Workforce
Nuclear waste oversight at risk as staffing vacancies mount, watchdog warns
After a wave of departures tied to the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program, nearly half the positions in the Energy Department office overseeing nuclear cleanup sit empty, including many critical safety and engineering roles.
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EEOC says government must pay damages to some employees subject to Biden's vaccine mandate
The Biden administration unlawfully failed to accommodate a handful of employees' religious objections to the COVID-19 vaccine, the EEOC ruled Monday.
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'Going to be a s***show': Parks, Interior struggle to hire temporary staff ahead of busy season
The department fell well short of its goals last year and is failing to keep pace with even that level of hiring.
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‘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.”
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House GOP probes agency settlements with federal workers
Republican members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee argued agencies should settle less often with feds who allege prohibited personnel practices, but experts say the government acts similarly to private sector litigants.
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A USDA cow scientist won an award for helping dairy farmers produce more milk. He’s worried about the future of government research under Trump
The Partnership for Public Service, which runs an annual awards program for federal employees, recognized fewer civil servants this year as a result of fewer agencies participating.
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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.
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‘Highly problematic for a thousand reasons’: NIH employees criticize Trump-era requirement to scrutinize grants with words related to diversity
One staffer said that officials are employing more systematic methods to pinpoint NIH-funded research that the administration may object to, but that the additional reviews are time-consuming and lack transparency.
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FEMA brings back employees it recently let go as it looks to 'stabilize' its workforce
The emergency response agency made the decision ahead of hurricane season, and as a judge is demanding more information on the dismissals.
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Coast Guard officer promotion advanced by Senate Republicans despite IG finding of whistleblower retaliation
Commander Jesse Millard was approved in committee on a party-line vote, despite Senate Democrats demanding that his promotion be withdrawn.
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After reductions, VA chief says facilities can 'hire where they need and what they need'
Those facilities must still operate within overall staffing constraints, however.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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From bowling repairs to zoology, Trump admin consolidates job titles affecting 5,000 feds
The impacted employees will not lose their jobs and OPM says it will help them be more agile.
Workforce
USDA kicks off more employee relocations, including some that spark déjà vu
Hundreds of employees will be reassigned to Iowa, Missouri, Colorado and elsewhere.
Workforce
FAA sets records in effort to hire gamers as air traffic controllers
The agency received over 12,000 applications in less than two days, making the effort “wildly successful,” according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
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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.
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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.
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