#federal-employees

#federal-employees

It's already been a chaotic year, said Micah Niemeier-Walsh, who works at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh). She was initially fired along with most employees at the agency, but reinstated in May after a court intervened to block most of the firings. For many agencies, like the one that I am employed by, we've been effectively shut down for many months already because of the reductions in force that have already happened, and all of the attacks that we've been seeing on the federal workforce, said Niemeier-Walsh, who is also vice-president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3840. It's become out of control, and I really hope that this shutdown is a wake-up call of how bad things have gotten.

The AFGE is the largest federal-employees union, representing approximately 820,000 workers across many agencies. This is not the first time the AFGE has called for an end to the government shutdown, but it is the first time it has backed the approved GOP avenue for getting out of the mess: a "clean CR," or a simple extension of current spending levels until more permanent appropriations measures can be worked out.

Elected officials expressed strong concern regarding the deplorable office conditions faced by IRS employees, citing overcrowded spaces, insufficient supplies, and safety hazards from exposed wires.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development will relocate 2,700 workers to the NSF's office in Alexandria, driven by budget cuts and efficiency.

The $45 million parade, celebrating the 250th birthday of the armed forces, has prompted the Trump administration to allow federal employees to work from home.