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.
The FBI Quietly Lowered Its Own Hiring Bar in June. The Standard for Rank-and-File Feds Did Not Move.
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...
D.C. Circuit: IRS Data-Sharing With ICE "Indisputably Contravenes" Federal Tax Privacy Law
The lawsuit filed to keep DOGE out of IRS taxpayer data just won at the D.C. Circuit. On September 8, 2026, a unanimous panel in Center for Taxpayer Rights v. IRS, No. 26-5006 (D.C...
Searched by Diagnosis Code: What the Pentagon's Medical Record Reviews Mean for Every Federal Employee's Confidential File
Federal employee medical privacy is suddenly a live question. Federal News Network reported this week that service members are being identified for separation through their electro...
GAO Audit: DHS Claimed $10.5 Billion in DOGE Contract Savings. Auditors Found $92 Million.
A new GAO audit of DHS contract terminations has put a hard number on the DOGE savings claims that federal employees heard all year. The Department of Homeland Security publicly re...
OPM Cut a Third of Its Own Workforce β Here's What That Means for Your Benefits
The agency that runs your retirement, your health insurance, and your federal HR records has cut its own staff by roughly a third since the end of 2024 β and a new government watch...
Why Your FERS Pension Depends on Social Security's Finances
If you're a federal employee under the Federal Employees Retirement System, Social Security isn't a side benefit sitting next to your pension β it's one of three legs your entire r...
IRS Ordered to Restore Telework After Walking Out of Its Own Arbitration
Federal employees at the IRS just won a major telework fight β and the agency didn't even show up to defend itself. An independent arbitrator ruled that the IRS violated its collec...
Federal Court Blocks FLRA From Stripping Career Staff of Union Election Authority
For once, the news out of the Federal Labor Relations Authority is good for federal employees and their unions.
Background: More Than 40 Years of Career Oversight
Since 1983, car...
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.