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.

 
DHS Reopens, but ICE Funding Fight Continues dhs shutdown federal employee rights federal employment ice funding workplace mindfulness May 05, 2026

After the longest Department of Homeland Security shutdown in history, most DHS employees are funded again. TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, Secret Service, and other DHS components are back under an enact...

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USDA Relocations: Legal Risks for Federal Employees directed reassignment federal employment mspb appeals usda relocation workplace mindfulness Apr 27, 2026

USDA’s large-scale relocation of thousands of employees raises a practical question: if federal agencies successfully operated remotely during the pandemic, why require cross-country moves now? For af...

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HHS RIF Legality: Hiring After Layoffs federal employment mspb appeals reduction in force reemployment priority workplace mindfulness Apr 23, 2026

A reduction in force (RIF) under federal law is supposed to eliminate positions—not simply replace the people who held them. That distinction matters. When an agency conducts a RIF and then quickly an...

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OPM Medical Data Proposal Updates federal employment fehb opm policy privacy rights workplace mindfulness Apr 22, 2026

A growing number of lawmakers are urging the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to fully withdraw its proposal to collect detailed medical data from federal health plans. Sixteen senators, alongside...

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HHS RIF Appeals: When Agency Statements Undermine Legality federal employment hhs mspb appeals reduction in force workplace mindfulness Apr 20, 2026

Recent congressional testimony about the HHS workforce reductions raises a legally significant question: was this truly a reduction in force—or something else? Under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 35, agencies must...

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HHS RIF Lawsuit Survives: What It Means for Feds administrative law federal employment mspb appeals rif workplace mindfulness Apr 09, 2026

A federal court in Rhode Island recently refused to dismiss the challenge to the March 27 HHS reorganization and reduction in force (RIF). That decision matters because it confirms the plaintiffs—seve...

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IRS W-2 Errors Force Employees to Amend Tax Returns adverse actions federal employment irs employees tax compliance workplace mindfulness Apr 06, 2026

Few stories capture the strain on today’s federal workforce more clearly than this one: the IRS reportedly told employees that their W-2 forms were incorrect just weeks before Tax Day. The error invol...

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Schedule Policy/Career: Before You Sign the Form federal discipline federal employment mspb rights schedule policy career workplace mindfulness Mar 26, 2026

Federal employees have not yet seen formal Schedule Policy/Career conversions implemented—but the paperwork is already in place. The Office of Personnel Management has prepared an acknowledgement form...

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TSA Shutdown Pay and ICE Deployment Risks dhs employees federal employment tsa shutdown wage law workplace mindfulness Mar 26, 2026

TSA officers have now spent weeks working without pay during the DHS shutdown—many for nearly half the fiscal year under some form of funding lapse. The law does guarantee back pay under the Governmen...

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Unlawful DOJ Leadership and Federal Employee Risk administrative law career federal employees doj appointments federal employment workplace mindfulness Mar 23, 2026

A federal judge in New Jersey recently stopped a sentencing hearing, ordered a DOJ prosecutor removed from the courtroom after repeated interruptions, and demanded sworn testimony from the officials n...

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When Union Retaliation Crosses the Legal Line administrative law federal employment retaliation claims union rights workplace mindfulness Mar 19, 2026

A recent federal court order requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to restore its union contract did not happen in a vacuum. The decision turned on unusually clear evidence of retaliation. The ...

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DHS Shutdown and TSA Pay: Your Back Pay Rights and Key Deadlines federal employee rights federal employment government shutdown tsa officers workplace mindfulness Mar 12, 2026

During the ongoing partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown, tens of thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers are continuing to report to work without pay. Many Ameri...

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