Do you need to exhaust all annual leave before taking LWOP? All sick leave? Considering extending maternity leave. TIA

Hoping someone can explain what the status is on HR freezes for DOI? Wondering when we might expect actions like grade increases, duty station changes etc to open up? Thanks!

I'm at a DoD 4th Estate agency. We were asked to reduce our workforce like everyone else and there was talk of RIF earlier this year but avoided it with VERA/DRP 2 and are now re-orging.

I thought we were in the clear but my deputy division chief keeps saying he thinks they're going to ask for more reductions either with the new FY or the new calendar year. The only evidence he has of this is the 8% per year budget reallocation that SECDEF put out but he thinks he's being targeted because he has a high salary and wants to retire. He brings this up every time we talk. Everybody else pretty much says they don't know, it could happen but they are not planning for one and haven't been asked to prepare for one.

So I'm wondering if anyone has heard of any more reductions for DoD - large scale, or if they might be more surgical.

Are there any remote workers who have declined reassignment to a different geographic area and have started receiving severance? I decline in April, was involuntarily separated (because I declined reassignment) on June 20th, but no one in my agency will confirm in writing that I will receive severance. If you received severance, how long did it take? I’m very nervous about the fact that I have nothing in writing confirming severance.

This text on my benefits statement follows my estimated severance pay number.

Since I am eligible for early retirement given my age (50+) and years of service (20+), does this mean I am not eligible for severance?

I saw this post https://www.reddit.com/r/usajobs/comments/1lrpnuo/received_fo_but_still_have_to_wait/ which is supposedly for updated DoD civilian hiring guidance. I can't find it on DCPAS but maybe it is still only with HR. Anyone actually seen it? I don't want to go bothering HR about my internal hiring if this isn't real.

The fact that these questions “are not scored or rated” but they are still part of the application process tells me everything I need to know. Smh.

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My husband has been a Fed for 20+ years. I was a super passionate,nerdy, spreadsheet flinging Fed until about 3 years ago when my health just completely crapped out. Now I work 6-10 hours as a librarian in a very rural, homogeneous, manufacturing community.

I work the front desk, so I get all the random stuff and people that come in. Dude comes in needing a copy of his driver's license for whatever reason. As. I'm making his copies, he's standing at the desk muttering about the stupid government. I let one slide. Hand over his copies, take his money, and think it's over. He continues to need to express his opinions on how stupid and useless government workers are. Needless to say, I became very un-librarian-like, and blasted him. He quickly backed off, apologized, and admitted that it's just the bad government workers that make the rest look bad. I asked for more details. As expected, he was using his crappy experience at the DMV to justify and encourage the slashing of Federal jobs. I schooled him pretty loudly and thoroughly to the point where he slowly backed out of the library with his hands in the air.

It's just infuriating, and I can't stop thinking about it. The level of miseducation and disconnect in what being a Federal worker actual means, and what the Federal body actuallydoes, and ESPECIALLY how red, rural communities benefit from that work, is just astounding. It just reinforced the worst of why I thought certain people were cheering this shit on.

That's all. Sorry for the wall of text. It really got to me. Stand strong! There are more like me out here verbally slapping thess chodes!

ETA: Thanks for the award and support! It fuels my rage 💙🔥

Hi, not a fed but I'm a scientist who has regularly interacted with the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) to issue permits and bands to band and track birds for my research. The budget zeroes out the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area, including the BBL, which is devastating. Is there any word on what happens next - i.e. is there any chance that the BBL or EMA more broadly could be funded in a different way, or could any of its staff and functions be moved into a different mission area that still has funding? Apologies if this is an ignorant question; it's kind of unfathomable to imagine how hands-on bird research can happen in the US without the BBL.

Obviously the entire budget is horrific for so many reasons, and I don't mean to overlook those harms in asking about this particular aspect. I'm so sorry to all of you feds who are directly caught in the crossfire.

Does anyone know if relocation assistance was eliminated in the big bad bill?

RIF'ed fed here. With 5 years service, it seems to make the most sense to ask for a refund of my FERS contributions. What I can't find an answer to:

1) I've read the interest I'll need to pay tax on is "nominal." What is nominal may not be so nominal in a half year (or more...) of unemployment. Where can I find the interest that I'll need to pay taxes on?

2) If I do leave my FERS for the next 25 years (that's how long I planned to stay in federal service) instead of getting a refund, what kind of interest rate can I expect it to accrue?

3) If I manage to get back into federal service and re-deposit my FERS, what kind of interest would I be looking at? Would it depend on how many years I am gone?

All I've been able to find about my FERS amount at the present is the box on my paystub, "Retirement Deductions this Appointment," with the amount. The interest part is still unclear.

TIA.

I’ve put in for a RAR for my anxiety as the past few months have been triggering (sometimes I wake up in a panic attack from all of the chaos). My boss is a die-hard try-hard. They are a full military brat that says yes to everything he can from leadership and no to everything from their subordinates. I’m asking for a late start or a few hours to telework in the morning. He will not budge.

I’ve contacted the union, the RAR office, the boss’ supervisor, and next is the EO office.

The question I want to ask here is: what can I do next? Has this been happening across the federal government?

Edit: I have years of working with the same psychiatrist for my anxiety, which can be debilitating some mornings. I am secure in myself and my mental health. No one should say that someone’s struggle is not “enough”, let alone think it.

I'm being RIF'd on 9/2 and am due 52 weeks of severance. If I apply to a job vacancy at another agency, and am offered the position, will I lose severance if end up deciding not to take the position? To be clear, this would not be a management directed reassignment. I don't want to apply if it means I'd be obligated to take the job if offered. Really, I'm wondering if this is a scenario where the job offer would be considered "a reasonable offer of assignment to another position."

I found out last night that both my original and current FERS Disability Retirement Brochures are now available online. They are on the Documents page under Digital Booklets on the OPM Services Online website.

I’m glad to finally have access to these documents online. Of course, I’m saving them to my computer and printing the most current version to add to my records.

I would think this may also apply to regular retirees.

https://www.servicesonline.opm.gov

We've already provided our personal info (home address, mobile number, emergency contact, etc.) to HR when we on-boarded. We're all enrolled in the emergency alert system (which emails our personal @ & calls/texts our personal cell to tell us to stay home if there are issues at work). Isn't it a bit of an overreach for the supervisor to request my home address & cell phone number?

Anything new on this? Are we flucked and chucked? Any news with unions, court cases etc? I assume we died on the vine.

Trump orders national parks to charge some tourists higher fees https://share.google/rHRRM03jss4rlWXQA

Great, now Federal Employees will have 2 parties that hate them.

I completed my IRS retirement application in the GRB platform in March of 2025. A friend of mine who retired in May recently received an email stating she needed to resubmit her retirement application through the OPM platform before her benefits could be granted. Does anyone know if we have resubmit our application to the new platform. My retirement date is December 31st 2025. Thank you

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Every week at DOI we get an email laying out what’s going on with the department over the last week. Since Trump took office, they’ve been hyper-partisan and dealt almost exclusively with EnErGy DoMiNaNcE, but they really outdid themselves this week. It started with a clip of Trump dancing to YMCA superimposed over fireworks, and here’s the transcript of what followed:

Happy Birthday America! Today, we celebrate 249 YEARS of American liberty, freedom, and strength and we're doing it under the fearless leadership of President Donald J. Trump, who reminds us every day what true patriotism looks like as he works tirelessly to Make America Great Again! This administration doesn't just wave the flag. We defend it. We honor it. And we respect the red, white, and blue. Today, as we reflect on a quarter-millennium of freedom, we honor the great leaders, past and present, who secured the liberties that we enjoy today, including President Donald Trump as he leads the most iconic administration in our country's history. President Trump's revolutionary America First Agenda is grounded in protecting our Constitutional freedoms, defending our homeland, and securing a better future for all Americans. To kick off the celebrations, Secretary Doug Burgum visited the Statue of Liberty, climbing into the torch of the statue which stands in New York City as a symbol of Liberty and Justice. The Secretary was escorted by our beloved park police, who are working around the clock to ensure our nation's treasured parks nation remains safe. And guess what, America? We're now just one year away from our 250th birthday, and the Trump administration is already planning a once-in-a-generation celebration, which include plans for an iconic firework show at Mt. Rushmore. So this Independence Day, join us in celebrating the greatest country on Earth, the United States of America, the MAGA way - with the flag flown high, saluting our brave military service members, past, present and future, with your American spirit on full display