General News

After months of various incentives and plans to trim up the federal workforce, President Trump is now proposing a freeze in federal employee pay. That means that employees won’t get their raise in 2026. With unpredictable job security because of RIFs and layoffs, and the potential threat of agency closures, you might be thinking about how you can leave work before your job is eliminated. And now that your pay likely won’t increase in the new year, this might be an even better time to consider your options.  

After using incentives like VERAs, VSIPs, and deferred resignations, to cut 10,000 federal workers, the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is now planning to use RIFs and layoffs to cut another 10,000 beginning May 27.

There’s some bad news for federal prison workers – retention payments will be greatly reduced or removed entirely by March 23. These retention payments were put in place because staff were dropping due to poor working conditions and low pay. Now, with the payments taken away, the outlook is even more concerning. This is a major loss for all federal prison workers, but it’s especially difficult for people already struggling with work because of a mental or physical health challenge. Some employees have already considered leaving the federal government for a job that would pay more and be less stressful.  

In a March 13 letter to congress, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy agreed to cut 10,000 United States Postal Service workers and billions of dollars by April 18. DeJoy has outlined that Voluntary Early Retirement (VERA) will be used to hit this reduction. VERA was offered by USPS as early as January – now there’s an exact number of employees expected to leave.  

As the federal workforce continues changing, it can be difficult to stay informed and know what the best plan of action is. One thing that can be confusing is Voluntary Early Retirement Authority or VERA. Here’s a list of some of the most common questions we’re seeing about this.  

With Reductions in force (RIFs) on the rise for almost all federal agencies, federal employees need to understand what their options are and how they can protect themselves. 
Read through to find answers to your most commonly asked questions.  

After weeks of cutting down the workforce at various agencies, all federal workers were told to respond to an email with 5 things they accomplished at work last week. Failure to respond to the email was said to be equal to a resignation. Although some agencies have already directed their employees not to respond to the email, there is lots of confusion surrounding the order. For federal workers, this is a stressful time. And while there’s no way to know what comes next in the federal government, you can be sure of two things: This administration will continue to cut down on the federal workforce.You have options to secure your financial future so you don’t have to worry if your job will be next to be cut.