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Our online community now tops 150,000 federal workers and supporters across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Each briefing distills the day’s most consequential developments, adds clear-eyed legal analysis, and pairs it with mindfulness tools that keep you steady no matter how turbulent the news cycle becomes. If this newsletter helps you stay informed, please pass it on: https://fedlegalhelp.com/newsletter. Your advocacy broadens the protective circle for every federal employee.

Top Three News Stories:

1. Supreme Court Green-lights DOGE Access to Social-Security Databases

Late Friday, the Supreme Court lifted a lower-court order that had kept the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) out of Social Security Administration systems. The 6-3 unsigned order allows DOGE analysts—many of them recent political appointees—to pull salary, medical and employment histories on virtually every current and former worker in the United States. The Court simultaneously narrowed a separate transparency injunction that had required DOGE to reveal internal records. Privacy advocates and the three dissenting justices warn that the ruling leaves tens of millions of Americans’ most sensitive data exposed to “fishing expeditions.” Federal News Network

Legal Insight:

For federal employees, the opinion is a cautionary tale about how quickly emergency “shadow-docket” rulings can reshape workplace rules. The Court did not reach the merits of the unions’ Privacy Act and due-process arguments, leaving those issues for another day—meaning agencies may press ahead until a full merits decision arrives. In practice, SSA systems now fall under the President’s 2025 executive order giving DOGE “prompt and full access” to unclassified records. Employees handling Title V or HIPAA-protected files should watch for updated SSA/DOGE data-sharing agreements; non-compliance could trigger discipline under the new suitability standards; watch carefully. Finally, expect follow-on litigation testing whether the Court’s order pre-empts agency-level Privacy Act “need-to-know” determinations or collective-bargaining safeguards. 

2. White House Orders Funding-Cut ‘Rationales’ for California  

The Trump administration directed federal agencies to identify legal justifications for withholding a broad swath of grants and cooperative-agreement funds from the State of California. Internal emails reviewed by The Washington Post show officials leaning on federal employees to document purported state “non-compliance” with recent executive orders on diversity, procurement and environmental reviews. The move comes even though an existing federal injunction bars blanket grant cancellations, and could spark fresh lawsuits from the state and its congressional delegation. Washington Post

Legal Insight:

Career budget and program staff should proceed carefully. The Anti-Deficiency Act forbids agencies from obligating funds contrary to congressional purpose, so any proposed rescission must trace to a clear statutory or appropriations condition. If political appointees demand retroactive claw-backs, employees can invoke the “authorized purpose” rule and document objections under 31 U.S.C. § 1518. Remember as well that the Administrative Procedure Act requires a reasoned explanation for changes in grant policy; drafting a record that omits prior contrary findings can expose individual officials to depositions and, in extreme cases, personal-capacity suits for constitutional torts. Keeping contemporaneous notes and using agency ethics channels remains your best shield. 

3. Judge Clears Path to Dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)

A federal district judge in Washington, D.C., dismissed the American Library Association’s bid to stop the administration from eliminating the 75-employee IMLS. Relying on recent Supreme Court guidance limiting district-court jurisdiction over federal-grant disputes, Judge Richard Leon ruled he lacked authority to block the agency’s closure. This was not a decision based on the merits. Acting IMLS leaders have already issued RIF notices, halted upcoming grants and disbanded the National Museum and Library Services Board. A separate Rhode Island injunction still bars immediate liquidation, leaving the agency in legal limbo. AP News

Legal Insight:

The opinion underscores a growing trend: challenges to government-wide reorganizations are being funneled to the Court of Federal Claims, where employees have fewer injunctive remedies. For IMLS staff (and employees elsewhere facing RIFs), this means traditional APA lawsuits may be tossed for lack of jurisdiction, forcing you into the backlog-heavy CDA process. Because the judge treated termination notices as “contractual grant disputes,” other grant-making agencies—NEH, NSF, FEMA, etc.—could soon cite the ruling to accelerate closures. Before separating, seek the retention register and review it; ask management for written clarification on your eligibility for priority placement, severance and VSIP/VERA options; accepting a buy-out could waive appeal rights at the Merit Systems Protection Board. 

Mindful Moment of the Day: 

Lunch-Hour Digital Sabbath 

Midday is when blood glucose and inbox volume both crash, tempting you to scroll headlines with one hand while fork-lifting salad with the other. Instead, close every screen, set a 15-minute timer, and treat lunch as a single-task meditation—notice textures, flavors, even ambient cafeteria sounds. Research from the Uniformed Services University shows that screen-free meals deliver a 38 % drop in post-lunch lethargy by allowing the vagus nerve to direct full resources to digestion and parasympathetic reset. You’ll walk back to the workstation with steadier glucose, sharper working memory, and a calmer tone for that 1 p.m. stakeholder call—proving productivity sometimes begins by powering down.