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Shaun Southworth leading a federal employment training session with members of the Southworth PC team
 

Federal Worker Credit Protection Act Explained

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A missed credit card payment can feel personal, even when the cause was completely outside your control. For federal employees affected by the 76-day DHS shutdown, the harm was not...

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DHS Reopens, but ICE Funding Fight Continues

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After the longest Department of Homeland Security shutdown in history, most DHS employees are funded again. TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, Secret Service, and other DHS components are...

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DHS Shutdown Ended: What Federal Workers Should Do Next

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The record-setting Department of Homeland Security shutdown ended on Thursday, April 30, 2026, when President Trump signed bipartisan legislation funding much of DHS, though not im...

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DHS Shutdown Pay Crisis: What Federal Employees Can Do

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For DHS employees, a funding lapse is no longer a political story happening in Washington. It is a payroll crisis landing in kitchens, bank accounts, and family budgets. When the S...

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DHS Shutdown: What TSA Officers Should Document

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The latest DHS shutdown development is not really about airport optics. It is about what happens when the government keeps requiring frontline federal employees to work without pay...

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DHS Shutdown Rights for TSA and Excepted Employees

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As of March 23, 2026, the partial DHS shutdown has stretched past five weeks, and the pressure is no longer abstract. Senate negotiators met on March 19 and left without a deal, wi...

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DHS Shutdown 2026: TSA Pay & Legal Protections

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As of February 14, 2026, a lapse in appropriations has triggered a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. For Transportation Security Officers and other TSA perso...

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DHS Partial Shutdown: What Feds Should Do Now

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As of February 23, 2026, most of the federal government is funded through the end of the fiscal year. The Department of Homeland Security is not. Congress passed full-year appropri...

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DHS Shutdown: Protect Your Pay and Record

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A partial shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security is not abstract politics. For many federal employees, it means reporting to work without pay or being sent home with uncer...

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DHS Shutdown Deadline: What Federal Employees Should Expect

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As of Monday, February 9, 2026, the federal government is technically open—but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is once again on the edge. Congress ended a four-day partia...

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More ways to learn

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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.

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.

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Mindfulness

Work Peacefully

Use practical mindfulness tools to create space between workplace pressure and the decision you make next.

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About 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 & Lydia

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