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.

 
Why State’s New “Fidelity” Standard Threatens Merit Protections civil service protections dei in government federal employment merit systems mspb appeals Nov 20, 2025

Federal employees have seen many political swings over the years, but the State Department’s reported decision to award retroactive promotions and back pay to nearly 300 employees who were previously ...

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CDC Workforce Cuts and What Federal Employees Need to Know cdc workforce federal employment merit systems mindfulness at work reorganizations Nov 19, 2025

Federal employees returning from the shutdown are walking into workplaces changed by months of uncertainty—but nowhere is the disruption more visible than at the Centers for Disease Control and Preven...

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Shutdown RIF Update: Interior’s Numbers, TRO Expansion, and What Comes Next federal employment merit systems mspb appeals rif shutdown law Oct 21, 2025

Federal employees, here’s where things stand in the AFGE/AFSCME case that’s temporarily blocking shutdown-related RIFs. As of this week, the Department of the Interior has disclosed the largest planne...

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What the End of the Luévano Decree Means for Federal Hiring disparate impact federal hiring reform luévano consent decree merit systems title vii Aug 06, 2025

On August 5, 2025, the Department of Justice quietly terminated the Luévano consent decree—a 44-year-old safeguard that scrapped the PACE exam, a civil-service test proven to disadvantage Black and La...

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Deferred Resignations and the Hidden Toll on Federal Workers civil service reform deferred resignation federal employment merit systems mspb appeals Jul 31, 2025

A staggering 154,000 federal employees—nearly 7% of the civilian workforce—are being paid not to work. Known as deferred resignations, these arrangements remove employees from active duty, often under...

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Political Loyalty Tests: A Quiet but Major OPM Reversal federal employment merit systems mindfulness at work opm hiring policies political discrimination Jul 04, 2025

As Independence Day nears, federal employees have an unexpected reason to celebrate. Last month, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) quietly directed agencies to stop scoring or requiring those c...

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The Power of Pause: Why Rest Is a Federal Employee’s Best Asset burnout prevention federal employment merit systems mindfulness at work work-life balance May 30, 2025

Federal employees carry a unique kind of weight. Many of you are navigating intense responsibility while simultaneously facing disciplinary threats, probation stress, or workplace hostility. In this e...

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