Attorneys for Federal Employees — Nationwide

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Today at a Glance

• 2027 Pay Freeze: A bipartisan group of 110 lawmakers has asked House and Senate leaders to override the President's planned civilian pay freeze and write a raise of at least 3.8 percent into the fiscal year 2027 spending bill. Congress did that in 2019; it can again, but only by statute and probably not before December.

• IRS Details: The IRS is asking IT and HR employees it detailed to entry-level taxpayer work in February to sign up for a third 120-day tour, while telling some they cannot return to their old jobs. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration is now surveying those employees about whether the details were voluntary.

• Comment Deadlines: OPM's reopened comment period on its rule to rewrite PIPs and removals closes Tuesday, September 29, and the EEOC's proposed overhaul of the federal-sector complaint process closes Monday, September 28. OPM will consider only comments addressing its new discipline data, and no late filings.

Top Stories:

1. 110 Lawmakers Ask Congressional Leaders to Override the 2027 Pay Freeze — Here Is What the Law Lets Congress Do, and When

Source: Government Executive, September 21, 2026

TL;DR: A bipartisan group of 110 members of Congress, led by Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), sent a letter dated September 15 to the four House and Senate leaders urging them to reject the President's planned 2027 pay freeze for most civilian federal employees; the letter was made public Monday. The freeze comes from the alternative pay plan the President transmitted to Congress in August, which would hold base pay at 2026 levels; the President separately directed OPM to prepare a 3.8 percent raise for federal law enforcement officers and has proposed 5 to 7 percent for service members. The lawmakers write that after raises of 2 percent in 2025 and 1 percent in 2026, a freeze while the cost of living keeps rising "amounts to an effective pay cut." They ask leaders to include a civilian raise of no less than 3.8 percent — and preferably the 4.1 percent in the FAIR Act — in fiscal year 2027 appropriations legislation, and they point to 2019, when Congress rejected a pay freeze and enacted a 1.9 percent average increase retroactive to the start of that year. Congress has traditionally set the annual raise through appropriations bills; with a continuing resolution funding the government into December, Government Executive reports that action before the November midterm elections is unlikely.

For federal employees, this means:

• Nothing about your 2027 pay is final yet. The August plan covers base pay; locality pay requires a separate report to Congress at least a month before the January adjustment, and the 2027 pay tables themselves come by executive order, typically in late December.
• Congress can override a freeze only by passing a law, and the usual vehicle is a line in the appropriations bill. The current continuing resolution runs through December 11, so December is where this gets decided, if at all.
• A late raise can still be a full raise. In 2019 the override was signed February 15 and paid retroactively to the beginning of the year, so a December or January deal would not cost you the first pay periods of 2027.

Legal Insight

Under 5 U.S.C. § 5303(a), General Schedule base pay adjusts automatically each January by a formula tied to the Employment Cost Index — unless the President, citing "national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare," transmits an alternative plan to Congress before September 1 of the preceding year, 5 U.S.C. § 5303(b)(1)(A). The President did that in August. Locality pay has its own switch: 5 U.S.C. § 5304a(a) requires a separate report to Congress at least one month before the locality adjustment would otherwise take effect. An alternative plan is the default that governs unless Congress legislates a different number, which it last did in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, Pub. L. No. 116-6, div. D, tit. VII, § 748.

2. The IRS Detailed About 1,500 IT and HR Employees to Entry-Level Taxpayer Work — Now It Wants a Third 120-Day Tour, and the Inspector General Is Asking Whether the Details Were Voluntary

Source: Government Executive, September 21, 2026

TL;DR: In February, the IRS placed information technology and human resources employees on 120-day details to answer taxpayer calls and process returns; the National Treasury Employees Union estimates about 1,500 employees were affected, and most details were extended for a second 120 days. Two detailed employees told Government Executive the agency is now seeking volunteers for a third 120-day tour — nearly a year away from the jobs they were hired for — while telling former IT employees they cannot return to their old positions because, one employee said, leadership considers the 2210 IT series "overmanned." The employees remain at their original grade and pay even though the detail work is several grades lower. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) is auditing the IRS's workforce reshaping and has sent detailed employees a "Strategic Staffing Survey" asking whether they volunteered or were "involuntarily assigned," how much training they received, and whether they considered leaving the agency; TIGTA expects to report in May 2027. Several employees said they were removed from the detail after medical emergencies and now have no assignment at all. The IRS, which lost more than a quarter of its workforce last year, did not respond to a request for comment.

For federal employees, this means:

• A detail is temporary by definition: you keep your official position of record, your grade, and your pay while you do the detailed work. If a manager tells you that you "cannot return" to your old job, ask in writing whether you are still on detail or have been reassigned — the answer changes your rights.
• Every 120-day detail and every renewal requires a written order. Ask for a copy of each; it is the record of what you were assigned, by whom, and for how long.
• "Displaced" has a legal meaning. Selection priority under an agency's Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) attaches only when the agency gives you specific paper — a RIF (Reduction in Force) separation notice, a Certification of Expected Separation, or another official notice that your position is being abolished. Without one of those, the employees' description of having no hiring preference is accurate.

Legal Insight

5 U.S.C. § 3341(b)(1) lets a department head detail employees among its offices only by written order and for no more than 120 days, renewable in writing in further 120-day periods; OPM's rule at 5 C.F.R. § 300.301 implements that authority. A detail moves your duties, not your position; an involuntary, permanent move to a lower-graded position is a reduction in grade — an adverse action under 5 U.S.C. § 7512(3) that requires 30 days' advance written notice and a chance to reply under § 7513(b), and that can be appealed to the Merit Systems Protection Board under § 7513(d). CTAP "surplus" and "displaced" status is defined at 5 C.F.R. § 330.602. An employee who is told the old job no longer exists, or who was pulled from a detail for medical reasons and left without duties, should consult a federal employment attorney before signing up for another tour or accepting a directed reassignment.

3. One Week Left: Comments on OPM's Rule to Rewrite PIPs and Removals Close September 29, and the EEOC's Complaint-Process Overhaul Closes September 28

Source: Federal News Network, September 21, 2026

TL;DR: OPM has reopened public comment on its "Promoting Employee Accountability" proposed rule through September 29, after publishing data showing that performance- and conduct-based terminations and separations governmentwide have not increased this fiscal year — 3,105 through June 2026, compared with 3,492 in all of fiscal 2025 (excluding the Postal Service and intelligence agencies). OPM's September 15 Federal Register notice calls the flat numbers "support for making structural changes necessary to appropriately incentivize supervisors to take necessary action to address poor performance and misconduct," and it asked for comment on an August 27 We the Doers report on obstacles to removing poor performers. OPM's portion of the rule, proposed in July jointly with the Merit Systems Protection Board, would cap performance improvement periods at 30 days, make removal the default proposed penalty for unacceptable performance, and bar "clean record" settlements; the MSPB's portion, which ends mandatory Douglas-factor penalty review, is already final and applies to appeals filed on or after October 5. OPM's notice says it will consider only comments that address the newly released data and will not consider late filings. Separately, the EEOC's proposed rewrite of the federal-sector complaint process — which would end mandatory pre-complaint counseling, remove the right to request an administrative judge hearing before a final agency decision, and bar administrative class complaints — closes for comment September 28.

For federal employees, this means:

• Two hard deadlines this week. EEOC comments are due Monday, September 28 (FR Doc. 2026-17641). OPM comments are due Tuesday, September 29 (Docket ID 2025-OPM-0012), and OPM will read only comments that engage its new data — cite the numbers, not just your objection.
• If you are on a PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) or holding a proposed action today, the current rules still apply. Nothing in OPM's proposal takes effect until a final rule is published with an effective date. The MSPB's new penalty standard is different: it is final and reaches any appeal filed on or after October 5.
• Unions, associations, and individual employees can all file. A short comment describing what the 30-day cap or the settlement ban would do in your workplace is more useful to the record than a long policy argument.

Legal Insight

Under 5 U.S.C. § 553(c), an agency must give interested persons an opportunity to comment and must consider "the relevant matter presented" before it adopts a final rule, so a specific, timely comment becomes part of the record that any later legal challenge will examine. The pieces OPM cannot change by regulation are statutory: the "opportunity to demonstrate acceptable performance" before a performance-based removal, 5 U.S.C. § 4302(c)(6), and the 30-day advance notice and right to reply before an adverse action, 5 U.S.C. § 7513(b). What the rule would change is the regulatory detail in 5 C.F.R. parts 432 and 752 — how long the opportunity period lasts, what penalty is proposed by default, and what a settlement may contain. Anyone on a PIP or holding a proposed notice should consult a federal employment attorney now; the reply deadline printed in your notice does not wait for the rulemaking.

Mindful Moment of the Day

When the Detail Keeps Getting Extended

You took a temporary assignment months ago, and today another email asks whether you’ll stay for 120 more days. Notice what happens in your body as you read it: the jaw sets, the shoulders lift, the stomach drops at the thought of the job you were hired for slipping further away. Before you answer, set the phone down, feel your feet on the floor, and take three slow breaths. Then say one plain sentence silently: “This is a request, not a verdict.” When your shoulders come down, write the one question you actually need answered—what your status is, when it changes, who decides—and put it in an email you send tomorrow, not tonight. Mindfulness here does not mean saying yes to keep the peace; it means noticing the fear, letting it settle, and asking your questions from steadier ground. 

In Case You Missed It

A few quick hits from our recent posts:

OPM Health Claims Data Warehouse: Federal Employee Privacy

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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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