Workforce

OPM continues to tweak 'deferred resignation' provisions as unions press court challenge

As the parties await a written decision from a federal judge in Massachusetts, unions fighting the controversial ‘Fork in the Road’ directive have highlighted how recent Trump firings could limit federal workers’ legal recourse.

Some agencies begin purges of recent hires even as OPM directs federal offices to pump the brakes

Going forward, agencies are told to prioritize low performing probationers for firing. Some have already taken a different approach.

Trump orders agencies to plan for widespread layoffs and attrition-based hiring

The order tasks agencies to work in conjunction with Elon Musk’s DOGE to dramatically scale back government capacity.

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Trump apparently fires FLRA chairwoman

Susan Tsui Grundmann’s term at the agency that oversees federal sector labor disputes was not set to end until July.

Federal employee union celebrates early wins against Trump but preparing for the long haul

Since Trump’s election, the American Federation of Government Employees has achieved record-breaking membership.

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Judge extends pause on ‘deferred resignation’ deadline

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole reportedly said he was considering converting the existing temporary restraining order blocking the administration from advancing its deferred resignation program into a preliminary injunction, but he did not indicate how he would rule in the case.

Making sense of the chaotic state of the civil service

COMMENTARY | Answers to eight questions you may be struggling with after the “deferred resignation” offer.

Trump exempted public safety roles from his hiring freeze. Federal firefighters, prison guards and food inspectors wonder why they don’t count.

Current and former employees say public safety agencies are still freezing hiring they claim to have exempted and liken the approach to a 'self-imposed gunshot wound to the head.'

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Federal judge blocks USAID leave notices and reinstates workers

Attorneys representing the Trump administration confirmed Friday that upwards of 2,200 employees, many of whom are stationed overseas, would have been put on administrative leave Friday night, absent the court’s intervention.

Trump administration environmental justice removals cut across agencies

Agencies leaders placed nearly 200 on administrative leave as they wound down programs at the Justice and Energy departments and the Environmental Protection Agency. 

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Trump administration’s 'deferred resignation' deadline blocked until next week

OPM is required to notify all employees who received an initial "deferred resignation" offer by Thursday evening that the deadline for accepting the legally dubious offer has been pushed until Monday.

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USAID begins sending administrative leave notices ahead of expected shutdown

The agency also reportedly has ordered overseas missions to shut down by the end of the week.

Thousands more recent federal hires receive warnings of their easy-to-fire status

The Trump administration is ratcheting up its efforts to push federal workers out of government.

FBI agents sue over DOJ-demanded lists of personnel involved in Jan. 6 investigations

The lawsuit follows a Jan. 31 memo from the acting deputy attorney general ordering the firing of several FBI leaders and calling for the identification of other agents.

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Agencies ramp up pressure on their workers to quit

New guidance continues to defend the Trump administration's "deferred resignation" program as legal, though it fails to address its apparent violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act.

Union chief: It’s not just a threat to federal employees

COMMENTARY | "Either we fight for our federal workforce now...or we will suffer the consequences of a government ill-equipped to protect and deliver for the taxpaying citizens of our nation," writes Doreen Greenwald, national president for the National Treasury Employees Union.