That Time

That Time Federal Bank Examiners Were Told to Play Nice

The Trump administration gave overseers a culture-shifting directive: Don’t be mean.

Tom Shoop
March 23, 2023

That Time Federal Bank Examiners Were Told to Play Nice

The Trump administration gave overseers a culture-shifting directive: Don’t be mean.

Tom Shoop
March 23, 2023

That Time the Federal Government Was Ruled By Czars

How a term for Russian oligarchs came to be applied to American government officials.

Tom Shoop
January 30, 2023

That Time Three Wise Judges Ruled That Christmas Eve Was a Federal Holiday

Not every Christmas Eve, though.

Tom Shoop
December 20, 2022

That Time the Education Department Was Eliminated

The first incarnation of the department, that is.

Tom Shoop
November 28, 2022

That Time a Lawyer Invented the Government Shutdown

For nearly 200 years, shutdowns simply didn’t happen, even when Congress didn’t finish spending bills.

Tom Shoop
October 27, 2022

That Time Reformers Took on Cronyism, Nepotism and Alcoholism in the Federal Workforce

How the Pendleton Act created the modern civil service.

Tom Shoop
September 1, 2022

That Time Armed Militants Occupied a Federal Building (Not the Capitol)

Before Jan. 6, 2021, there was Jan. 2, 2016.

Tom Shoop
July 29, 2022

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Get the latest on need-to-know topics for federal employees delivered to your inbox.

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That Time EPA Contractors Built Secret Man Caves in a Warehouse

When “vermin feces” is the second-biggest issue in your facility, you know you’ve got problems.

Tom Shoop
May 12, 2022

That Time Bill Clinton Declared ‘The Era of Big Government Is Over’

Spoiler alert: It wasn’t.

Tom Shoop
May 4, 2022

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