Author Archive
Pay & Benefits
OPM to FEHB carriers: Cut costs, MAHA style
In the federal HR agency’s annual letter to insurers, officials called for the end to cash incentives for childhood vaccine adoption and urged insurers to require therapy before prescribing GLP-1 drugs to combat obesity.
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Workforce
Ex-VOA employees challenge last year’s buyout and retirement offers
Four former U.S. Agency for Global Media employees seek class certification from the Merit Systems Protection Board, arguing that the March invalidation of Kari Lake’s actions atop the agency should also apply to agreements reached under the Deferred Resignation Program and other buyout authorities.
Updated
Pay & Benefits
Trump’s budget calls for 2027 pay freeze
Though the president’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal calls for a 7% pay raise for military service members, it fails to mention civilian federal employee compensation.
Pay & Benefits
Trump says he’ll pay all DHS workers after House again fails to end 48-day shutdown
The House was expected to pass the Senate’s measure funding most of the Homeland Security Department through September on Thursday morning, but didn’t take action.
Pay & Benefits
Most TSP funds tumbled in March
The federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program was not immune to the economic headwinds brought on by President Trump’s war with Iran.
Workforce
Top Oversight Dem criticizes OPM’s forced distribution plan for federal worker appraisals
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said that the federal government’s dedicated HR agency failed to sufficiently grapple with past OPM policy or the wealth of research finding that forced distribution models for performance appraisals is counterproductive to organizational health.
Workforce
‘Blatant disrespect’: Judge contemplates contempt proceedings after VA re-terminated union contract
A federal judge in Rhode Island denied a request from the Trump administration to “moot out” a preliminary injunction preserving the American Federation of Government Employees’ contract with the Veterans Affairs Department.
Workforce
Federal labor board asserts political control over union elections
Union experts warned the move could set the stage for interference in union elections and determining the size of agency bargaining units.
Workforce
VA: Court order requires we reinstate union contract, not honor its terms
The Veterans Affairs Department said the American Federation of Government Employees must file grievances for each instance of the VA ignoring its CBA, though management also refuses to participate in such proceedings.
Workforce
MSPB relinquishes jurisdiction over some federal worker appeals
The agency tasked with adjudicating appeals of federal employee firings upended decades of precedent in ruling that agencies may challenge its jurisdiction on constitutional grounds.
Workforce
Survey of 11,000 feds underscores ‘layer cake of trauma’
A new survey from the Partnership for Public Service, aimed at replicating the cancelled 2025 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, reveals just 7% of federal workers believe their political leaders engender high motivation.
Management
Fired MSPB member appeals to Supreme Court
Attorneys for former Democratic Merit Systems Protection Board Member Cathy Harris argued that however the justices rule in a similar case involving the Federal Trade Commission, Congress can prescribe removal protections for officials at “purely adjudicative” agencies.
Workforce
Judge orders VA to restore collective bargaining
U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose found that VA Secretary Doug Collins violated the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedures Act last August when he terminated the American Federation of Government Employees’ union contracts.
Workforce
Arbitrator orders restoration of telework at Social Security
Though the Social Security Administration couched its mass cancellation of telework for employees as a temporary one based on “operational needs,” it has never provided a time frame or criteria for the workplace flexibility’s restoration.
Workforce
Energy Dept., NASA take steps to oust their unions
The Energy Department on Tuesday issued notices purporting to terminate its collective bargaining agreements with two unions, while NASA in recent weeks has begun stripping employees of their eligibility to bargain.
Workforce
Employee groups revive lawsuit to block Schedule F
A coalition of labor unions and other employee advocacy groups say President Trump’s plan to convert around 50,000 federal workers to at-will employees violates federal law, the Constitution and threatens to upend the merit-based civil service.
Updated
Management
OPM proposes new layoff rules emphasizing performance and reducing employee protections
Since a draft of the new policy began circulating last fall, federal regulators expanded those excluded from agency reduction in force rules to include all career federal workers in the government’s excepted service.
Workforce
NTEU chief stands firm as agencies seek to terminate contracts
Doreen Greenwald said her union will continue to demand compliance with its collective bargaining agreements in face of a renewed push to excise labor groups from most federal agencies.
Pay & Benefits
Most TSP funds were flat in February
Only the Thrift Savings Plan’s international fund saw growth in excess of 2% last month.
Workforce
IRS, Fiscal Service defy judges, terminate union contracts
The move to ax collective bargaining agreements with the National Treasury Employees Union, until now protected by a federal court order, comes just two weeks after the Office of Personnel Management issued guidance seemingly encouraging agencies to ignore the courts.
