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.

 
Feed the DMV: Let's Show Up for Our Community community support dmv federal employees federal employment food insecurity mindfulness at work Dec 15, 2025

Federal employees are no strangers to uncertainty. Shutdown threats, benefit cuts, inflation, and recent federal job losses have pushed many households across the DMV to the edge. Against that backdro...

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VA Cuts “Vacant” Jobs: Why Staff Feel the Impact Anyway federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals va employees workforce reductions Dec 15, 2025

For many VA employees, being told “it’s not layoffs, it’s just vacancies” does not feel reassuring. When teams are already stretched thin, vacant positions represent hope: reinforcements, backfill, an...

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DOJ Memo Tells Auditors to Ignore PREA Protections doj policy federal employment mindfulness at work prea compliance whistleblower protections Dec 10, 2025

A leaked Department of Justice memo has left many federal employees, especially those in corrections, law enforcement, and oversight roles, asking the same anxious question: What happens when your own...

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How OPM’s Push for Forced Distribution Could Impact Your Federal Career federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals opm policy performance ratings Dec 10, 2025

OPM’s recent announcement that it wants to “normalize” agency performance ratings should get every GS-9 and above employee’s attention. Behind the technical language is a major shift: capping how many...

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How the 2026 NDAA Draft Could Reshape DoD Civilian Careers dod civilians federal employment mindfulness at work ndaa 2026 workforce policy Dec 09, 2025

For GS-9 and above employees navigating an already shifting federal landscape, the draft 2026 National Defense Authorization Act carries quiet but significant implications. While this bill is not yet ...

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Federal Workers and the New Management Agenda: What It Really Signals federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals performance management workforce restructuring Dec 09, 2025

Every federal employee eventually asks the same quiet question: Is this it, or is more change coming? The newly released President’s Management Agenda — a brief two-page document — provides a surprisi...

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Presidential Removal Power and What It Means for MSPB Independence civil service protections federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals presidential removal power Dec 08, 2025

A divided D.C. Circuit decision on Friday did something federal employees can’t afford to overlook: it upheld the president’s ability to fire members of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and t...

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VA’s Non-Citizen Workforce Sweep: Legal and Workplace Risks eeo law federal employment immigration & vetting mindfulness at work va workforce Dec 05, 2025

A leaked VA memo has triggered understandable alarm: by December 30, every VA facility must submit a list of all non-U.S. citizens “employed by or affiliated with” the department. What looks administr...

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FEMA Whistleblowers and the Red Flags of Retaliation federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals osc whistleblower retaliation Dec 04, 2025

When fourteen FEMA whistleblowers were reinstated in the morning and removed again by the afternoon—right after national reporting embarrassed DHS—many federal employees saw something familiar. Not ju...

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Why “Minor” Discipline Isn’t Minor for Federal Employees federal employment federal suspension mindfulness at work mspb appeals progressive discipline Dec 02, 2025

For many federal employees returning from Thanksgiving with a knot in the stomach about what their agency might do next, that feeling is not misplaced. Small shifts in the disciplinary process can hav...

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Unlawful Orders in Federal Service: What You Need to Know ethics in government federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals unlawful orders Dec 01, 2025

When a headline suggests the Pentagon may have crossed the line into a war crime, the instinctive reaction many federal employees feel isn’t just shock — it’s recognition. Because beneath the military...

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Kalkines Warnings After Shows v. Treasury: What Feds Must Know ethics in government federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals unlawful orders Dec 01, 2025

When a headline suggests the Pentagon may have crossed the line into a war crime, the instinctive reaction many federal employees feel isn’t just shock — it’s recognition. Because beneath the military...

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