Old3 War on the Federal Workforce
May 1, 2025 - October 31, 2025
May 1, 2025 - October 31, 2025
The following are news articles (from May1, 2025 - October 31, 2025) that were once listed on our website. Much of the information is still relevant, but it was taken off the www.dalecodemocrats.com website to reduce storage requirements and for brevity. This is a good source for history and can be used to help explain some of the current actions of today.
Judge extends order barring the Trump administration from firing federal workers during the shutdown
https://apnews.com/article/shutdown-layoffs-judge-trump-fdcb16f91c94d7bf73977e8968210b0e
Comment; 'A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday indefinitely barred the Trump administration from firing federal employees during the government shutdown, saying that labor unions were likely to prevail on their claims that the cuts were arbitrary and politically motivated."
"U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a preliminary injunction that bars the firings while a lawsuit challenging them plays out. She had previously issued a temporary restraining order against the job cuts that was set to expire Wednesday."
"Federal agencies are enjoined from issuing layoff notices or acting on notices issued since the government shut down Oct. 1. Illston said that her order does not apply to notices sent before the shutdown."
Comment: "The American Federation of Government Employees and other labor unions have sued to stop the 'reductions in force' layoffs, saying the firings were an abuse of power designed to punish workers and pressure Congress."
" 'President Trump is using the government shutdown as a pretense to illegally fire thousands of federal workers – specifically those employees carrying out programs and policies that the administration finds objectionable,' said AFGE National President Everett Kelley, in a statement thanking the court."
Pentagon removes key protections for civilian workers, moves to fire with ‘speed and conviction’
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5577739-pentagon-civilian-personnel-rules/
Comment: "The Pentagon has pulled key protections for its civilian personnel, directing managers to move with 'speed and conviction' to fire underperforming workers, according to a memo issued one day before the U.S. government shut down."
"Supervisors and human resources (HR) professionals are directed to act with speed and conviction to facilitate the separation from Federal service of employees performing unsuccessfully,” states a Sept. 30 memo signed by the Pentagon’s top personnel policy officer, Under Secretary of Defense Anthony Tata."
"It also warns that managers will be held accountable if they don’t address 'poor employee performance'."
"The new guidelines, which became public Tuesday, have sparked fears that they could be used to push out anyone at the Pentagon who doesn’t agree with or toe the line on the Trump administration’s programs."
Vought promised to use the shutdown to shutter the bureaucracy. It didn’t go as planned.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/25/hhs-shutdown-layoffs-doge-vought-00620786
Comment: "The mastermind of President Donald Trump’s effort to downsize the federal workforce, Russ Vought, promised to use the government shutdown to advance his goal of 'shuttering the bureaucracy'."
"Presented with a layoff plan that would have moved in that direction, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services scaled it way back, POLITICO has learned. It was another example, like several during the layoffs led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency this spring, in which Trump’s agency heads have pushed back successfully against top-down cuts they viewed as reckless."
"POLITICO obtained an HHS document from late September, the shutdown’s eve, that said the department wanted to cut nearly 8,000 jobs, based on guidance from Vought’s budget office. On Oct. 10, HHS only went ahead with 1,760. In the two weeks since, the number has dwindled to 954, as the department has rescinded nearly half of the total, blaming a coding error."
"The disorganized handling of the layoffs is reminiscent of Musk’s DOGE effort, in which employees were rehired after being fired, sometimes on court orders, sometimes because agency officials objected. In each case, the layoffs rattled agency managers and traumatized employees, as Vought wanted, but haven't gone nearly as far in downsizing the government as forecast."
"While the nearly 8,000-person layoff plan this month was largely scuttled by top agency officials who intervened before the cuts could be made, the whiplash manner in which it was proposed and then scaled back shows that the administration is still following the DOGE playbook."
Comment: More Chaos and confusion from the Trump administration that not only adversely impacts government services and employee morale, it doesn't save any money. Due to inherent inefficiencies caused by the confusion, it probably results in more costs to the taxpayer.
Comment: HHS is only one part of the federal government impacted by Russell Vought's promised layoffs. The chaos may be greater at different agencies.
US Medicare agency recalls furloughed staff to support open enrollment
Federal News Network: CMS recalls nearly 3,000 employees to manage open enrollment amid shutdown
Comment: More chaos and confusion. Do you think CMS might be rethinking the earlier furloughs?
Government Executive: See where the Interior is planning to lay off 2,000 employees
https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/10/see-where-interior-planning-lay-2000-employees/408913/
Comment: "The Interior Department on Monday revealed it was planning more than 2,000 layoffs that are now paused under a court order, with the scheduled cuts spread throughout its bureaus and offices."
"The department shared the details of its plans after a federal judge ordered the disclosure as part of her temporary freeze on many reductions in force during the government shutdown. The judge, San Francisco-based Susan Illston, has said the Trump administration is acting illegally in carrying out the cuts and demanded additional information on which agencies had planned to move forward with layoffs."
"Nearly three-dozen agencies impacted by Illston’s order have vowed to comply with it, though only Interior has revealed that it was slated to move forward with RIFs imminently. The administration laid off around 4,000 people on Oct. 10 across seven agencies. The cuts, which followed through on a threat from President Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought to inflict pain on the federal workforce as a consequence of the government shutdown, are now blocked from taking effect. Both Trump and Vought said more layoffs were coming."
Comment: "Here is a summary of all the Interior offices that were planning to issue layoff notices that are now, temporarily, blocked by the restraining order."
Comment: Only abbreviated excerpts of summaries provided. Please see linked article for complete summaries.
Comment: "Office of the Secretary: The secretary’s office would face the biggest brunt of the layoffs covered by the restraining order, with 770 positions being eliminated."
Comment: "Bureau of Land Management: BLM is planning to lay off 474 covered employees. That represents about 5% of the agency’s workforce."
Comment: "U.S. Geological Survey: USGS is set to send RIF notices to 335 employees in TRO-covered unions, or about 5% of its workforce."
Comment: "National Park Service: NPS is planning to eliminate 272 covered positions, or just 2% of its overall workforce."
Comment: "Fish and Wildlife Service: FWS is looking to lay off 143 covered employees, or about 2% of its overall workforce."
Comment: "Bureau of Reclamation: BOR is planning to shed 30 covered employees."
Comment: "Bureau of Ocean Energy Management: BOEM is set to lay off 12 covered employees who manage outer continental shelf projects in the Gulf of America Region."
Comment: "Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement: BSEE is planning to send seven RIF notices to covered employees, also in the Gulf of America Region."
Comment: "Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement: OSMRE is slated to cut seven positions in its Office of Planning, Budget and Analysis."
Comment: This level of detail is not available to us for other federal departments and agencies. It is shown to help illustrate the impact to government workers and to public services if Russell Vought's RIF (Reduction in Force) firings take place.
Vance warns ‘deeper’ cuts ahead for federal workers as shutdown enters 12th day
Comment: "Labor unions have already filed a lawsuit to stop the aggressive move by President Donald Trump's budget office, which goes far beyond what usually happens in a government shutdown, further inflaming tensions between the Republicans who control Congress and the Democratic minority."
Comment: GOP uses federal workers as pawns in budget fight with Democrats.
Comment: OMB's Russell Vought is using the shutdown as an excuse to fire federal workers. Firing government workers has always been in Vought's Project 2025 agenda.
Video: CBS News: Mass layoffs begin as government shutdown stretches into second week - October 11, 2025
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/mass-layoffs-begin-as-government-shutdown-stretches-into-second-week/
Video: Mass firings of federal workers begin on day 10 of government shutdown - October 10, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8Oeori1ATk
AP News: Firings of federal workers begin as White House seeks to pressure Democrats in government shutdown
Trump administration begins laying off more than 4,000 federal workers amid government shutdown, court filing shows
Comment: "The Trump administration on Friday began laying off more than 4,000 federal workers, according to a court filing, as the government remains shut down due to the inability of Congress to reach a funding deal."
"Reduction-in-force notices are being sent to federal workers across seven departments, with the Treasury Department and Department of Health and Human Services being the hardest hit and accounting for more than half of the total layoffs, according to a new Justice Department filing."
"The court filing is in response to a lawsuit over the shutdown layoffs from the American Federation of Government Employees and the AFL-CIO."
"Other affected agencies include the departments of Homeland Security, Education, Energy, Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency."
Comment: "Democrats are pushing back on the layoffs, saying that a shutdown does not require President Donald Trump to fire workers or give him new powers to do so, arguing the White House is being vindictive."
Federal News Network: IRS backtracks on back pay guarantee for furloughed employees
Comment: "The IRS is walking back guidance it recently sent to furloughed employees that assured them that they are guaranteed back pay once the government shutdown ends."
"The agency, in its latest notice, is deferring to the Office of Management and Budget, which on Tuesday floated the possibility that furloughed federal employees would not be guaranteed back pay."
"Legislation that President Trump signed in January 2019, which ended a record 35-day government shutdown, guaranteed back pay to these employees once any shutdown ends."
"A copy of the notice, shared with Federal News Network, states 'an earlier memo circulated on furlough guidance incorrectly stated the nature of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, as it relates to compensation for non-pay and non-duty status.' ”
Comment: "An IRS employee told Federal News Network that earlier guidance emailed to employees on Wednesday was automatically deleted from their inboxes by Thursday."
Comment: More threats and intimidation from the GOP to win the shutdown game, with federal workers used as pawns?
Federal News Network: Federal health insurance premiums to see another large spike in 2026
Comment: "Federal employees and annuitants are heading for yet another year of large increases to their health insurance premiums, in both the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program and the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) program."
"The Office of Personnel Management announced Thursday that FEHB participants will pay an average of 12.3% more toward their insurance premiums starting in January 2026 — or in dollars, an average of $26.40 more per pay period."
"The upcoming 12.3% premium spike follows multiple large premium increases over the last few years for FEHB enrollees. Federal employees saw an average of a 13.5% increase for the 2025 plan year — the largest year-over-year increase in well over a decade. Feds also saw a 7.7% jump in 2024, and an 8.7% increase in 2023."
Duffy threatens to fire air traffic controllers who skip work during shutdown
Comment: "Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday said he would fire air traffic controllers who are skipping work because of the government shutdown."
" 'If we have a continual small subset of controllers that don’t show up to work … they’re the problem children,' Duffy said on Fox Business’s 'Varney & Co.' "
" 'We need more controllers, but we need the best and the brightest, the dedicated controllers, and if we have some on our staff that aren’t dedicated like we need, we’re going to let them go,' he added."
Comment: " 'I think what’s happening here, 90 percent of the controllers, they show up, they come to work, but 10 percent of them are lashing out,' Duffy said."
Comment: Secretary Duffy, what happens when the shutdown continues, the air traffic controllers still have to work without a current paycheck, and even more call in sick? Given the time and cost it takes to train a new air traffic controller, do you think it is wise to threaten a larger group of air traffic controllers with firing? What if they call your bluff? Even worse, what if you do something stupid and fire all of them?
Federal News Network: DHS employees face mandatory reassignments
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/10/dhs-employees-face-mandatory-reassignments/
Comment: "The Department of Homeland Security has been sending out 'management-directed reassignments' to dozens of employees, forcing staff in some cases to choose whether to move hundreds of miles to a new job or face termination."
"DHS has sent the reassignments out to employees across the department, including at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to multiple people familiar with the directives. They were granted anonymity to discuss the matter."
"Employees have been handed reassignments to different DHS components, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Protective Service."
"Bloomberg first reported that DHS had sent reassignments to 'hundreds' of personnel, including CISA staff."
"The latest shifts come after DHS transferred more than 100 employees to ICE in August, including 50 staff from FEMA’s human resources department, according to the Washington Post."
Axios: Federal workers erupt over latest White House threat to withhold their pay
https://www.axios.com/2025/10/07/government-shutdown-federal-workers
Comment: "When employees were furloughed on Oct. 1, they received paperwork guaranteeing that they'd get back pay upon their return, Avila-Thomas notes."
"Now, after Axios reported that the White House was considering not paying furloughed workers, workers don't know what to believe."
"Union officials, former government officials, Democrats and lawyers who are experts in administrative law say that the administration is legally required to provide back pay."
"Even some Republicans agree: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters that threatening not to pay back workers is 'bad strategy' and 'probably not a good message to send right now to people who are not being paid,' Axios' Andrew Solender reports."
Comment: "In every other previous shutdown, federal workers who were furloughed received back pay."
"A federal law passed after the last shutdown, in President Trump's first term, was believed to enshrine the practice into law — until Tuesday morning, when Axios' Marc Caputo reported that the administration was taking a different view and considering not paying furloughed workers."
Unions sue over Trump's 'illegal' plan to fire many federal workers in a shutdown
Comment: "Two unions have sued the Trump administration over its plans to fire federal workers during the impending government shutdown, alleging that the 'unlawful threats' were contrary to the law and should be declared unlawful by a federal court in San Francisco."
" 'These actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious, and the cynical use of federal employees as a pawn in Congressional deliberations should be declared unlawful and enjoined by this Court,' alleges the lawsuit, filed hours ahead of the shutdown."
"The suit, which was filed by the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, involves the groups Democracy Forward and the State Democracy Defenders Fund. The court docket did not immediately reflect which judge would handle the case, which names Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought as a defendant."
"AFGE National President Everett Kelley said that announcing plans to 'fire potentially tens of thousands of federal employees simply because Congress and the administration are at odds on funding the government past the end of the fiscal year is not only illegal — it’s immoral and unconscionable,' adding that more than one-third of federal employees are military veterans."
US energy department cracks down on workers’ use of climate crisis language | Trump administration | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/30/energy-department-climate-change-crisis-language
Comment: "The US Department of Energy has told employees in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) to avoid using the words 'climate change' in what seems to be the latest incident in a crackdown on discussing the climate crisis in the US government."
" 'Please ensure that every member of your team is aware that this is the latest list of words to avoid – and continue to be conscientious about avoiding any terminology that you know to be misaligned with the administration’s perspectives and priorities,' says an email from an agency acting director seen by the Guardian."
Comment: "In addition to 'climate change', the banned terms include 'decarbonization', 'sustainable', 'emissions' and 'green'. Also on the list are 'energy transition', ' 'clean’ or ‘dirty’ energy' and 'carbon/CO2 ‘footprint’ '."
Comment: "The Trump administration has this year asked agency leaders to avoid some 200 terms – a list that also includes words like 'activism' and 'injustice'."
Comment: Can you imagine trying to work in an environment like this?
Video: Department of Education may cut 1,500 employees if government shutdown happens - September 29, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGiktw9EVlA
Federal workers unions call on Schumer, Jeffries to hold the line even if it means a shutdown
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/09/29/congress/unions-and-shutdown-00583979
Comment: "A coalition of federal unions are calling on Democratic leadership to fight back against budget cuts to 'critical public services,' even if it leads to a government shutdown and mass layoffs."
Comment: " 'We are directly impacted when the government shuts down: our members would no longer be able to work, get paid, or fulfill their mission of serving the American public,' the letter states. 'But we believe the most important thing is fighting against the centralization of executive power and for the long-term survival of the critical services the federal government provides, even if that means allowing the government to temporarily shut down.' "
"The American Federation of Government Employees — the largest federal union representing 820,000 federal workers — is not a signatory on the letter."
Federal Bureau of Prisons terminates collective bargaining agreement with AFGE
Comment: "Over 30,000 federal correctional officers have lost their collective bargaining abilities, after the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced Thursday evening that it was ending its union contract with the American Federation of Government Employees, 'effective immediately'.”
"The agency’s announcement comes in response to executive orders from President Donald Trump, directing most agencies to cancel their union contracts and terminate collective bargaining for broad swaths of federal employees."
"Although Trump’s initial orders made use of a narrow legal provision that lets a president suspend collective bargaining for national security purposes, BOP’s announcement made no direct mention of national security. Instead, BOP Director William K. Marshall III said the agency was ending the agreement because it believed collective bargaining was a 'roadblock' and that the union contract had become 'an obstacle to progress instead of a partner in it'.”
Comment: "BOP is one of several agencies moving forward with suspending collective bargaining, after an appeals court in August granted the Trump administration’s request to stay a preliminary injunction that had been preventing agencies from implementing Trump’s anti-union orders. Various lawsuits against the administration, however, remain ongoing. AFGE has alleged that Trump’s orders are an unlawful form of retaliation for federal unions’ First Amendment protected speech."
Comment: Recommend reading the entire linked article, for any Federal employee.
AFL-CIO head on Trump mass firings plan: Federal workers ‘not pawns’
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5522004-afl-cio-president-slams-trump/amp/
Comment: "AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler on Thursday decried the Trump administration’s plans to initiate a reduction in force if discretionary funding lapses next month as outlined in a new White House memo."
" 'America’s federal workers — the hardworking people across the country who keep our essential government services running — have already suffered immensely from the chaos and destruction inflicted by this administration’s Project 2025/DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] agenda,' Shuler said in a statement."
" 'They are not pawns for the president’s political games,' she added."
"Other union leaders have raised similar concerns."
"National Treasury Employees Union President Doreen Greenwald said lawmakers are using the federal budget 'as a game of chicken with federal employees as the collateral damage'.”
White House to agencies: Prepare mass firing plans for a potential shutdown
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/24/white-house-firings-shutdown-00579909
Comment: "The White House budget office is instructing federal agencies to prepare reduction-in-force plans for mass firings during a possible government shutdown, specifically targeting employees who work for programs that are not legally required to continue."
"The Office of Management and Budget move to permanently reduce the government workforce if there is a shutdown, outlined in a memo shared with POLITICO ahead of release to agencies tonight, escalates the stakes of a potential shutdown next week."
"In the memo, OMB told agencies to identify programs, projects and activities where discretionary funding will lapse on Oct. 1 and no alternative funding source is available. For those areas, OMB directed agencies to begin drafting RIF plans that would go beyond standard furloughs, permanently eliminating jobs in programs not consistent with President Donald Trump’s priorities in the event of a shutdown."
"The move marks a significant break from how shutdowns have been handled in recent decades, when most furloughs were temporary and employees were brought back once Congress voted to reopen government and funding was restored. This time, OMB Director Russ Vought is using the threat of permanent job cuts as leverage, upping the ante in the standoff with Democrats in Congress over government spending."
Comment: This is the ultimate act of extortion and intimidation. In effect, the Trump Administration is threatening to severely damage federal government long term operation, unless he gets what he wants. This is not a temporary furlough. The massive firing of federal workers would have a long term impact to government services and operations.
Comment: Steve Bannon's threat to "burn it all down" may be coming to fruition. How does one counter such an insane threat? The Democrats can't threaten to defund Presidential Secret Service protection and pass out ammunition in front of the White House.
Government Executive: Bill to nullify Trump’s union executive orders introduced by 48 senators
Comment: "A bipartisan group of 48 senators introduced legislation Wednesday that would nullify President Trump’s executive orders aimed at stripping two-thirds of the federal workforce of their collective bargaining rights and restore union contracts that agencies began cancelling last month."
"Last March, Trump signed an executive order citing a seldom-used provision of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act to ban unions at most federal agencies, under the auspices of national security. And last month, Trump signed a second edict adding a half dozen more agencies to the March order’s provisions."
"The edicts are already the subject of several court battles over their legality, though federal appellate courts thus far have allowed the administration to push forward with implementation. The Protect America's Workforce Act, which has the support of all 47 Democrats as well as Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, would declare the two executive orders null and void, as well as restore all collective bargaining agreements between federal agencies and their unions that were in place on March 26, before the first edict was signed."
"In a statement Wednesday, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the bill’s lead Senate sponsor, described the two executive orders as 'union busting' measures that are part of a larger project of tearing down the nonpartisan civil service."
CDC ends telework for employees with disabilities, union says - Government Executive
Comment: "Telework is a common example of a reasonable accommodation, which agencies are legally required to provide to workers with disabilities with limited exceptions."
Update: CDC backtracks on remote work ban for employees with disabilities
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/09/19/cdc-work-from-home-disabilities/86247587007/
SCOTUSblog: The status of Trump’s RIFs
https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/09/the-status-of-trumps-rifs/
Comment: "Since taking office in January, one of President Donald Trump’s priorities has been restructuring the federal workforce, including by significantly reducing the number of federal employees. In three separate challenges to the Trump administration’s reductions in force, the Supreme Court – on its emergency docket – has blocked rulings by federal judges that required the government to reinstate removed employees or barred it from carrying out firings."
"After the Supreme Court issued its rulings, the three cases returned to the lower courts, where litigation continues. In at least two of the cases, although the proceedings were still in a preliminary stage, the government carried out its reductions in force after the Supreme Court’s orders."
Comment: The linked article discusses the status of these cases.
Federal News Network: OPM to create special salary rate for Trump’s planned law enforcement pay raise
Comment: "'Certain frontline law enforcement personnel are critical to implementing the President’s strategy to secure the border, protect our country and keep American citizens safe,' OPM said this week in new guidance. 'Without special salary rates, the government may find it difficult to recruit and/or retain the number of these personnel needed to properly enforce our borders, uphold our immigration laws and protect law-abiding citizens.' ”
Comment: "For 2026, Trump’s larger proposed salary boost for law enforcement officials aligns with the planned 3.8% pay raise for military members."
"In contrast, Trump teed up most other civilian federal employees on the General Schedule for a 1% across-the-board pay raise in 2026 — with no locality pay adjustment attached."
Comment: Based on these wage increases, do you believe that Trump only cares about those who can physically protect him or project power against others? The 1% raise for the rest of government workers won't begin to make up for inflation.
Government Executive: Shortly after laying off hundreds, State hires new class of foreign service staff
Comment: "Less than 10 weeks after the State Department laid off hundreds of foreign service officers, citing bureaucratic bloat, it will begin onboarding new officers later this month."
Comment: "The hiring follows State issuing reduction-in-force notices to 1,350 employees, about 250 of whom were FSOs. The move has caused current and laid-off staff to question why the cuts were necessary if State planned to quickly turn around and once again begin hiring. Most foreign servants work as generalists, moving from one role and location to the next every few years throughout their careers."
"A current State employee familiar with the hiring plans said 'the optics are terrible'.”
Comment: Did the new foreign service officers have to pledge allegiance to Trump or pass some new form of MAGA background check? Or is this just another case of Trump administration "government efficiency"?
NPR: How Trump is decimating federal employee unions one step at a time
https://www.npr.org/2025/09/01/nx-s1-5515633/trump-federal-workers-labor-unions-va
Federal News Network: Most feds to get 1% pay raise in 2026
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/pay/2025/08/most-feds-to-get-1-pay-raise-in-2026/
Comment: "Most civilian federal employees will see a 1% pay increase in 2026, according to a pay plan the White House quietly transmitted to Congress, with one big exception: Law enforcement officers will see bigger raises, though it’s not yet clear exactly which ones."
"For the majority of workers, the annual increase is the smallest it’s been since 2021, when President Trump also directed a 1% increase during his last year in office. Presidents are required to submit an “alternative pay plan” by Sept. 1 of each year in order to keep larger formulaic raises from taking effect the following year under the Federal Employee Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA)."
"However, a yet-to-be-determined number of federal law enforcement officers will get a 3.8% raise next year, in line with the increase military members will receive in 2026."
"In the same message to Congress, the president said the law enforcement raise is meant 'to increase recruitment and retention in critical law enforcement roles and to ensure our great Federal law enforcement officers are treated fairly.' ”
"But it will be up to federal agencies and the Office of Personnel Management to determine which employees will be eligible for the larger law enforcement raise. Starting on Tuesday, OPM will begin consulting with agencies to identify 'categories' of law enforcement personnel who will receive it."
Comment: 1% won't keep up with inflation, meaning that most federal workers will be receiving an effective pay cut.
Comment: Do you think ICE personnel will be getting the larger raises, to go along with their $50,000 recruitment bonuses? Trump's shock troops will need to be paid well to help maintain loyalty to Trump.
AP News: Trump is cutting 500-plus jobs at Voice of America and its parent agency despite legal challenges
https://apnews.com/article/voice-of-america-kari-lake-trump-media-5b5cd4dd706fcfb9e373ce385d6f659c
Comment: "The agency that oversees Voice of America and other government-funded international broadcasters is eliminating jobs for more than 500 employees, a Trump administration official said. The move could ratchet up a monthslong legal challenge over the news outlets’ fate."
"Kari Lake, acting CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, announced the latest round of job cuts late Friday, one day after a federal judge blocked her from removing Michael Abramowitz as VOA director."
"U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth had ruled separately that the Republican administration had failed to show how it was complying with his orders to restore VOA’s operations. His order Monday gave the administration 'one final opportunity, short of a contempt trial' to demonstrate its compliance. He ordered Lake to sit for a deposition by lawyers for agency employees by Sept. 15."
Comment: "The administration said in a court filing Thursday that it planned to send RIF notices to 486 employees of VOA and 46 other agency employees but intended to retain 158 agency employees and 108 VOA employees. The filing said the global media agency had 137 'active employees' and 62 other employees on administrative leave while VOA had 86 active employees and 512 others administrative leave."
Comment: Given the drastic staff cuts, it will be interesting to see if Kari Lake can convince the judge that she is complying with the judge's orders to restore VOA operations.
Order Rebuking Union Contracts Expanded by Six More Agencies
https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/order-rebuking-union-contracts-expanded-by-six-more-agencies/
Comment: "The White House added six federal agencies Aug. 28 to the list covered by Executive Order 14251, expanding the bargaining‑rights ban to more than 40 entities across the federal government. The order, signed in March, removes collective bargaining agreement protections from every position within each named department, agency, or subdivision unless specifically exempted."
ABC News: HHS moves to strip thousands of federal health workers of union rights
HHS derecognizing unions representing staffers at CDC, FDA, NIH and more
https://thehill.com/homenews/5466412-hhs-de-recognizes-labor-unions/
Comment: "The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) moved Friday to derecognize labor union representation for staffers at multiple subagencies and offices, claiming the action is 'removing unnecessary obstacles to mission-critical work.' ”
"The HHS is derecognizing representation within several offices represented by the National Treasury Employees Union; American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE); National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees; and the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America."
Comment: "Impacted offices within the HHS include the Office of the Secretary, Office of the General Counsel, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Office of Refugee Resettlement, and the Administration for Children and Families."
"The move comes just days after the HHS finalized the termination of 600 CDC employees as part of President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency executive order signed in March."
Government Executive: IRS is canceling its layoff plans, will ask some it fired or pushed out to return
IRS ignored performance when it fired probationary employees, watchdog says
Comment: "When the IRS fired thousands of probationary employees earlier this year, agency officials did not account for any of the employees’ performance ratings in their termination decisions, according to a new report from an IRS watchdog."
"The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) found that virtually all of the 7,315 probationary employees that the IRS fired were either rated as high performers on their performance reviews — or otherwise had no performance ratings on record."
At least 600 CDC employees are getting final termination notices, union says
Federal News Network: CFPB can proceed with mass layoffs, federal appeals court rules
Unions Denounce Contract Cancellations; Face Financial Impact
https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/unions-denounce-contract-cancellations-face-financial-impact/
Comment: "Federal unions representing employees affected by the cancellation of negotiated contracts by some agencies under a Trump administration order—with more likely soon to come (...)—have denounced the agency actions as retaliatory, and meanwhile are facing a potentially significant financial impact on themselves."
"The AFGE union for example called the VA’s action to cancel contracts representing the majority of its employees 'another clear example of retaliation against AFGE members for speaking out against the illegal, anti-worker, and anti-veteran policies of this administration.' ”
Federal News Network: FEMA, USCIS become latest agencies to end collective bargaining
EPA terminates federal union contracts, effective immediately
The American Prospect: FEMA Employees Reassigned to ICE
https://prospect.org/labor/2025-08-06-fema-employees-reassigned-to-ice/
Comment: "Probationary employees who had been on paid leave were told to report to ICE within seven days or lose their jobs. It could signal problems with ICE recruitment."
Comment: "But now, these probationary FEMA employees on leave are apparently being shifted as a stopgap maneuver to bolster the ranks of ICE, which received tens of billions of dollars in the GOP mega-bill but faces the daunting task of hiring thousands of new agents to an unpopular agency with plummeting morale."
CNN: Weather Service is now hiring back hundreds of positions that got cut in the DOGE chaos
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/05/weather/nws-rehiring-doge-layoffs-climate
Appeals court allows Donald Trump order ending union bargaining for federal workers
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5433509-federal-employees-trump-order-union-ruling/
Comment: "A federal appeals court on Friday sided with the Trump administration in lifting a temporary block on a March executive order that prevented government workers from union bargaining."
"The three-judge panel for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the plaintiffs’ argument alleging Trump issued the order on the basis of retaliation."
"Instead, the panel, which includes one appointee of former President Obama and two Trump appointees, said the president 'would have taken the same action even in the absence of the protected conduct.' "
"A lower-court ruling issued by U.S. District Judge James Donato previously prevented 21 agencies from implementing the president’s March executive order, siding with six labor unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the nation’s largest federal employee union."
"A separate judge in Waco, Texas, denied the Trump administration's 'power to rescind or repudiate' collective bargaining agreements across numerous agencies in late July."
"However, on Friday, the appeals court upheld the president’s order, arguing the agencies excluded from union bargaining have “primary functions implicating national security” and cannot be subject to the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, a law that established bargaining rights for most federal workers in 1978."
Comment: Are you beginning to understand the reason why Trump wants to leave his stamp on the federal judiciary for decades, and the importance of stopping him by voting against the GOP candidates who rubber stamp his appointments?
Reuters: Court allows Trump to end union bargaining for federal workers
Agency RIFs, Reorganizations Starting to Take Shape
https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/agency-rifs-reorganizations-starting-to-take-shape/
Comment: "Long-expected agency RIFs and reorganizations are starting to take shape with announcements by several agencies. A list of agencies has also now been released that have asked asked OPM for approval for an initial, technical, part of the RIF process."
"However, much uncertainty remains, as the court challenge that resulted in the release of that list remains pending and officials say that the number of employees facing layoffs continues to change amid acceptance of incentives and other forms of turnover."
AFGE | AFGE Opposes Barely 30-year-old OSC Nominee Who Called Civil Servants “Parasites” and “Bugmen”
Comment: "AFGE and allied organizations representing hundreds of thousands of federal workers are speaking out against President Trump's nominee for Special Counsel, Paul Ingrassia, warning his confirmation would be a direct threat to whistleblower protections and merit-based employment."
"Ingrassia, just barely 30 years old with minimal legal experience, has a troubling record of attacking federal employees. He has publicly referred to career civil servants as 'parasites' and 'bugmen,' raising serious concerns about his ability to impartially uphold the rights and protections of federal workers."
"The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is critical in defending whistleblowers and ensuring federal employees are protected from political retaliation. Ingrassia's nomination, critics argue, could dangerously politicize this independent office."
Federal judge tosses Trump administration effort to end union rights for federal workers
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5418136-trump-judge-tosses-union-suit/
Politico: Trump-appointed judge tosses White House lawsuit against labor unions
Comment: "A Trump-appointed judge on Wednesday dealt a blow to the White House’s bid to kick out labor unions from an array of federal agencies."
"Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas said that the Trump administration lacks the legal standing necessary to pursue the case it filed against the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest labor union representing federal workers."
"The lawsuit was a preemptive strike against AFGE and other public-sector unions, seeking to nullify collective bargaining agreements that interfered with White House goals. It was submitted shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March stripping hundreds of thousands of government workers of unionization rights by vastly expanding the use of a national security exemption in federal labor law to cover agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and Agriculture Department."
Trump’s latest executive order creates new classification of federal employees
Comment: "President Trump penned an executive order Thursday to form a new classification of noncareer federal employees who will be hired to 'help faithfully implement the President’s policy agenda.' "
Comment: "The move essentially creates another class of political appointees who, unlike career federal workers, can be hired and fired at will. This will allow the administration to funnel new hires into such roles, giving the Trump administration greater power over the federal workforce."
Comment: Do you remember the time when federal workers were supposed to serve the American people, not just Donald Trump?
Internal Veterans Affairs memo shows plan to scrutinize disability work from home accommodations - Government Executive
Comment: "A department press secretary said the new policy is to ensure reasonable accommodations remain 'necessary, reasonable and effective,' while the American Federation of Government Employees contended it would push employees with disabilities out of the VA."
NBC News: Supreme Court allows Trump to implement Education Department layoffs
Comment: "The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to move ahead with plans to carry out mass layoffs at the Department of Education that were blocked by a federal judge."
Comment: "A federal judge had ruled that the Trump administration is seeking to 'effectively dismantle' the department without necessary approval from Congress."
Comment: "The conservative-majority court, without any explanation, granted an emergency application from the administration that blocks the federal judge's ruling."
Comment: "The court's three liberal members objected, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor writing a blistering dissenting opinion."
" 'When the Executive publicly announces its intent to break the law, and then executes on that promise, it is the Judiciary’s duty to check that lawlessness, not expedite it,' she wrote."
CNN: State Department is firing more than 1,300 staff on Friday
https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/11/politics/state-department-firings
Reuters: White House reviews mass federal layoff plans, aims for swift action
NBC News: U.S. diplomats brace for mass layoffs after months in limbo
Comment: "The layoffs are part of a mass reorganization of the federal agency, including the dissolution or merging of more than 300 bureaus and offices and a 15% reduction in employees."
USA Today: With new power, Trump will move immediately to lay off federal workers
Comment: "President Donald Trump has seized the authority to lay off federal workers and reorganize the federal government in a way that critics say no president has been able to do in more than 100 years."
"The power, which the Supreme Court gave temporarily in a July 8 order, puts at risk thousands of federal jobs across the country at agencies that collect taxes, provide health care to veterans, and help administer retirement benefits."
Supreme Court clears way for Trump to pursue mass federal layoffs | Reuters
Comment: "Tuesday's ruling stemmed from an executive order Trump issued in February ordering agencies to prepare for mass layoffs. At Trump's direction, the administration has come up with plans to reduce staff at the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, State, Treasury, Veterans Affairs and more than a dozen other agencies."
Comment: "The decision is the latest win for Trump's broader efforts to consolidate power in the executive branch. The Supreme Court has sided with Trump in several cases on an emergency basis since he returned to office in January, including clearing the way for implementation of some of his hardline immigration policies."
Veterans Affairs dramatically scales back layoffs to less than half of initial plan
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5388851-trump-administration-scales-back-cuts/
Comment: "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has abandoned plans to cut more than 80,000 employees, scaling back that number to just under 30,000 after a massive outcry from veterans, advocate groups and lawmakers and an exodus of individuals from the agency."
Government Executive: More than 60,000 feds are still waiting for their 2025 pay raise
Comment: "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision last spring to shutter a slew of advisory committees has imperiled already enacted pay raises for federal employees in blue collar jobs."
Comment: "As a result, the wage committee, whose members are required by federal regulations to consist of three agency officials and two union leaders, has been unable to meet. According to data provided by the Defense Civilian Personnel Advisory Service and the American Federation of Government Employees, the panel’s shuttering has stalled pay raises for blue collar feds in 87 of the 248 local wage areas, or roughly 60,000 workers."
Government Executive: All provisions targeting federal worker benefits, unions stricken from Senate reconciliation package
Comment: "The Senate parliamentarian previously ruled that most of the proposals aimed at cutting federal employees’ retirement benefits and civil service protections violated a rule to ensure reconciliation bills are budgetary in nature."
NBC News: Fired, rehired and fired again, some NOAA employees get letters demanding money
Comment: "Some former employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who were fired, rehired and fired again this spring say they have received debt notices from the federal government to pay it back for health care coverage. Those workers also say the notices are for coverage they never had."
Federal judge halts Trump’s order to end collective bargaining rights for many federal workers
Comment: "Judge James Donato of the US District Court in San Francisco granted the preliminary injunction requested by a coalition of unions whose members would be stripped of their collective bargaining rights under Trump’s executive order. However, Donato’s decision clashes with a May ruling by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, which lifted a different judge's block on Trump’s order pertaining to another union’s members."
Federal News Network: GOP civil service overhaul effort violates reconciliation rules
Comment: "The Senate parliamentarian on Sunday marked several provisions of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s portion of the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' as violations of reconciliation rules. One of those provisions sought to make all new federal employees choose between becoming an at-will employee and taking on a 5% increase in their contribution rate to the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), or keeping their civil service protections but taking on a 10% increase to their retirement contributions."
Firing federal employees to get easier under White House proposal : NPR
https://www.npr.org/2025/06/23/nx-s1-5431871/federal-employees-fired-hiring-trump-civil-service
Comment: "Five months into his second term, Trump is changing long standing norms around hiring and firing federal employees as he seeks to assert far greater control over those tasked with carrying out his agenda."
The Hill: Hundreds laid off at Voice of America
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5361098-trump-laid-off-voice-of-america/
Kari Lake follows through on Trump order, axes most of Voice of America’s staff
https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/20/media/kari-lake-voa-trump-voice-of-america-staff
Comment: " 'Without the networks, there will be an “empty space' in the global media, and 'Russia and Chinese propaganda will fill in,' Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva warned."
Government Executive: Senate reconciliation bill would give Trump ‘carte blanche’ to reorganize agencies, lay off feds
Comment: "The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee authorizes a $100 million war chest for OMB to reorganize government without congressional oversight."
AFGE | Senate GOP’s Big Retaliation Bill Makes Future Feds Pay 14.4% for Workplace Rights or Become At-Will
AFGE | Republican Members of House Appropriations Committee Greenlight White House’s Mass Firing of 80,000 VA Employees
Government Executive: Trump administration resumes layoffs, targeting National Archives staff
Government Executive: Senate strips most retirement cuts from reconciliation, but anti-civil service provisions remain
Comment: "But in their place is a more draconian iteration of the controversial plan to force future federal workers to choose between a more expensive defined benefit annuity and at-will employment, meaning they can be fired 'for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all.' Under the Senate plan, all new federal hires would pay more than double toward FERS compared to feds hired after 2014—9.4% of their basic pay—and those who elect to accrue civil service protections would pay an additional 5 percentage points on top of that, or 14.4% of basic pay."
Hundreds of laid-off CDC employees are being reinstated
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/hundreds-laid-cdc-employees-are-reinstated-rcna212561
Federal News Network: ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ gives new feds a choice: job security or lower pension contributions
Comment: "In addition, the budget reconciliation bill the House passed last month would require new federal employees to decide whether to waive their civil service protections, in exchange for lower payments toward their retirement benefits."
Opinion - The ‘big, beautiful bill’ would secretly dismantle the civil service
https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-big-beautiful-bill-secretly-173000880.html
Comment: " It proposes a 9.4 percent salary surcharge on newly hired federal employees who wish to retain their civil service protections, ostensibly to pay for their retirement benefits."
"Those who cannot afford this effective tax on the rights that federal employees currently enjoy would be forced into permanent at-will employment. Although they would then qualify for a lower retirement deduction of 4.4 percent, as purely at-will employees they could be fired at any time, for any reason — or for no reason at all — with no legal recourse."
Federal News Network: OPM seeks fast-track removal of federal employees for ‘suitability’ reasons in proposed rule
CNN: Trump returns to Supreme Court with emergency appeal over mass firings
Appeals panel leaves layoff injunction in place as Trump's RIF plans likely head to Supreme Court
Comment: "An appeals court has allowed a pause on all layoffs at most major federal agencies to remain in place, rejecting the Trump administration’s bid to block a lower court’s injunction and likely sending the matter to the Supreme Court for final adjudication."
Federal News Network: Governmentwide hiring plan calls on agencies to recruit ‘patriotic Americans’ into federal workforce
Comment: Who defines "patriotic Americans"? Will this involve a political litmus test?
Rubio outlines plans to drastically cut human rights offices in State
https://share.newsbreak.com/dc8bz3oo
Republicans are dodging fired federal staff: ‘They will not even look in our direction’ | Republicans | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/23/republicans-fired-federal-employees-congress
Federal News Network: ‘This isn’t how a RIF is supposed to work:’ HHS reinstates some laid-off employees, gives them extra work
Axios: Trump administration fights court order barring federal layoffs
https://www.axios.com/2025/05/23/judge-order-block-layoffs-trump-rif
Government Executive: Most major agencies are now indefinitely barred from issuing mass layoffs
Government Executive: Agencies are violating the law on administrative leave, and taxpayers are paying the price
Government Executive: House passes reconciliation bill that cuts federal employee retirement benefits
Federal employees get fired, rehired, and may be fired again
Reuters: Court gives go-ahead to Trump's plan to halt union bargaining for many federal workers
Comment: This is not the Supreme Court case.
CNN: Trump brings emergency appeal over mass firings to Supreme Court
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/16/politics/mass-firings-supreme-court-trump-appeal
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow mass layoffs of federal workers - POLITICO
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/16/donald-trump-reductions-in-force-supreme-court-00355206
Government Executive: The Trump administration is pausing RIFs but probationary firings are resuming
Federal News Network: Democratic lawmakers condemn looming reclassification of career civil servants
Federal News Network: In reversal, OSC now says agencies can fire probationary feds for almost any reason
The Guardian: US justice department asks civil rights division attorneys to stay after mass exits
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/14/justice-department-civil-rights-attorneys-trump
Government Executive: CDC to cut one employee for each it is recalling from layoffs
https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/05/CDC-cut-one-employee-each-it-recalling-layoffs/405336/
Trump admin cancels layoffs for some health workers ahead of Kennedy hearing - POLITICO
Comment: "The move reinstates some employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health — which lost more than 90 percent of its workforce."
Trump administration tells court publicly releasing its mass layoff plans would hurt recruiting and retention - Government Executive
Comment: Could the real reason for the administration's secrecy be an attempt to avoid media scrutiny until the layoffs occur?
NPR: Federal employee unions fight for survival as Trump tries to eviscerate them
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/11/nx-s1-5381156/trump-federal-workers-labor-union-collective-bargaining
Trump isn’t the only one targeting federal employees. House Republicans are pushing cuts to pension benefits | CNN Politics
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/10/politics/federal-employee-pension-benefits-republicans
Government Executive: State Dept. cuts poised to be more severe than previously outlined with 3,400 employees on the chopping block
National Park Service Targeted for 1,500 Layoffs And Budget Cuts From Trump Administration
Government Executive: Thousands of layoffs to hit Interior, National Parks imminently
The Record from Recorded Future News: NSA to cut up to 2,0000 civilian roles as part of intel community downsizing
https://therecord.media/nsa-to-cut-up-to-2000-roles-downsizing
The Hill: More than 100 fired from National Renewable Energy Lab
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5286305-national-renewable-energy-lab-employees-fired/
Government Executive: Lawmakers raise bipartisan concerns over VA RIFs as secretary says he may alter plans
Government Executive: Axed federal employees sit on Capitol steps urging lawmakers to protect public services they used to provide
AL.com: Where are Alabama’s federal workers? These 5 counties have the highest share
Comment: As a percentage of the overall county population, Coffee County is #1 and Dale County is #3, indicating the importance of Fort Novosel and other federal activities. According to the Washington Post, the Ozark metro area has the highest percentage in the state and is the the 8th highest percentage in the country.
NPR: After paying people to leave, one federal agency is scrambling to fill positions
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/03/nx-s1-5384961/usda-deferred-resignation-federal-workers-aphis
Government Executive: Proposed retirement cuts cast renewed pall over deferred resignations
Comment: "Federal workers who accepted President Trump and Elon Musk’s so-called ‘fork in the road’ fear Republicans have 'pulled the rug out from under' their retirement plans"
Government Executive: Initial layoffs at Transportation Department expected in late May
Government Executive: Connolly demands rescission of regulations reviving Schedule F
Comment: "The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee warned that politicization of the federal workforce will lead to more instances of 'incompetence' in government."
Government Executive: Federal employees removed by Trump would have easier pathway back to government service under Democratic bill
For News Articles links from before May 1st, 2025, please go to:
https://sites.google.com/view/dem2oldnews/home/old2-war-on-the-federal-workforce
There you will find a continuation of the news links & comments from the period prior to May 1, 2025 The article history can be viewed as follows:
www.dalecodemocrats.com (latest)
site.google.com/view/dem3oldnews/home (May 1, 2025 - October 31, 2025)
sites.google.com/view/dem2oldnews/home/ (Topic Initialization - April 30, 2025)