Skip to content

News, 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.

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

Twenty-Two Cases, Two Million Feds: OPM Reopens Comments on Its Federal Removal Rule Through September 29

By

Would you rewrite the federal removal rules for two million people based on twenty-two cases? That is what is on the table. The Office of Personnel Management has reopened the publ...

Read Resource
 

Should Petty Friday Live or Die? Federal Employees, Tell Us What You Want From Hey Feds

By

Should Petty Friday live or die? That is the question Shaun Southworth is putting to federal employees this week, and he is only half joking. Not many viewers say they like the seg...

Read Resource
 

"You Won't Be Personally Liable": What the DHS Whistleblower Disclosure Means for Federal Employees Given a Questionable Order

By

When agency leadership tells federal employees "you won't be personally liable," it is worth asking what that sentence actually promises. A whistleblower disclosure made public Mon...

Read Resource
 

Supreme Court Keeps USPS Mail-Ballot Rules Blocked: Why Federal Employees Should Still Vote Early

By

The Supreme Court's decision on the Postal Service's mail-ballot rules is good news for anyone planning to vote by mail this fall, but the headlines leave out the part that matters...

Read Resource
 

USDA Relocation Pause: What the Government Cut From the Proposed Stay Order and Why It Matters

By

The USDA relocation pause is good news for federal employees holding reassignment letters, but the details are less clear than the headline. On Thursday, September 10, 2026, a fede...

Read Resource
 

Judge Rules DHS Plan to Cut FEMA in Half Was Unlawful: What FEMA CORE Employees Need to Know

By

A federal judge has ruled that the DHS plan to cut FEMA in half was unlawful, delivering a major win for FEMA employees. On Friday, September 11, 2026, Judge Susan Illston of the U...

Read Resource
 

Your FY2026 Performance Rating Now Carries RIF Points: Four Moves to Make Before It Closes

By

Your FY2026 performance rating is worth RIF retention points now, and for many federal employees the appraisal period closes on September 30. Seven points: that is what a Level 5 r...

Read Resource
 

CDC Told Employees to Resend Accommodation Medical Records in 20 Days or Lose Their Case. Is That Legal?

By

Can your agency sit on your reasonable accommodation request for months, then tell you to resend your medical records in 20 days or lose your case and your interim accommodation? C...

Read Resource
 

Gender Delusion Disqualification Act: Would a Diagnosis Alone End a Federal Career?

By

Should a medical diagnosis, by itself, disqualify a federal employee from a job β€” regardless of that employee's record? That is the question raised by the Gender Delusion Disqualif...

Read Resource
 

Congress Funded a 3.8% Raise for Air Traffic Controllers. The FAA Is Withholding Most of It β€” Legally.

By

Air traffic controllers were promised a 3.8 percent pay raise in April, funded by Congress β€” and so far, the FAA has paid out just 1 percent. The remaining 2.8 percent is being hel...

Read Resource
 

HUD Filed a Reorganization Plan, Then Withdrew It: What It Means for Federal Employees and RIF Risk

By

The HUD reorganization plan that appeared on the Federal Register's public inspection list on September 4 β€” and disappeared the same day β€” has federal employees asking a familiar q...

Read Resource
 

The FBI Quietly Lowered Its Own Hiring Bar in June. The Standard for Rank-and-File Feds Did Not Move.

By

The FBI lowered its own hiring standards in a June 16, 2026 internal memo, according to CBS News, while the suitability and conduct standards applied to rank-and-file federal emplo...

Read Resource
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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.

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 podcast

Mindfulness

Work Peacefully

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

Explore mindfulness resources

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

The 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.

Get the Free Briefing