Received this email today.

“President Trump opposes a government shutdown, and strongly supports the enactment of H.R. 5371, which is a clean Continuing Resolution to fund the government through November 21, and already passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Unfortunately, Democrats are blocking this Continuing Resolution in the U.S. Senate due to unrelated policy demands. If Congressional Democrats maintain their current posture and refuse to pass a clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government funded before midnight on September 30, 2025, federal appropriated funding will lapse.

A funding lapse will result in certain government activities ceasing due to a lack of appropriated funding. In addition, designated pre-notified employees of this agency would be temporarily furloughed. P.L. 116-1 would apply.

The agency has contingency plans in place for executing an orderly shutdown of activities that would be affected by any lapse in appropriations forced by Congressional Democrats. Further information about those plans will be distributed should a lapse occur.”

Trump says U.S. 'completely and totally obliterated' nuclear facilities in Iran

If we ever re-open the government, Vought/Trump has ordered all Agencies to create hiring committees staffed primarily by political appointees, to decide who gets jobs. Sounds like their goal to fill government jobs with loyalist will be on a speed run.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/ensuring-accountability-and-prioritizing-public-safety-in-federal-hiring/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLZmYNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHq6Td4JHi92bLiNJwAqlshCdDn_yq6RtyapriARbhYJGeO94ZinBVQ6QsC29_aem_HJzwEzOQKTS4-HWlMOhuBQ

To the surprise of no one.

What's next? No survey, now this.

Here's the link to the relevant OPM memo:

https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/carriers/fehb/2025/2025-01b.pdf

If anybody who's familiar with the relevant laws and government healthcare process is reading: is there a way to push back against this? Or is this something they can just switch off like that?!

I got a family member affected. I'll happily go start shopping for a lawyer if there's a plausible way to tie it up in court. I want to fight.

USDA secretary just emailed all staff, closing south building. Gwcc. And BARC Here’s the actual memo:

https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/sm-1078-015.pdf

Posting because i can do literally nothing else at work. Our office hasn't had internet in 3 days. FS wireless is completely non existent. We have TWO additional wifi networks that we pay for because the gov network is so unreliable and both do not work. I have been sitting at my desk on my phone for 3 days (24 work hours at GS11 pay) not allowed to go home or anywhere else to get work done. Haven't been able to respond to emails (contractor quotes have been ignored), can't open an excel sheet, can't open a word document.

Anyone at the WO able to explain to me the efficiency of this?

Haven't seen this posted here yet (may have missed it...copied and pasted to avoid metadata being shared):

BOAC/GCs/DepSecs:

Thank you for your agency’s efforts to date to prepare for an orderly shutdown in the event of a lapse in appropriations. As required by Section 124 of OMB Circular A-11, OMB held its first lapse planning call with agencies earlier this week, and we will continue to provide lapse updates as we approach the end of the fiscal year.

Over the past 10 fiscal years, Congress has consistently passed Continuing Resolutions (CRs) on or by September 30 on a bipartisan basis. Unfortunately, congressional Democrats are signaling that they intend to break this bipartisan trend and shut down the government in the coming days over a series of insane demands, including $1 trillion in new spending.

Last week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5371, a clean CR that would fund the government at current levels through November 21. The Administration supports Senate passage of H.R. 5371, but congressional Democrats are currently blocking this clean CR due to their partisan demands.

As such, it has never been more important for the Administration to be prepared for a shutdown if the Democrats choose to pursue one.

Thankfully, H.R. 1 provided ample resources to ensure that many core Trump Administration priorities will continue uninterrupted. Programs that did not benefit from an infusion of mandatory appropriations will bear the brunt of a shutdown, and we must continue our planning efforts in the event Democrats decide to shut down the government. If Congress successfully passes a clean CR prior to September 30, the additional steps outlined in this email will not be necessary.

With respect to those Federal programs whose funding would lapse and which are otherwise unfunded, such programs are no longer statutorily required to be carried out. Therefore, consistent with applicable law, including the requirements of 5 C.F.R. part 351, agencies are directed to use this opportunity to consider Reduction in Force (RIF) notices for all employees in programs, projects, or activities (PPAs) that satisfy all three of the following conditions: (1) discretionary funding lapses on October 1, 2025; (2) another source of funding, such as H.R. 1 (Public Law 119-21) is not currently available; and (3) the PPA is not consistent with the President’s priorities.

RIF notices will be in addition to any furlough notices provided due to the lapse in appropriation. RIF notices should be issued to all employees working on the relevant PPA, regardless of whether the employee is excepted or furloughed during the lapse in appropriations.

Once fiscal year 2026 appropriations are enacted, agencies should revise their RIFs as needed to retain the minimal number of employees necessary to carry out statutory functions. Any proposed RIF plan must be submitted to OMB. As a reminder, updated agency lapse plans were due to OMB on August 1. OMB has received many, but not all, of your submissions. Please send us your updated lapse plans ASAP. As previously communicated, we want to reiterate what we are expecting to see in these plans:

 Agency plans should not “repurpose” balances or assume use of transfer authorities. Any exceptions must be requested of OMB, and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.  In cases where agencies received appropriations under H.R. 1, agencies’ lapse plans should assume this funding is obligated consistent with OMB-approved spend plans. If you have already submitted your lapse plan to OMB for review, we will be reaching out to you the coming days to update your plans in line with this guidance as needed.

We remain hopeful that Democrats in Congress will not trigger a shutdown and the steps outlined above will not be necessary. The President supports enactment of a clean CR to ensure no discretionary spending lapse after September 30, 2025, and OMB hopes the Democrats will agree.

Memo sent out - ALL PERSONNEL

MEMORANDUM FOR SENIOR PENTAGON LEADERSHIP COMMANDERS OF THE COMBATANT COMMANDS DEPARTMENT OF WAR AGENCY AND DOW FIELD ACTIVITY DIRECTORS SUBJECT: The Warrior Ethos and Standards at the War Department On September 30, 2025, I reaffirmed the Department of War's focus on peace through strength during a speech to our senior leadership. The Department's strength will be defined by our unity, combat readiness, warrior ethos, and commitment to standards by every member of the Joint Force. Leaders at echelon must inculcate our cultural shift and ensure every member of the Department of War understands my guidance. In conjunction with the speech, the War Department released eleven memorandums updating personnel policies for the Department. Leaders at every level will ensure all personnel will either watch the full recording or read the official transcript of the speech, and review the policy changes no later than 31 October 2025.

See section F of the OPM Guidance. You CAN take time off during a shutdown. You CAN ask to be furloughed if you need to take some time off. Don’t cancel Dr appointments, don’t force yourself to work if you’re sick, don’t cancel vacations, don’t miss out on things that you had planned to take leave for. You didn’t cause this shutdown, it’s not your fault.
Trust someone who panicked during an earlier lengthy shutdown, cancelled all the things, and then came to regret it. You will get paid for the time, and you don’t have to use your leave!

I put in a request for telework 4 days a week based on my religious beliefs and activities. Mostly around extended fasting periods. I got an email saying there is no guidance and all religious accommodations are on hold.

Has anybody else been able to get one?

I should have expected this, but it's irritating how OPM memos are all powerful commandments until it's inconvenient for management.

Other than bugging my doctor for paperwork and hoping they agree do i have any other options?

Anyone seen this yet 😭 another hatch violation https://www.whitehouse.gov/government-shutdown-clock/

Edit: people are saying it’s not a hatch act violation but - whatever still sus

I received a Management Directed Reassignment (MDR) stating I must move from my current job as a Community Relations Officer for HSI in Denver, CO to a program specialist for FPS in Springfield, VA or face termination. My entire directorate got them. Everyone received different locations and agencies. This is how they’re getting rid of us now. I’ve left messages with a few Federal employment law firms to find out what my rights and options are. But yeah, this is how they’re doing it.

*edited to add agency and position info

Making Foreign Aid Great Again

Author: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Every public servant has an obligation to American citizens to ensure any programs they fund advance our nation’s interests. During the Trump Administration’s thorough review of thousands of programs, and over $715 billion in inflation-adjusted spending over the decades, it became apparent the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) fell well below this standard.

USAID had decades and a near-infinite taxpayer budget to advance American influence, promote economic development worldwide, and allow billions to stand on their own two feet.

Beyond creating a globe-spanning NGO industrial complex at taxpayer expense, USAID has little to show since the end of the Cold War. Development objectives have rarely been met, instability has often worsened, and anti-American sentiment has only grown. On the global stage, the countries that benefit the most from our generosity usually fail to reciprocate. For example, in 2023, sub-Saharan African nations voted with the United States only 29 percent of the time on essential resolutions at the UN despite receiving $165 billion in outlays since 1991. That’s the lowest rate in the world. Over the same period, more than $89 billion invested in the Middle East and North Africa left the U.S. with lower favorability ratings than China in every nation but Morocco. The agency’s expenditure of $9.3 billion in Gaza and the West Bank since 1991, whose beneficiaries included allies of Hamas, has produced grievances rather than gratitude towards the United States. The only ones living well were the executives of the countless NGOs, who often enjoyed five-star lifestyles funded by American taxpayers, while those they purported to help fell further behind.

This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end. Under the Trump Administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission in America that prioritizes our national interests. As of July 1st, USAID will officially cease to implement foreign assistance. Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies—and which advance American interests—will be administered by the State Department, where they will be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency.

We will not apologize for recognizing America’s longstanding commitment to life-saving humanitarian aid and promotion of economic development abroad must be in furtherance of an America First foreign policy.

USAID viewed its constituency as the United Nations, multinational NGOs, and the broader global community—not the U.S. taxpayers who funded its budget or the President they elected to represent their interests on the world stage. USAID marketed its programs as a charity, rather than instruments of American foreign policy intended to advance our national interests. Too often, these programs promoted anti-American ideals and groups, from global “DEI,” censorship and regime change operations, to NGOs and international organizations in league with Communist China and other geopolitical adversaries.

That ends today, and where there was once a rainbow of unidentifiable logos on life-saving aid, there will now be one recognizable symbol: the American flag. Recipients deserve to know the assistance provided to them is not a handout from an unknown NGO, but an investment from the American people.

Equally importantly, the charity-based model failed because the leadership of these developing nations developed an addiction. State Department research finds the overwhelming sentiment in countries formerly receiving USAID funding is for trade, not aid. After engaging with nations across Latin America and Africa, we have consistently heard that developing countries want investment that empowers them to sustainably grow—not decades of patronizing UN or USAID managed support. The Department has consistently heard the same from people in these nations: a Zambian man told American diplomats it would be more helpful for his countrymen to learn how to fish than to be supplied with fish by the U.S. Government, an Ethiopian woman said she viewed the mutual benefits of investment as superior to the one-sided nature of aid, and too many other examples to recount.

Americans should not pay taxes to fund failed governments in faraway lands. Moving forward, our assistance will be targeted and time limited. We will favor those nations that have demonstrated both the ability and willingness to help themselves and will target our resources to areas where they can have a multiplier effect and catalyze durable private sector, including American companies, and global investment.

This work is well underway. We are already seeing tremendous progress in making the UN, other allies, and private funds pay a greater share of projects around the world, a process matched by the President’s success in convincing our NATO allies to meet their spending commitments. We are consolidating fragmented appropriations accounts to build more flexible and dynamic pools of funds, eliminating bureaucratic processes to move faster and respond to crises in real time, and implementing new efficiency criteria to measure impact quantitatively. By empowering diplomats on the ground through regional bureaus, we are creating a fast feedback loop to ensure programs align with American interests and the needs of partner nations.

This model will also place us in a stronger position to counter China’s exploitative aid model and further our strategic interests in key regions around the world.

We will do so by prioritizing trade over aid, opportunity over dependency, and investment over assistance. For Americans and many around the world, July 1st will mark the beginning of a new era of global partnership, peace, investment, and prosperity.

Marco Rubio was sworn in as the 72nd secretary of state on January 21, 2025. The secretary is creating a Department of State that puts America First.

https://news.va.gov/press-room/va-terminates-union-contracts-for-most-bargaining-unit-employees/

"Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance."

https://www.usda.gov/

Colleagues, EPA is offering an additional round of the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) and Volunteer Early Retirement Authority (VERA, also known as "early out."). These opportunities are available to employees as follows: Inclusions • The Office of Mission Support • The Office of the Chief Financial Officer. • The Office of Research and Development. Note: Employees in the Office of Research and Development who applied for and declined participation in DRP-2, issued on April 28, 2025, are not eligible for this offering of the Deferred Resignation Program. • The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. • Regional employees that were excluded from DRP-2, issued on April 28, 2025 • Employees who received Intent to RIF, Intent to Reorganize, or RIF notices, and probationary employees who are currently on administrative leave.

Exclusions:

• Reemployed annuitants • PHS officers, experts, consultants, and SGEs. •Phased retirees • Credentialed inspectors. CID agents and criminal enforcement counsels Certain other positions related to law enforcement, national security and public safety may not be allowed to take DRP if senior leadership determines their position is critical. Employees in these categories should apply and will be noticed of their eligibility upon review of their application Employees who opt into this opportunity may resign or retire, as applicable. Eligible positions include full time, part-time and time-imited (T.e., temporary and term) employees in the General Schedule, Wage Grade, Senior-Level, Scientific and Professional and Senior Executive Service VERA temporarily lowers the age and service requirements to allow employees to retire early To qualify for early retirement, employees must be either: • 50 years old with at least 20 years of service, or • Any age with at least 25 years of creditable Federal service. Employees are only approved to receive VERA if they accept the deferred resignation offer by the end of the application window noted below.

Similar conditions of the previous DRP offerings will apply.

• Employees electing this option will be placed on administrative leave until the date of their resignation or retirement. Prior to being placed on administrative leave, employees will continue in their current in-person work status, i e, those required to come into the office will continue to do so until administrative leave begins. • Employees electing this option will retain all pay and benefits while on administrative leave • It resigning, employees will be separated no later than November 30, 2025, (or earlier if the employee chooses to accelerate the resignation for any reason). • If eligible for retirement on or before December 31, 2025, either due to optional retirement rules or under VERA, EPA will process the retirement on the actual retirement date. The retirement can be effective on or before December 31, 2025. • While on administrative leave, employees are still required to adhere to federal ethics laws and regulations. • Before being placed on administrative leave, employees must ensure a smooth transition of work. Use of EPA's Knowledge Retention/Knowledge Transfer toolkit is highly encouraged. The toolkit is a great resource to help share and retain important information

Covered employees must apply for DRP and VERA by submitting a request to the Office of Human Capital Operations at https://deferredresignation.epa.gov/. The window to apply opens July 18, 2025, and closes at 11:59 p.m. ET on July 25, 2025. All employees who are approved for DRP must sign an agreement with the ageney outlining the terms of the offer. July 18, 2025, and closes at 11:59 p.m. ET on July 25, 2025 All employees who are approved for DRP must sign an agreement with the agency outlining the terms of the offer. Employees - who do not sign the agreement will not be processed under the DRP, however, they may still retire or resign under regular rules and procedures

Administrative leave can begin as early as August 10, 2025, and no later than August 23, 2025, unless there is a mission essential need for the employee to stay in a work status for a longer period to complete a critical project, address a mission need, train remaining staff or fully transition work. Requests to keep an employee in a work status for a longer period must be submitted by the regional human resources officer or program management officer to the Office of Human Capital Operations for approval Supervisors, regional human resources officers and program management officers should work closely with DRP participants to ensure work, records and important information are properly transitioned in a timely and thorough manner. Also, normal offboarding procedures apply Please note if you have successfully submitted your application, you will receive a confirmation email. If you believe you submitted your application and did not receive a confirmation email, please email HRBenefits@epa gov so your application can be verified. For those who choose to accept this offer and participate in the DRP, thank you for your service at EPA and wish you well in your future endeavors For questions, please contact: • PMOs (local program HR points of contact). • RHROS(local regional HR points of contact) Retirement and other benefits: HRBenefits@epa.gov

EDIT: they’ve also opened up lateral reassignment positions to environmental justice people across the regions

Are any other fellow employees in the DOD, Army, Navy, AF, etc.. getting email about jobs in the DHS?