Civil Service
OPM finalizes ‘Nixonian’ rule centralizing and enabling some federal firings
Under final regulations published this week, the federal government’s dedicated HR agency can remove federal employees from across government over suitability and conduct issues—blocking most avenues for appeal.
Slaughter and the expansion of presidential power
COMMENTARY | The Supreme Court’s latest ruling has dismantled a century of independence for federal regulators, and the ripples of this decision may just be the start of a much broader reshaping of the executive branch.
Lawmakers, unions and civil society groups urge withdrawal of governmentwide NDA plan
The Office of Personnel Management received more than 30,000 comments on its plan to require federal workers sign nondisclosure agreements, which critics said would violate the First Amendment and chill whistleblowers.
President can fire independent agency heads without cause, Supreme Court rules
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissent that the decision “reshapes our government.”
Award-winning civil servants counter negative stereotypes of government employees
The National Academy of Public Administration celebrated public servants as part of the 250th anniversary of the U.S.
In rare move, full appeals court agrees to hear case challenging Trump’s ‘Article II’ firings
Federal circuit courts typically hear cases via randomized three-judge panels, reserving review by the entire judicial bench for its most important cases.
Most Americans think government workers are competent and should be nonpartisan, according to recent surveys
A survey from the Partnership for Public Service also found that a majority of Americans oppose the Trump administration’s changes to government.
Trump signs order moving thousands of federal employees into Schedule F
Roughly 8,000 career federal employees were stripped of their civil service protections Wednesday, making them effectively at-will employees.
Federal employee NDAs aren’t new, but expanding them requires careful guardrails
COMMENTARY | A new proposal would expand federal nondisclosure agreements beyond classified work. Will it curb leaks or chill legitimate whistleblowing?
Federal reform efforts keep repeating the same pattern. Tennessee offers a different model
COMMENTARY | A federal Pay Agent report and Tennessee’s civil service overhaul highlight a familiar problem: reform depends less on policy design than on management capacity and execution.
Supreme Court rejects lower court bid to review immigration judge gag order
Justices reversed an appeals court decision that would have greenlit a fact-finding expedition into whether President Trump had effectively nullified review of personnel policies under the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act.
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OPM proposes requiring all feds to sign an NDA
Experts warned the measure, when combined with the federal HR agency’s new power to target employees’ suitability for federal employment, creates a new pathway for Trump administration officials to purge those deemed insufficiently loyal to the president.
Survey: Feds were less engaged, less satisfied and more burnt out in 2025
But quarterly federal employee workplace scores generally showed improvements by the end of last year and the beginning of 2026.
Why federal agencies still need to defend hiring standards
COMMENTARY | The Trump administration may be pulling back on disparate-impact enforcement, but agencies still face lawsuits, scrutiny and pressure to prove hiring standards are tied to the job.
‘Sermonizing’ Easter email prompts USDA employees to sue agency
In response to the lawsuit, the department said, “we will keep the plaintiffs in our prayers.”
Feds wary of skills-based hiring survey after 15 months of attacks
The combination of a lack of outreach around a newly deployed survey of federal workers’ skillsets with the recent flood of layoffs, purges and reorganizations has made some reluctant to participate in the bipartisan initiative.
Inside the effort to connect Congress with the feds enacting its policies
Those writing laws don’t often hear from those charged with implementing them. The POPVOX Foundation wants that to change.
A week of recognition, and a career of service
Behind the honors and milestones, federal employees carry a lasting sense of purpose that extends well beyond a single week.
Federal workforce trauma is creating a stumbling block for AI adoption
COMMENTARY | Following massive workforce reductions — and a $165.6 billion hit to the U.S. economy — federal managers are struggling to integrate AI as low engagement collapses across agencies.
Feds that Trump fired without cause can take their appeals directly to federal court, judges say
The most recent decision involved a challenge from Maurene Comey, a former DOJ attorney and daughter of former FBI Director James Comey.
