaThe Federal Employee Briefing
The important developments, without the all-day scroll.
Join 3,900+ federal employees getting sourced workforce news and practical next steps on weekdays. It is a free public-service resource from Southworth PC.