Workforce

OPM proposes rule to formally revive Schedule F

The federal government’s dedicated HR agency estimates that 50,000 federal workers will be stripped of their civil service protections and become at-will employees.

Updated Workforce

VA is selectively enforcing Trump’s order stripping workers of union rights

VA Secretary Doug Collins this week issued a notice allowing employees at the department whose unions have not been involved with lawsuits against the Trump administration to retain their collective bargaining rights.

Updated Workforce

Mass layoffs paused at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

A union argued that CFPB has violated an order limiting how it can conduct reductions in force.

Workforce

SBA hit with more layoffs

The agency's COVID-19 EIDL Servicing Center staff were told they would be fired on Friday.

Management

Smarter, Faster, Lighter: A roadmap for agile evidence building

COMMENTARY | With DOGE initiatives fundamentally changing the state of federal policy evaluation, it could be time to embrace more evidence-based approaches to assess agency actions.

Breaking News Workforce

White House extends federal hiring freeze until July for most

The Trump administration’s halt on federal civilian hiring, which was supposed to be lifted Monday, will be extended through July, per a memo released late Thursday.

Workforce

Unions sue to stop demolition of mediator agency

The congressionally authorized Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service worked to avoid costly litigation between labor groups and their employers—in both the private and public sectors—until President Trump ordered officials to effectively shutter the agency last month.

Tech

Trump builds on Biden efforts to modernize permitting technology

While many praised the effort as common-sense, workforce cuts across government, as well as the administration’s deregulatory efforts, have raised questions about implementation.

Management

Trump administration wants new headquarters for the Housing and Urban Development Department

The headquarters announcement comes days after the president repealed decades-old executive orders in an effort to reshape where agencies decide to establish their office locations.

Management

The president’s procurement order offers a real opportunity. Let’s not squander it

COMMENTARY | Real change in government procurement can happen, but it’s going to require learning from lessons of the past.

Pay & Benefits

Now or Later 

For federal employees trying to weigh whether to retire in the current climate, there are a few things to consider for a sound night's sleep.

Management

Trump ‘anti-fraud’ memo could allow SSA to stop paying some Americans’ earned benefits

The document’s publication comes just days after reports that DOGE operatives overruled career workers to falsely label thousands of immigrants as dead.

Defense

Putting SPACECOM HQ in Alabama would have saved Pentagon $426 million, DOD IG says

But then-SPACECOM commander Gen. Dickinson was worried the move would result in significant personnel losses.

Tech

User with Russian IP address tried to log into NLRB systems following DOGE access, whistleblower says

The blocked login attempts, detailed in an extensive whistleblower complaint filed to the Senate Intelligence Committee and others, may indicate foreign adversaries have begun leveraging DOGE inroads into sensitive federal systems.

Workforce

Laid-off federal employees can access legal advice under new union-backed network

Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network’s goal is to provide individual legal guidance to thousands of government workers.

Pay & Benefits

House legislation seeks to add protections for probationary employees 

A bill from a newly-minted representative from Maryland is one of several proposed bills in response to the ongoing federal workforce reductions.

Exclusive Management

Trump officials explain his plan to make government acquisition great, for once

COMMENTARY | Three senior Trump officials explain why revamping the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and the $1 trillion in government spending it governs each year, is now a top priority.

Management

Trump orders major changes to rules covering $1T in federal spending

The Tuesday mandate — which aims to streamline the way government buys goods and services — was accompanied by a second order requiring agencies to predominantly use commercial products, rather than custom-built.

Management

State-level DOGE work gathers speed

Oklahoma’s new government efficiency unit issued a report on what it has found to cut, while Iowa’s first-in-the-nation effort held its inaugural meeting. But experts say efficiency isn’t just about cutting spending.

Tech

Top tech leaders to leave IRS

The departures happen even as the tax agency has made controversial decisions to share taxpayer data with the Department of Homeland Security and centralize that data to make it more accessible.