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.

 
Free Speech Limits for Federal Employees federal employment free speech hatch act mindfulness at work social media discipline Sep 17, 2025

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s viral statement that DOJ would “go after” hate speech sparked confusion. Let’s be clear: in the United States, there is no blanket crime called “hate speech.” The First Am...

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FBI Reassignments Show the Cost of Politics in Federal Work fbi agents federal employment mindfulness at work mission drift whistleblower rights Sep 17, 2025

Recent reporting reveals that nearly 3,000 FBI agents are being pulled from their core work—investigating child exploitation and domestic extremism—and reassigned to immigration enforcement. To put th...

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Trump-Era Layoffs and the Future of the Federal Workforce civil service rights federal layoffs mindfulness at work mspb appeals whistleblower protections Sep 17, 2025

This week, Politico confirmed what many federal employees have been experiencing firsthand: sweeping staff cuts across the government. Nearly 200,000 federal workers are gone in 2025 alone, with anoth...

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Erasing Slavery From National Parks: Why History Matters civil rights dei federal employment mindfulness at work national parks Sep 16, 2025

In 1863, a photograph known as The Scourged Back stunned the nation. It showed Peter Gordon, an enslaved man who had escaped in Louisiana, with his back deeply scarred from years of whipping. The imag...

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Don’t Depend on the Algorithm for Critical Federal Employment News federal employment mindfulness at work opm firings probationary employees tiktok algorithm Sep 16, 2025

Yesterday, a federal judge issued one of the most important rulings of the year for civil servants: OPM’s mass probationary firings were unlawful. On Instagram and YouTube, the news spread fast—tens o...

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Judge Rules OPM’s Mass Probationary Firings Illegal due process federal employment mspb appeals opm probationary employees Sep 16, 2025

Earlier this year, thousands of probationary federal employees were swept out of service under a government-wide directive. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had ordered agencies to terminate n...

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Due Process Prevails in Lisa Cook Case due process employee rights federal employment federal reserve mspb appeals Sep 16, 2025

Last night, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals made headlines by blocking the administration’s attempt to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. For federal employees, this case is more than financ...

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The Real Cost of Mass Federal Layoffs agency inefficiencies civil service protections federal employment government cuts mindfulness at work Sep 15, 2025

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently criticized the DOGE initiative’s approach under Elon Musk: focusing on firing people instead of fixing inefficiencies. The promise was massive savings—up to ...

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Federal Employees, Social Media, and Free Speech federal employment free speech rights mindfulness at work mspb appeals social media discipline Sep 15, 2025

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death, agencies have begun issuing warnings about employee social media use. Some federal workers have already been placed on leave pending review of their posts. If you’...

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Judge Ruled OPM’s Mass Probationary Firings Were Not Lawful employee rights federal employment mspb appeals opm policy probationary employees Sep 15, 2025

Earlier this year, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) directed agencies to list every probationary employee, update that list daily, and fire nearly everyone not labeled “mission critical.” Agen...

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You Are More Than Your Federal Job federal employment federal job loss mindfulness at work rif workplace trauma Sep 12, 2025

For many federal employees, service to the government isn’t just a career—it’s an identity. The badge, the clearance, the GS level—these markers can begin to feel like the full measure of your worth. ...

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Federal Shutdown Looms: What Federal Employees Need to Know federal employment federal shutdown government funding mindfulness at work pay and benefits Sep 12, 2025

As September 30 approaches, the possibility of a government shutdown is once again hanging over the federal workforce. Congress is locked in a standoff: Republican leaders are pushing a stopgap bill t...

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