Workforce
Layoff implementation work is exempted from shutdown, Trump admin says
Shutdown layoffs could be undone when funding is restored, according to new guidance.
Management
The ultra risks of a routine shutdown
COMMENTARY | If Democrats risk a government shutdown this week, they may unwittingly play into the most dramatic shift of power to the executive branch in recent history.
Management
A new ‘activist’ OPM is incrementally reforming the civil service, Part 2
COMMENTARY | OPM's new reforms show promise, but the agency should be wary of trying to apply a centralized, uniform standard to agencies varied in mission and expertise.
Oversight
A developing database of constituent complaints to Congress could help agencies find systemic issues in their public services
While Capitol Hill staffers help constituents when they have trouble getting assistance from an agency, there’s currently no way to track that information across congressional offices.
Workforce
Federal appellate decision restores union rights for Defense Department teachers
A three-judge panel on Thursday found that the Trump administration failed to meet its burden in requesting a stay of an injunction blocking the union-busting of the Pentagon’s corps of teachers on military bases.
Workforce
So far, many agency leaders are telling staff not to take shutdown layoff threat seriously
In at least one case, however, leadership has stressed that RIFs are a real possibility: “They want people to feel the impact of the shutdown."
Management
Even a brief government shutdown might hamper morale, raise costs and reduce long-term efficiency in the federal workforce
With the political parties currently wide apart over the terms of even a short-term budget resolution, the government is set to shut down on Oct. 1, 2025, barring an 11th-hour deal that appears far off.
Management
The real cost of a shutdown: Disrupting the U.S. workforce, innovation and national security
COMMENTARY | A government shutdown hurts government operations, industry and the U.S. economy.
Updated
Oversight
Fired watchdogs can’t be reinstated despite Trump’s ‘obvious’ law breaking, court decides
A federal judge determined the removed inspectors general could not show irreparable harm.
Oversight
GAO: Forest Service upgrades to wildfire communications and tracking imperiled by Trump’s workforce downsizing
The U.S. Forest Service neither agreed nor disagreed with a recommendation to develop a strategic plan for upgrading systems to track wildfire fighting resources, instead taking issue with the title of the government watchdog’s report.
Management
The end of the ‘Fork in the Road’
A new online retirement system, coupled with record summer claim volumes, has created delays and confusion for federal employees transitioning to annuitant status, even as OPM works to streamline processing and reduce errors.
Management
Senate report accuses DOGE of risking Americans’ data by operating outside federal law
A report released by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said a lack of restrictions on DOGE employees’ collection of sensitive data can result “in serious cybersecurity vulnerabilities, privacy violations, and risk of corruption.”
Management
Agencies should prep for mass layoffs if shutdown occurs, White House says
OMB is requesting updated reduction-in-force plans even if a shutdown is averted.
Workforce
Labor groups warn of ‘gaping hole’ in First Amendment if court OKs Trump’s anti-union orders
The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will reexamine a prior decision allowing the White House’s effort to strip two-thirds of the federal workforce of their collective bargaining rights to go into effect.
Management
IRS announces the phased end of paper check refunds
The Trump White House set a Sept. 30 deadline for the Treasury Department to stop cutting paper checks, although the IRS said it will still be issuing a “limited number” of checks where there is no alternative option.
Exclusive
Workforce
The Interior Department is taking steps to implement layoffs
After a series of delays, DOI is preparing RIF lists as it looks to implement significant personnel cuts in the coming weeks.
Updated
News
Dallas ICE facility is the site of another shooting at a federal building
The FBI is investigating the shooting as an act of targeted violence.
Pay & Benefits
Lawmakers propose elevating POW benefit eligibility and offering a citizenship path for immigrant service members
One House bill aims to change the veterans’ health care benefits priority for former prisoners of war, while another tries again to offer an immigration path to noncitizens in the Armed Forces.
Management
Trump budget office is hiding federal spending information, ethics nonprofit alleges
Federal courts have ordered the Office of Management and Budget to publish information about how agency funding is disbursed, but Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington contends that officials are using footnotes to obfuscate disclosure.
Management