Author Archive
Workforce
How an obscure federal agency threatens to upend union disputes
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service has begun delaying and denying union requests for arbitrators to hear grievance cases, a move that has shocked longtime experts.
Workforce
EPA workers disciplined for dissent letter get legal aid from whistleblower groups
Lawyers for Good Government and the Government Accountability Project announced Tuesday that the two organizations would represent EPA workers who signed a 2025 “declaration of dissent” as they challenge their discipline before the Merit Systems Protection Board.
Pay & Benefits
House GOP on Trump’s 2027 pay freeze: ‘That’s politics’
Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee last week beat back multiple attempts to increase federal workers’ pay next year and restore their workplace rights.
Pay & Benefits
OPM proposes hazard pay for more federal firefighting activities
Under recently unveiled regulations, federal wildland firefighters would be eligible for a 25% increase in pay when they work on prescribed burns, a proactive tool to mitigate the risk of wildfires.
Pay & Benefits
Senators demand OPM withdraw plan to access feds’ medical records
More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers warned that a little-scrutinized proposal to collect claims-level data related to the Federal Employees Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits programs could violate federal law and doctor-client confidentiality.
Workforce
Labor groups sue to block FLRA’s political seizure of union elections
Federal employee unions warned that fast-tracked changes centralizing control of union representation petitions with the agency’s political appointees will bog down, rather than streamline, the election process.
Workforce
Hegseth orders termination of union contracts
Though some unions within the Defense Department are protected from the action by federal court orders, the American Federation of Government Employees’ locals remain vulnerable.
Workforce
Dem senators boost effort to reinstate 2 immigration judges
Last month, the Merit Systems Protection Board upended decades of precedent when it ruled that the attorney general has constitutional authority to fire immigration judges on an at-will basis.
Oversight
House Dems: OPM ‘omitted’ employee departures from retirement backlog investigation
In responding to a December 2025 congressional inquiry, the Office of Personnel Management noted the separation of around 35 customer service representatives last year, but failed to mention more than 100 departures from its Retirement Services division.
Management
SSA union fears field offices could shutter under new building occupancy law
The USE IT Act requires the General Services Administration to collect data on federal office occupancy rates, but Social Security employees worry the measure could wrongfully target understaffed but in-demand field office locations.
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.
Exclusive
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.
