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.
We are now more than a month into the government shutdown. Across the country, federal employees continue holding the nation together even as paychecks stop and fatigue deepens. At airports, lines str...
The federal shutdown continues into its fourth week, but this past week brought a mix of progress, pressure, and one major legal win for federal employees. Here’s what matters most as we head toward N...
Roughly 1.4 million federal employees have now missed a full paycheck. About half are furloughed; the rest are “excepted,” required to work without pay. The strain isn’t theoretical—it’s reshaping liv...
There’s finally a hint of movement in Washington. As of Friday, October 24, 2025, two competing Senate bills—one from Senator Ron Johnson to pay “excepted” employees and the military, and another from...
The federal shutdown has now stretched into week four—day 21—with no funding deal in sight. Senate Republicans met at the White House to signal unity, but neither side has shifted. The reality for fed...
The Defense Department says it will tap about $8 billion in leftover research-and-development funds to pay service members during the shutdown. The President directed the Pentagon to “use all availabl...
The federal shutdown entered its 13th day with no end in sight. The Senate again failed to advance either party’s funding proposal and adjourned until Tuesday, leaving agencies frozen and federal empl...
If you haven’t gotten a furlough notice yet, you might soon. Agencies that relied on leftover funding are exhausting it, and new rounds of furloughs are unfolding daily. More than 620,000 federal empl...
Within three days of the shutdown, nine separate Hatch Act complaints landed at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC). The allegations are stunning: agency websites and official messages carrying p...
The government officially shut down last night. Roughly 23% of the federal workforce—about 547,000 employees—are furloughed under the Trump administration’s plan. That leaves approximately 1.57 millio...
Shutdowns are never easy for federal employees. Normally, the drill is painful but familiar: furloughs stop your paycheck, then Congress eventually funds the government, and you receive full back pay ...
If funding lapses after September 30, both furloughed and excepted employees stop receiving pay. The 2019 Government Employee Fair Treatment Act guarantees back pay—including overtime—once Congress re...
THE FEDERAL EMPLOYEE BRIEFING
Your Trusted Guide in Uncertain Times
Stay informed, stay protected. The Federal Employee Briefing delivers expert insights on workforce policies, legal battles, RTO mandates, and union updates—so you’re never caught off guard. With job security, telework, and agency shifts constantly evolving, we provide clear, concise analysis on what’s happening, why it matters, and what you can do next.
📩 Get the latest updates straight to your inbox—because your career depends on it.
You're safe with me. I'll never spam you or sell your contact info.