The Federal Employee Survival Blog

Cut through the jargon and get the clarity you need to stay a step ahead of agency politics. Each article unpacks new policy shifts, court rulings, and workplace trends, then turns them into actionable tactics—so you can head off discipline, invoke EEO or whistleblower protections with confidence, and keep your documentation airtight. We also archive our most popular social-media explainer threads here, giving you the same insights followed by more than 150,000 people online even if you never scroll on those sites. Read, prepare, and keep your federal career firmly in your control.

 
Federal Court Orders OMB to Restore Spending Transparency Site federal employment impoundment control act mindfulness at work omb transparency Aug 12, 2025

On August 12, 2025, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the White House budget office to bring its spending-transparency website back online by Friday, August 15. The site—known as the Public Ap...

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Black Women and the Federal Workforce Decline black women in federal service federal employment mindfulness at work public sector downsizing workforce equity Aug 12, 2025

Between May and August, more than 300,000 Black women left—or were pushed out of—the U.S. workforce. The headlines barely noticed, but the impact is anything but small. For many, the loss wasn’t about...

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Understanding Presidential Authority Over D.C. Police and Guard d.c. national guard federal employment federal workplace rights posse comitatus presidential authority Aug 12, 2025

Today’s headlines about federal control of law enforcement in Washington, D.C., can feel alarming—but the legal framework is more limited than some coverage suggests. The President has authority to di...

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OPM’s New Awards Guidance: What Federal Employees Need to Know awards policy federal employment merit system principles opm guidance ses ratings Aug 12, 2025

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has issued new, government-wide guidance aimed at “targeting the highest-performing” federal employees for the largest awards and bonuses. Under the memo, agen...

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EPA Ends Union Recognition Under Executive Order 14251 epa executive order 14251 federal employment mspb appeals union rights Aug 11, 2025

On August 8, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will no longer recognize its unions, terminating all collective bargaining agreements effective immediately. This decision—mir...

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Religious Rights at Work: Where the Law Draws the Line eeo complaints federal employment first amendment rights mindfulness at work religious discrimination Aug 11, 2025

Recent headlines suggest a push to “empower federal employees to share their faith at work.” While that might sound like a new right, religious expression in federal workplaces has been protected for ...

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OPM Orders Removal of COVID-19 Vaccine Records from Federal Files federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals opm guidance personnel file expungement Aug 11, 2025

On August 8, 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a government-wide directive requiring agencies to delete all records of federal employees’ COVID-19 vaccination status, any related n...

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MSPB RIF Appeal Deadlines: Why Filing Early Matters federal employment filing deadlines mindfulness at work mspb appeals reduction in force Aug 08, 2025

When a federal Reduction in Force (RIF) strikes, the clock starts ticking fast. Under Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) rules, you generally have 30 days from the later of (1) the RIF’s effective ...

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CBS Report Challenges Federal “Savings” Claims contract obligations federal employment mindfulness at work mspb deadlines rif appeals Aug 08, 2025

CBS News recently analyzed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) records and found a major gap between headline claims and actual numbers. On three high-profile HHS contracts—COVID-19 testing and...

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MSPB RIF Appeals: How the 30-Day MSPB Deadline Works federal employee rights federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals rif Aug 08, 2025

If you’ve been affected by a reduction-in-force (RIF), your right to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) comes with a strict clock. Under federal rules, you have 30 days from whichever...

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BLS Firing Raises Alarms for Federal Employee Protections bureau of labor statistics civil service integrity federal employment title 5 protections whistleblower protections Aug 08, 2025

Late Friday, Presidentially appointed economist Dr. Erika McEntarfer was removed as head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)—just hours after releasing a jobs report the White House reportedly dis...

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VA Union Purge: What the Directive Means for You federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals unfair labor practice va union rights Aug 07, 2025

On August 6, 2025, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued a sweeping order that voided every collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) covering its workforce—except for roughly 4,000 police, firef...

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