Attorneys for Federal Employees — Nationwide
Nearly 200,000 federal workers and supporters follow our updates across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Each briefing gives you the three stories that actually matter to your job, plain‑English legal guidance, and one short practice to protect your peace of mind. If it helps you, forward it to a colleague—new readers can subscribe at https://fedlegalhelp.com/newsletter.
Who Protects the Worker?
The full lineup for the September 9 panel is out, and Shaun Southworth is on it. RSVP below.
A lot of you watched it happen to someone down the hall this year: a colleague terminated on probation, a whole office eliminated in a reduction in force (RIF). The organizers of this panel put it plainly: the procedures designed to guard against arbitrary termination were "tested on a scale not seen in generations."
On Wednesday, September 9, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. ET, the USAID Employee Support Fund and the Alliance for American Leadership host a non-partisan virtual panel on what limits should apply when the government eliminates jobs or removes employees, and what happens when those limits are not followed.
The full lineup is now public:
- Congressman Jamie Raskin opens.
- Two former USAID Administrators who served under presidents of different parties share the program: Andrew Natsios moderates, and Ambassador Samantha Power closes.
- Our founding partner, Shaun Southworth, sits on the panel with Kevin Byrnes of Patriots Law Group and Andrew Huddleston, Advocacy Director at the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).
It's on Zoom, so no travel voucher needed, but you do need to register.
RSVP here: https://www.usaidemployeefund.org/event
🎧 Listen: Civil Rights for Civil Servants
Shaun Southworth & Lydia Taylor on what's happening to the federal workforce. Latest episode: Apple · Spotify · Amazon Music · Youtube
Today at a Glance
-
RIF RULES NOW IN EFFECT: OPM's rewritten reduction-in-force regulations took effect September 2, and OPM sent agencies a memorandum and FAQs the same day. Performance points now come first, "bump and retreat" is gone, and appeals of RIF actions noticed on or after September 2 go to OPM, generally within 30 days.
-
USDA RELOCATIONS CONTINUE: USDA told a federal court that 64 percent of the 725 employees given directed-reassignment letters accepted them. Employees say the figure is inflated, and Judge Susan Illston has declined to add the reorganization to the unions' existing lawsuit.
-
FBI WHISTLEBLOWERS: The Justice Department's Inspector General found three gaps between the FBI's anti-retaliation policy and the offense code used to discipline retaliators. The FBI says it will fix them; here is what actually protects FBI whistleblowers.
Top Stories:
1. OPM's New RIF Rules Are in Force — Here Is the Guidance Agencies Just Received
TL;DR: OPM's rewrite of the reduction-in-force (RIF) regulations took effect September 2, and that day OPM Director Scott Kupor sent agency heads a memorandum with a "RIF Basics" guide and eight sets of FAQs on running a layoff under the new 5 C.F.R. part 351. A RIF notice issued before September 2 is processed under the old regulations; one issued on or after that date follows the new ones. Competitive-service and excepted-service employees now compete on separate registers, ranked by performance credit plus veterans' preference points, with tenure subgroup and service computation date only as tiebreakers. Ratings convert to points — 7 for Level 5 (Outstanding), 5 for Level 4, 3 for Level 3 (Fully Successful), and 0 for Levels 1 and 2 — based on the three most recent ratings of record in the four years before notices issue, and veterans' preference adds 5 points for a preference eligible with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more and 3 for other preference eligibles. "Bump and retreat" is replaced by a single assignment right to a position held by a lower-standing employee in the same competitive area, generally no more than three grades down. Probationers, trial-period employees, temporaries on appointments of one year or less, and Schedule C and G appointees do not compete at all.
For federal employees, this means:
-
Your three most recent ratings of record now largely decide whether you keep your job in a RIF. Get copies now and confirm each is complete and signed; if one is missing, OPM's guidance substitutes an average of the other two, triples a single rating, or uses the most common rating for your position.
-
Your specific RIF notice must now show your competitive area and level, tenure group, veterans' preference subgroup, service computation date, your three ratings, how your standing was calculated, any assignment offer, and your appeal or grievance rights. You or your representative may inspect the retention registers, which must be kept for at least two years.
-
Check the date on the notice: if it was issued on or after September 2, your appeal goes to OPM, not the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), generally within 30 days after the effective date, and bargaining-unit employees whose contract covers RIFs generally must use the negotiated grievance procedure instead.
Legal Insight: Congress requires OPM's RIF regulations to give "due effect" to tenure, military preference, length of service, and performance ratings, 5 U.S.C. § 3502(a); the new rule puts performance credit under 5 C.F.R. § 351.503 and veterans' preference points under § 351.504 first, with tenure and service computation date breaking ties. Employees still get at least 60 days' specific written notice, 5 C.F.R. § 351.801, with notice contents and register access governed by §§ 351.802 and 351.506. RIF appeals now go to OPM under 5 C.F.R. part 351, subpart I (§§ 351.901–351.909), and OPM's own FAQ states that the rule "does not authorize discriminatory, retaliatory, politically motivated, pretextual, or otherwise unlawful actions," which remain prohibited personnel practices under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b). The appeal window is short, so anyone who receives a specific RIF notice should consult a federal employment attorney or union representative right away.
2. USDA Says 64 Percent of Employees Ordered to Relocate Have Accepted — Employees Call the Number Inflated, and a Judge Lets the Moves Continue for Now
Source: Government Executive, September 3, 2026 (updated September 4, 2026)
TL;DR: In an August 28 declaration filed in federal court, USDA's acting principal deputy assistant secretary for administration, Mary Pletcher Rice, stated that 725 USDA employees had received management-directed reassignment (MDR) letters and that 64 percent had accepted. Government Executive reports that USDA has so far sent notices to fewer than a third of the roughly 2,500 employees expected to receive them, across seven components, as the department moves most headquarters staff to five hub cities: Raleigh, Kansas City, Dallas–Fort Worth, Fort Collins, and Salt Lake City. Employees told Government Executive they accepted only to keep a hardship or reasonable-accommodation request alive or to buy time to find a local job, and an AFGE labor relations specialist told the court the figures are "inflated" for the same reason. On September 2, Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied the unions' motion to add the USDA reorganization to their existing lawsuit over the 2025 workforce-reduction executive order (AFGE v. Trump, No. 3:25-cv-03698), holding that the new claims "involve new and distinct causes of action that should be the subject of a separate lawsuit," and denied the related preliminary-injunction motion as moot. The relocations therefore continue while the plaintiffs decide whether to file a new case.
For federal employees, this means:
-
Accepting and declining a directed reassignment outside your commuting area both carry consequences: declining typically leads to a proposed removal, an adverse action with MSPB appeal rights, while accepting keeps your position while hardship, accommodation, or job-search options play out.
-
A separation for declining a reassignment outside your commuting area is generally "involuntary" for severance pay if no position description or mobility agreement required you to move, and it does not count as declining a "reasonable offer" for discontinued service retirement (age 50 with 20 years of service, or any age with 25).
-
If you move, the agency pays authorized relocation expenses for you, your immediate family, and your household goods. Get the authorization in writing before spending, and keep every receipt.
Legal Insight: A removal for refusing a directed reassignment is an adverse action under 5 U.S.C. § 7512 that the agency must justify as promoting the efficiency of the service, 5 U.S.C. § 7513(a), with appeal rights to the MSPB under § 7513(d); the OPM appeal rules effective September 2 cover RIF, probationary, and suitability appeals, not chapter 75 removals. Severance pay requires an "involuntary" separation, 5 U.S.C. § 5595(b), and OPM's rule treats a separation for declining a reassignment outside the commuting area as involuntary "if the employee's position description or other written agreement does not provide for such a reassignment," 5 C.F.R. § 550.703; discontinued service retirement under 5 U.S.C. § 8414(b)(1)(A) is forfeited only by declining a "reasonable offer" within the commuting area (unless mobility is a condition of employment), 5 C.F.R. § 842.206(c). Relocation expenses for an employee "transferred in the interest of the Government" are payable under 5 U.S.C. § 5724(a). Because the response deadline can turn into a proposed removal, anyone weighing an MDR letter should consult a federal employment attorney before it passes.
3. Justice Department Watchdog Finds Gaps Between the FBI's Anti-Retaliation Policy and Its Discipline Code — What Actually Protects an FBI Whistleblower
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, September 1, 2026
TL;DR: On September 1, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a management advisory memorandum identifying three inconsistencies between FBI Policy Directive 0727D, which bars retaliation against personnel who report compliance concerns, and FBI Offense Code 5.16, the disciplinary provision for retaliation. The policy protects all "FBI personnel," including contractors, interns, task force officers, and detailees, while the offense code penalizes only retaliation against FBI "employees"; the offense code covers reprisal for any protected disclosure or the exercise of "any other legitimate right authorized by the FBI," while the policy reaches only reports of a "compliance concern"; and the offense code penalizes only an actual or threatened "adverse employment action," while the policy prohibits any conduct, "direct or indirect," that adversely affects a reporting employee. The OIG, which found the problems "during multiple investigations of allegations of retaliation by FBI personnel," said they "have resulted in gaps in protecting FBI personnel from retaliation and ensuring that FBI personnel are held accountable for retaliation." It made one recommendation, and the FBI said it does not object to modifying its offense codes and penalty guidelines and intends to do so. A separate Justice Department technical rule effective September 1 renamed the adjudicating office the Office of Adjudication, Recruitment, and Management (91 FR 56049).
For federal employees, this means:
-
FBI employees do not start with the Office of Special Counsel like most of the workforce. A reprisal complaint goes in writing to the DOJ OIG or the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility, which must acknowledge it within 15 days and generally decide within 240 days whether there are reasonable grounds to believe reprisal occurred.
-
A disclosure is protected only if it goes to a listed recipient — a supervisor in your chain of command, the DOJ OIG or OPR, FBI OPR or the Inspection Division, Congress, or the Office of Special Counsel — and only if you reasonably believe it shows a violation of law, gross mismanagement, gross waste, abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety.
-
Since 2022, an FBI employee may appeal a final Justice Department determination or corrective-action order to the MSPB, or go directly to the Board if no final determination issues within 180 days of the allegation.
Legal Insight: Congress excluded the FBI from the general prohibited-personnel-practice statute, 5 U.S.C. § 2302(a)(2)(C)(ii)(I), and protects FBI whistleblowers instead through 5 U.S.C. § 2303, expanded in 2016 to cover disclosures to chain-of-command supervisors and in 2022 to allow MSPB review, § 2303(d). The Attorney General's regulations at 28 C.F.R. part 27 route complaints to the OIG or OPR (§ 27.3); assign adjudication to the Director of the Office of Adjudication, Recruitment, and Management, who must order corrective action if a protected disclosure was a "contributing factor" unless the FBI proves by clear and convincing evidence that it would have acted anyway (§ 27.4(e)); and allow review by the Deputy Attorney General within 30 days (§ 27.5). The OIG memorandum concerns how the FBI disciplines retaliators, not the employee's remedies under these regulations — a reminder that a policy statement and an enforceable protection are not always the same document.
Mindful Moment of the Day
The Union Meeting Reset
Union meetings can bring relief, information, anger, worry, and solidarity all at once. After hearing updates about policy changes, grievances, RIF concerns, or management tension, your body may feel activated even if the meeting was helpful. Before returning to your desk, take two minutes to reset. Stand up, feel your feet, and name what you are carrying: concern, frustration, hope, confusion, or resolve. Then choose one next action, such as reviewing notes, asking a question, or simply returning to your current task. Mindfulness lets you stay engaged without letting every update flood your whole day.
In Case You Missed It
A few quick hits from our recent posts:
Paid 24.72% Under Market, Then Frozen: What the 2027 Federal Pay Freeze Letter Really Says
|
|
You Won at the MSPB but the Agency Appealed: Why You Should Still Be Paid While You Wait
|
Facing Harassment or Discrimination?
If you’re dealing with slurs, exclusion, hostile emails, or sudden negative treatment after speaking up, you don’t have to wait until things get unbearable to explore your options.
We regularly represent federal employees in:
-
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.
👉 Schedule Your Free Consultation Today
|
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.
Your service is worth protecting. Let's protect it together at Southworth PC.
Responses