Tracking changes to the federal workplace

Small changes in personnel policies can create seismic shifts in how our government operates — but these internal policies can be hard to find. This Archive provides a catalog of recent changes to policies and practices affecting the federal civil service, searchable by agency, employee category, and theme.

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135 Matching Records

Improving Performance, Accountability & Responsiveness in the Civil Service

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a final rule implementing EO 14,171 (Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce) which created a new category of federal employee: Schedule Policy/Career (P/C). In general, civil servants are classified into...

Guidance on Reinvigorating Merit-Based Hiring Through Candidate Ranking (Rule of Many)

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued this guidance on its implementation of "the Rule of Many" hiring process, which replaced "the Rule of Three." This change was made through OPM's issuance of a final regulation in September 2025 titled...

2025 Guide to Telework & Remote Work in the Federal Government

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued this guide to telework and remote work, as part of implementing President Trump's January 2025 Presidential Memorandum titled "Return to In-Person Work." The guide sets full-time in-person work as the baseline expectation for...

Streamlining Probationary & Trial Period Appeals

On December 30, 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a proposed regulation regarding the appeal rights of terminated probationary employees. The regulation would strip terminated probationary employees of the right to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board...

Hatch Act Advisory Opinion Regarding Jurisdiction Over Former Employees

On December 22, 2025, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) issued an advisory rescinding an advisory it had issued earlier in the year. OSC had announced in an April 25, 2025 policy issuance that it would not file any Hatch...

Guidance Regarding Final Regulations on Recruitment & Relocation Incentives

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued guidance on its new regulation regarding limits on incentive payments made to prospective or current employees for recruitment or retention purposes. Those payments are sometimes authorized when the agency determines the position is...

Recruitment & Relocation Incentive Waivers

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a final regulation that allows agencies to waive the limits on relocation and recruitment incentive payments. A relocation or recruitment incentive is an extra payment made by the government to a current or...

Creating “Federal HR 2.0” by Consolidating Core Human Capital Management Across the Federal Government

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Kupor issued a memorandum announcing the consolidation of human resources services IT platforms "with the goal of government-wide adoption by FY 2028." The...

New Government-wide Supervisory Training

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released new supervisory training and announced that all federal supervisors below the level of the Senior Executive Service must complete the training by February 9, 2025. Thereafter, all new supervisors would be required to...

GSA, State, & SBA Move Forward with RIFs

According to news media reports, at least three agencies — the General Services Administration, the Department of State, and the Small Business Administration — moved forward with reductions in force (RIFs). They did so despite a provision in the continuing...

Guidance on Senior Executive Service Reassignments

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memorandum encouraging agencies to reassign members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) to new positions from time to time. The memorandum further stated that "agencies are encouraged to review their current executive...

Sunsetting the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Academic Alliance

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced the termination of the Federal Academic Alliance, which was "[e]stablished to broaden access to post-secondary learning opportunities" and which "enabled non-exclusive, voluntary agreements between accredited academic institutions and the Federal Government, providing tuition...

OPM Leadership Announces DOGE No Longer Exists

AP News cited Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Kupor and unnamed administration personnel as confirming that as of at least November 24, 2025, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) no longer existed. Kupor indicated that OPM had...

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Humility Pledge

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a new policy of requiring staff to read what it dubbed a "Humility Pledge" to regulated entities at the start of each regulatory "supervision" review. The pledge was denounced by the employee union.

Personal Liability for Managers & Supervisors Conducting Personnel Management Functions

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memorandum to reassure supervisory officials that, when acting in the scope of their official responsibilities in taking disciplinary action against employees, they are unlikely to be a defendant in an employee's lawsuit...

Government-wide Studies on Directives to End Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility Programs, & Return to In-Person Work

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memorandum announcing that it would be conducting studies on "agency efforts to 1) implement the requirements to end diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEI and DEIA) programs, and 2) have employees return...

New Senior Executive Service, Senior Professional, GS-15 & GS-14 Development Programs

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) launched a new 80-hour training program for GS-14 and GS-15 level employees to prepare for potential entry into the Senior Executive Service (SES). Language in the description of the course seemed to suggest an...

Reduction in Force Actions Affected by Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memorandum on November 13, 2025, regarding the prohibition on reduction in force (RIF) activities under the continuing resolution for 2026 appropriations through January 30, 2026. It stated: "Under section 120 of the...

Guidance on EO 14,356: Ensuring Continued Accountability in Federal Hiring

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued this memorandum jointly to implement Executive Order 14,356 (EO). The memorandum reiterated that each agency must establish a Strategic Hiring Committee to approve the creation...