FedFam

10/12/2026

Hey Fam!! You may have seen that the president hinted last week at "big surprises" coming from OMB in the next few weeks, without saying what they are. We’ve gotten a lot of messages about it, and we do not know what was meant either, and we are not going to guess.

What we do know is what is already on the calendar: the COLA on Wednesday, Open Season on November 9, and the December 11 funding deadline.

So a practical question instead. What is one thing you are doing right now so that whatever comes next, you are ready? Updating your eOPF, building your emergency fund, writing down your accomplishments, checking your beneficiary forms, something else?

10/12/2026

☀️ Good morning Fam!! October 12, 2026. 60 days until the December 11 funding deadline. 28 days until Open Season.

Happy holiday to everyone who has the day off, and thank you to everyone working it. The Washington Post's opinion section is looking this morning at the former HUD headquarters as an example of a problem common to federal buildings, and it is a story this community knows well.

📍 The building is the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building in Southwest D.C., HUD's home since 1968. It is a curved Brutalist design by architect Marcel Breuer, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with about 1.1 million square feet of space. HUD Secretary Scott Turner has called it "the ugliest building in D.C."

📍 The case for leaving it. HUD and GSA have pointed to mold, asbestos, leaks, and aging infrastructure, and say the building needs roughly $500 million in deferred maintenance and costs about $56 million a year to operate. A 2023 GAO study found occupancy sometimes dipped as low as 9 percent, and GSA said it was running at about half capacity even after the return-to-office order. HUD put it on an accelerated sale list in April 2025 and has since moved most of its staff to the former National Science Foundation building in Alexandria.

📍 The case against how it was done. Local businesses near L'Enfant Plaza sued in June, and the D.C. Attorney General sued in July, arguing the 1790 law setting the seat of government requires HUD to keep its headquarters in the District. By then more than 80 percent of HUD's employees had already moved. The historic listing also complicates any sale, since the building cannot simply be torn down. And the move displaced about 1,800 NSF employees from their own building.

📍 Here is why the Weaver story is bigger than one building. In June we covered reporting that deferred maintenance across federal buildings now runs as high as $50 billion and is on track to exceed the value of the government's entire real estate portfolio. GSA told Congress in September that 103 facilities need immediate repairs, some of them waiting since fiscal 2016, because any project over $3.96 million needs individual congressional approval that averages more than a year. Buildings get patched instead of fixed, costs climb, and eventually the answer becomes walking away.

📍 Both things can be true at once. Plenty of HUD employees spent years working with leaks and mold, and a building that sat mostly empty is hard to defend. It is also fair to ask how a landmark headquarters got to the point of costing half a billion dollars to repair, and whether the same pattern is playing out in the building you work in right now.

📍 If your building has health or safety problems, document them, report them to your facilities office and union, and file with OSHA if nothing happens. You have a right to a safe workplace no matter how old the building is.

💙

🔗 Washington Post, "Former HUD headquarters captures a common problem with federal buildings," October 12, 2026

10/11/2026

🌙 Good evening Fam. October 11, 2026. Sunday Night.

That familiar Sunday feeling is probably settling in about now, the one where the weekend starts slipping and the week starts leaning on you. This one has at least one thing worth looking forward to, since the 2027 COLA lands Wednesday morning and our retirees finally get their number. Everything else on the list can wait until it actually arrives. Tonight only has to hold tonight, so put the phone down a little early, say goodnight to the people in your house, and let tomorrow be tomorrow's problem. You have handled every Monday so far, and you will handle this one too.

See you in the morning, Fam. 💙

10/11/2026

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info, anonymous posting, and 8 moderators to make sure we maintain the safest of spaces. Link in comments. ❤️

10/11/2026

☀️ Good morning Fam!! October 11, 2026. 61 days until the December 11 funding deadline. 29 days until Open Season.

A Sunday read from someone directly in the fight. Justin Chen, who leads the AFGE council representing about 8,000 EPA employees, wrote a piece in The Hill about why his union is suing the agency, and one part of his story deserves attention regardless of where you sit.

📍 The background. In August 2025, EPA ended its union contract in a single day under the executive order that excluded much of the government from collective bargaining on national security grounds. Chen says that took away union representation in discipline, independent grievance and arbitration rights, and what he calls first-of-its-kind protections for employees who raise concerns about scientific misconduct or political interference. Last month AFGE Council 238 sued EPA and Administrator Lee Zeldin to get the contract back.

📍 The part worth reading twice is the sequence. In June 2025, hundreds of EPA employees signed a public declaration of dissent raising concerns about political interference in science-based decisions. According to Chen, the agency did not discipline them right away. It ended the contract first, and only after employees had lost union representation did it discipline the signers. He says 139 people were disciplined, 20 fired and 119 suspended without pay, and that 110 of them had been covered by the contract.

📍 You may remember part of this. Back in July we covered seven of those fired employees, all probationary, who sued on First Amendment grounds after EPA's own ethics office said signing the letter on their own time raised no ethics concern. Without the contract or MSPB appeal rights, a lawsuit was the only door left.

📍 Chen's core argument is about independence. His members are scientists, engineers, inspectors, chemists, and lab techs whose work on drinking water, air quality, and post-wildfire contamination depends on following the evidence. In his words, "Federal employees do not work for a president, a political party or an ideology. We work for America."

📍 EPA's side, stated fairly. The administration has said the contract terminations were authorized by the president's national security order, and EPA has previously said it has zero tolerance for employees who undermine the administration's agenda. When an arbitrator ruled last month that EPA violated a separate union contract in its RIF, the agency's public response was that it "is not bound by the arbitrator's decision."

📍 Whatever you think of unions, the question in this one is simple and it applies to every agency: if you raise a concern through the right channels, does the protection you had the day you spoke still exist the day they decide what to do about it?

Enjoy your Sunday, Fam. 💙

🔗 thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/labor/6139141-epa-union-contract-lawsuit/

10/10/2026

Paid Partnership with FedChoice Federal Credit Union - The real ones who supported us during the shutdown. www.fedchoice.org

Fam, we talk a lot here about protecting what we've earned. Pay freezes, rising costs, uncertainty about what's next. A lot of us are doing more with the same paycheck.

That's why we're glad to partner with FedChoice Federal Credit Union. They were built for federal employees, and their focus is helping that paycheck go further through flexible, low-rate loans and cash back or high-yield checking options.

Your career is about service. Your finances should be about progress. 💙

All FedChoice Financial Service Centers and the Member Care Center will be closed Monday, October 12th in observance of Indigenous Peoples' Day and Columbus Day. We encourage members to check their accounts via eBanking. Click here for Fee-Free ATMs.

10/10/2026

☀️ Good morning Fam!! October 10, 2026. 62 days until the December 11 funding deadline. 30 days until Open Season. Weekend roundup.

One unambiguously good number this week, one we are all waiting on, and a few that should worry anyone thinking about the future of this workforce. Here is your week.

📍 The retirement backlog dropped below 10,000. OPM's pending caseload fell under 10,000 in September for the first time in at least 14 years. Back in February it hit an all-time high above 65,000. FedSmith credits the fully digital process, a slowdown in new filings after last year's surge, and better staffing in Retirement Services. If you are retiring soon, file digitally, keep a clean package, and plan for interim pay anyway, but the odds are better than they have been in a long time.
🔗 FedSmith — October 4, 2026

📍 The 2027 COLA lands Wednesday morning. BLS releases September inflation data at 8:30 a.m. on October 14, and Social Security is expected to announce the official COLA right after. Estimates cluster around 3.5 to 3.6 percent for CSRS retirees and Social Security, which would mean roughly 2.5 percent for eligible FERS annuitants. Last year a shutdown pushed the announcement to October 24. This year nothing is in the way.
🔗 FedSmith / 24/7 Wall St. / NBC Chicago — October 1-9, 2026

📍 Young federal workers are disappearing faster than anyone else. Employees under 30 fell from 89,788 to 66,686 between May 2024 and May 2026, a drop of 25.7 percent, compared with 14.5 percent for the workforce overall. Workers 30 to 54 fell 12.3 percent and those 55 and up fell 16.5 percent. Montana and Wyoming were the only states that added any under-30 federal employees. With so many experienced people also leaving, that is a pipeline problem that does not fix itself in a year or two.
🔗 Federal Hiring Data / OPM — October 7, 2026

📍 The courts are now split on union contracts. A Connecticut judge ordered the Bureau of Prisons to restore its AFGE contracts, finding the termination was likely "entirely pretextual," and the union is now asking that prison leaders be held in contempt after at least one facility refused to comply. Meanwhile, a First Circuit decision appears to have cleared the way for VA to let its AFGE contract expire, a sharp turn from the injunctions that had protected it all year. Patchwork rulings like this are usually how cases end up at the Supreme Court.
🔗 FEDweek / Government Executive — October 6-8, 2026

📍 SSA is ending compressed schedules on November 16. No more 4/10s or 5/4/9s, and everyone moves to a standard five-day week. The agency says the change protects service to the public. AFGE filed a national grievance the same day, calling it an illegal repudiation of contract terms that have been in place for decades. If your compressed schedule is part of a reasonable accommodation, get that in writing now.
🔗 Federal News Network / Government Executive — October 6-7, 2026

📍 A new telework bill would put a clock on agencies. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam's Federal Telework Protection Act would standardize the request process, require supervisors to weigh things like medical needs, caregiving, and commute time, and automatically grant a request if no decision comes within 90 days. It would also let employees appeal a denial. It is unlikely to move before the election, but the 90-day idea is worth watching.
🔗 Federal News Network / FedSmith — October 7-8, 2026

📍 Health premiums are up 10.9 percent on average for 2027, the third straight year of double digits. The government's share rises 8.6 percent, so your share is climbing faster than theirs. PSHB enrollees will see 8.2 percent. Open Season runs November 9 through December 14, and every advocacy group is saying the same thing: shop, do not auto-renew.
🔗 Government Executive / FEDweek — October 2, 2026

📍 And if you missed it Friday, the new RIF rules are fully in effect. Ratings now convert to points that decide who stays, bump and retreat are gone, and appeals go to OPM within 30 days with no grievance option. Pull your last three appraisals and fix anything wrong now, before a notice ever shows up.
🔗 FEDweek — October 8, 2026

A mixed week. We read all of it so you do not have to.

💙

10/09/2026

🌙 Good evening Fam. Friday, October 9, 2026. Still Looking.

A lot of people who left government last year have landed somewhere. Some have not, and a job fair in Alexandria this week was a reminder of who is still out there looking.

📍 Rep. Don Beyer co-hosted the fair Thursday at Northern Virginia Community College with the city of Alexandria, Arlington County, and a group of nonprofits and local agencies. His read was honest: "A lot of people have landed," but "there's sadly been a persistent subset that has been very difficult to find a job that matches their skill set." He pointed to former Foreign Service officers and USAID staff whose expertise, things like fighting malaria or feeding children in sub-Saharan Africa, does not have an obvious match in the Washington job market.

📍 David Remick, who runs the Alexandria/Arlington Regional Workforce Council, said one of the hard parts is how varied the old jobs were. Some people can rebrand their experience and move into something new. Others cannot. And he named something a lot of you will recognize: "There was sort of a scarlet letter on some of these former feds, they felt, because they were in this situation. And it shouldn't be that way. They're still valuable people that bring a lot to the economy."

📍 One small piece of good news from the room. Two federal agencies were there recruiting, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and FEMA, which lost 17 percent of its staff in fiscal 2025 and has walked back plans to cut its workforce in half.

📍 If you are still searching, here are the resources mentioned in the reporting. Google's Career Dreamer, an AI tool that helps map your skills to other kinds of work. FedsForward, built to help former civil servants translate their experience for the private sector. And Former Gov and wellfed, which host regular meetups for former feds. Remick noted that a lot of people feel isolated without an office to go to every day, and that these ad hoc groups have filled some of that gap. Our state groups are another place to find people in your area who are going through the same thing.

📍 Beyer has also introduced two bills aimed at bringing people back. H.R. 3093 would give a federal hiring preference to people involuntarily removed from the civil service between January 1, 2025 and the end of this year. H.R. 9730 would let former Foreign Service officers pushed out during this administration rejoin without retaking the Foreign Service Officer Test. Neither has moved yet. Beyer argues they are not partisan bills, and he is probably right that the idea of rehiring experienced people should not be.

📍 If you landed, consider reaching back. Forward a posting, offer to look over a resume, or just check in with someone from your old office. A lot of people found their next job through someone who remembered them.

Have a good weekend, Fam. 💙

🔗 govexec.com/workforce/2026/10/some-former-federal-employees-are-still-struggling-find-right-fit/416513/

10/09/2026

59 min for Columbus Day?

10/09/2026

We are 63 days out from a potential shutdown. What say you. Yea or Nay?