Attorneys for Federal Employees — Nationwide

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Today at a Glance

• Advanced Leave At IRS And SSA: The National Treasury Employees Union has asked a federal court to void the IRS directive that cut off advanced annual and sick leave, arguing the official who signed it was never confirmed to the job. Advanced leave has always been discretionary; the fight is over replacing case-by-case review with a blanket denial.

• Nondisclosure Agreements And Whistleblower Rights: The National Security Agency's inspector general found that ten agency agreements imposing secrecy obligations do not carry the whistleblower notice federal law requires. The finding arrives while a standardized nondisclosure agreement for the whole federal workforce is under consideration.

• TSA Screening Privatization: TSA is dropping its "Gold+" concept and expanding the existing Screening Partnership Program instead, and Tampa International Airport has reversed course and will keep its federal screeners.

Top Stories:

1. NTEU Asks a Federal Court to Void the IRS Directive That Ended Advanced Leave

Source: Government Executive, August 21, 2026

TL;DR: The National Treasury Employees Union filed suit on Thursday, August 20, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asking the court to declare "null and void" the IRS directive that bars employees from using annual or sick leave they have not yet earned. The union's first argument is about who signed it. Frank Bisignano runs the IRS as its "chief executive officer," a title created under this administration; he is the Senate-confirmed Commissioner of Social Security, but was never nominated or confirmed to lead the IRS. NTEU argues he "is carrying out the functions of the IRS Commissioner, which is a principal officer," and has "therefore lacked authority for his official actions, including issuing the Directive." The union's second argument is that a categorical ban is arbitrary and capricious, because it "requires across-the-board denials of all pending advanced leave requests" and cuts off future requests "regardless of an employee's individual circumstances." SSA issued a nearly identically worded memo, and NTEU says that to its knowledge no other agencies have barred advanced leave outright. An IRS spokesperson said the restriction "aligns with the agency's efforts to build a high-performing, highly engaged workforce."

For federal employees, this means:

• Advanced leave is discretionary under the statute and the regulations. No employee is entitled to it as of right, and an agency may decline a request — though a collective bargaining agreement can limit how that discretion is exercised. What NTEU is challenging is not the denial of any one request but a rule that removes the supervisor's judgment from every request.
• If you already carry a negative leave balance, know the exit rule before you plan a departure. An employee who separates while indebted for unearned leave must refund it or have it deducted from pay due — but there are real exceptions, described below, that are easy to miss.
• If you are at IRS or SSA and had a request pending when the directive issued, keep the paper: your written request, the denial, the date, and any medical or family documentation you submitted. If the directive is later set aside, that record is what supports re-opening your request.

Legal Insight

Annual leave may be granted before it accrues "as the head of the agency concerned may prescribe," 5 U.S.C. § 6302(d), and an agency "may grant" up to 240 hours of advanced sick leave to a full-time employee, 5 C.F.R. § 630.402(a)–(b); see 5 U.S.C. § 6307(d). That discretionary language is why the union claims no right to the leave itself, arguing instead under the Administrative Procedure Act that a blanket rule replacing individualized review is "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law," 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A). Know the back end too: an agency must recover unearned leave from a separating employee, but not when the employee dies, retires for disability, or resigns or is separated because of a disability that prevents a return to duty, 5 C.F.R. § 630.209(a)–(b). While you are still employed, collection from your pay is capped at 15 percent of disposable pay absent your written consent, 5 U.S.C. § 5514(a)(1)–(2); at separation that cap does not apply, and the agency may offset the full balance from your final salary and lump-sum leave payment, 5 C.F.R. § 550.1104(l). If one of the § 630.209(b) exceptions may fit you, review it with a federal employment attorney before signing anything.

2. NSA's Inspector General Finds Ten Secrecy Agreements Missing the Whistleblower Notice the Law Requires

Source: Government Executive, August 24, 2026

TL;DR: The National Security Agency's Office of the Inspector General reported on August 18 that the agency is not complying with the statutory requirement that nondisclosure agreements tell employees their whistleblower rights survive the agreement. The inspector general identified five NSA-developed nondisclosure agreements: one, the agency's Security Agreement, lacked the current required provisions but did include related language and some statutory references, and "[t]he remaining four NDAs made no mention of whistleblower protections." The office then identified five more documents "that were not titled or identified as nondisclosure agreements but implied nondisclosure obligations and did not include the required whistleblower protection provisions." The gap extends to the electronic "brief sheets" employees acknowledge for access to compartmented information; two agency subject-matter experts opened their own during interviews and confirmed the language was absent, and the template lacked it too. NSA agreed with the inspector general's recommendations and said it would assign compliance to the agency's chief of staff. Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, requested the review, which comes as the administration weighs a standardized nondisclosure agreement governmentwide.

For federal employees, this means:

• Pull up whatever secrecy form you last signed and look for the statement telling you the agreement does not supersede your rights under whistleblower statutes and executive orders. If nothing like it is there, that is worth flagging — though whether a particular omission makes a form non-compliant depends on which provision is missing and which agency you work for.
• A missing paragraph is a compliance failure, not an adverse action. Standing alone it gives you nothing to appeal, though implementing or enforcing a non-compliant form is itself a prohibited personnel practice that can be reported. It does not change what you may lawfully disclose or to whom; classified information stays in classified channels.
• Save a dated copy of every nondisclosure form you sign. If you later report wrongdoing and something happens to your job, the version of the form you actually signed becomes evidence.

Legal Insight

It is a prohibited personnel practice to "implement or enforce any nondisclosure policy, form, or agreement" that omits the statement Congress wrote out in full — that its provisions "do not supersede, conflict with, or otherwise alter the employee obligations, rights, or liabilities created by existing statute or Executive order" relating to classified information, communications to Congress, reporting to an Inspector General or the Office of Special Counsel, or "any other whistleblower protection" — or that bars disclosure to Congress, the Special Counsel, an agency inspector general, or an internal investigative component. 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(13)(A)–(B). Congress carries a parallel funding restriction in its annual appropriations acts, most recently the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, Pub. L. No. 119-75, div. E, § 743, which is how the requirement reaches NSA, an agency not itself covered by the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act; the inspector general treated omission of the Office of Special Counsel reference alone as non-disqualifying there, because the Special Counsel lacks jurisdiction over counterintelligence and foreign-intelligence disclosures, and that carve-out does not travel to ordinary Title 5 agencies. Separately, the right to furnish information to Congress "may not be interfered with or denied." 5 U.S.C. § 7211. If you made a protected disclosure and an adverse action followed, the deadlines are short and vary by agency; have a federal employment attorney look at the sequence before you file.

3. TSA Drops "Gold+" and Turns Back to the Screening Partnership Program; Tampa Reverses Course

Source: Federal News Network, August 24, 2026

TL;DR: TSA announced Monday that it is replacing "Gold+," the privatized screening concept three airports had signaled interest in earlier this summer, with what it calls an "evolved" Screening Partnership Program, as part of new Administrator David Cummins' "Horizon 25 Strategy." Under that program, private companies screen passengers at commercial airports under TSA oversight; 20 airports currently participate. Tampa International Airport, the largest of the three, announced the same day that it will keep screening operations "exclusively with the TSA," saying it reached that decision after "an extensive review and evaluation over several months." Screeners at Tampa learned of the decision in an early Monday message from agency management, which told them "[t]he past 30+ days has been an uncertain time for the TPA workforce." Charleston International and Des Moines International had also announced plans to pursue Gold+ last month and had no update as of Monday afternoon. The Gold+ solicitation had closed for bids on July 31, and TSA did not immediately say what becomes of that procurement. AFGE, which has sued TSA for records about Gold+, welcomed Tampa's decision.

For federal employees, this means:

• The privatization push has not ended; it changed vehicles. The Screening Partnership Program is an existing statutory program, and industry observers quoted by Federal News Network read the shift as a rebranding rather than a retreat.
• If your airport converts to contract screening, the statute governing that program does not give incumbent federal screeners a right to be hired by the contractor, transferred, or placed elsewhere. Do not assume a job follows the work.
• Officers at the three airports that flagged interest should watch for written notice rather than rumor, and document any change to schedule, assignment, or duty station as it happens.

Legal Insight

The Screening Partnership Program is codified at 49 U.S.C. § 44920. A qualified private screening company must employ only individuals meeting the same requirements that apply to federal screening personnel and must provide "compensation and other benefits to such individuals that are not less than" the federal level, 49 U.S.C. § 44920(c) — but that provision sets standards for whoever the contractor hires; it confers no right on the federal screeners already doing the work, and § 44920 contains no transition, hiring-preference, or placement protection for them. Screeners' terms and conditions of employment are also set apart from the ordinary civil service: the Administrator fixes them "[n]otwithstanding any other provision of law" under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, Pub. L. No. 107-71, § 111(d), 115 Stat. 597, 620 (2001) (codified at 49 U.S.C. § 44935 note), which means much of what a screener can rely on comes from agency policy rather than from Title 5.

Mindful Moment of the Day

The Hallway Comment Release

A hallway comment from a supervisor, coworker, or leader can stay with you long after the conversation ends. Maybe it was vague, dismissive, or tense, and now your mind keeps replaying it while you try to work. When that happens, pause and notice where the comment landed in your body: chest, stomach, throat, or shoulders. Take a slow breath into that area without forcing it away. Then write down only the factual part of what was said, if it matters. This helps separate what happened from all the fear and meaning your mind may be adding around it.  

In Case You Missed It

A few quick hits from our recent posts:

Arbitrator Finds USDA Repudiated Its Telework Contract

Your Weather App Is Not Broken. The Federal Data Behind It Was Cut.

NSA Watchdog: Ten NDAs Missing Required Whistleblower Language

Facing Harassment or Discrimination?

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• EEO complaints for discrimination, harassment, and hostile work environment

• Retaliation for prior EEO activity or protected conduct

• Reasonable accommodation disputes

• Related discipline or performance issues that follow on the heels of complaints

In your free, confidential consultation, we’ll walk through what’s been happening, key dates (including the short EEO deadlines), and the tools available to you—formal and informal.

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Disclaimer:

This briefing is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney‑client relationship. Federal employment law is fact‑specific and time‑sensitive; you should consult a qualified attorney about your own situation and deadlines. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

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