The Solidarity Docket

Written By Marisa Browne

Weekly Dispatch from Suzanne Summerlin, General Counsel

November 15, 2025

Friends and Colleagues,

For the first time in six long weeks, federal workers across the country are heading back to their desks, clinics, labs, classrooms, consular offices, and worksites. The longest shutdown in U.S. history is finally over(!)  but reopening the federal government is neither simple nor instantaneous. As agencies restore operations, process retroactive pay, unwind improper RIFs, and correct shutdown-related harms, the civil service is moving carefully and steadily toward normalcy.

Here’s what federal workers need to know this week.

Shutdown Ends — Government Reopens Through January 30

Following a House vote of 222–209 and Senate passage by 60–40, President Trump signed the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2026, funding the government through January 30, 2026.
The legislation:

  • Ends the shutdown

  • Authorizes full retroactive back pay for both excepted and furloughed federal employees

  • Rescinds ~4,000 shutdown-issued RIF notices

  • Prohibits any further RIFs for the duration of the CR

This last protection, a moratorium on further RIFs, is critical for stability as agencies rebuild capacity.

Agencies are now spending the end of this week and the weekend spinning operations back up. Restarting the federal government after a prolonged shutdown is a massive undertaking, and workers should expect some unevenness as agencies restore normal operations.

OPM Issues Comprehensive Pay, Leave, and Benefits Guidance

The Office of Personnel Management released detailed guidance to help agencies administer pay, leave, benefits, and HR programs affected by the shutdown. Full memo: https://dataserver.lrp.com/DATA/servlet/DataServlet?fname=OPM_Employee_Pay_Leave_Benefits_Affected_By_Lapse_in_Appropriations.pdf

Pay & Back Pay

  • Excepted employees must be paid for all hours worked, including overtime.

  • All furloughed employees must receive retroactive pay at their standard rate, and they must receive all premium pay (night, overtime, Sunday pay, etc.) they would have earned had they worked.

  • Employees who were scheduled to be in nonpay status before the shutdown will not receive retroactive pay for those periods.

Leave

  • Excepted employees who used approved paid leave during the shutdown will be charged that leave.

  • Employees on approved advanced sick or annual leave were instead furloughed and will not be charged the advanced leave; they will receive retroactive pay for that period.

  • Because furloughed employees are considered in pay status for the lapse period, sick and annual leave will accrue normally.

FMLA

  • Employees who were already scheduled for LWOP-FMLA remain in LWOP; this time does not count toward their 12-week FMLA entitlement.

  • LWOP for scheduled FMLA periods is not paid retroactively.

RIF Rescissions

The new law requires agencies to rescind all RIF notices issued between Oct. 1 and Nov. 12 within five days. OPM will issue additional guidance soon.

Shutdown Litigation: What’s Next

AFGE & AFSCME v. OMB/OPM (N.D. Cal.)

The government filed a notice arguing that the shutdown’s end and the statutory rescission of RIF notices may moot the unions’ claims. Plaintiff unions and the government will meet and confer regarding next steps.

Our complete litigation tracker is here: https://workerslegaldefense.org/litigation-tracker

First Amendment Win at the Department of Education

Judge Christopher R. Cooper (D.D.C.) found that the Department of Education violated employees’ First Amendment rights by inserting partisan political messaging into shutdown out-of-office replies. Key holdings:

  • Partisan messaging in compulsory agency communications violates the Hatch Act.

  • A permanent injunction now prohibits the practice for AFGE-represented employees, and may extend agency-wide if technical limitations exist.

  • Dept. of Education has since removed the political language.

Additional VA Unions Lose Bargaining Rights Under EO 12171

The VA has issued a new Federal Register notice (Nov. 13) expanding the list of unions stripped of Chapter 71 collective-bargaining rights under Executive Order 12171.

This comes on top of an earlier April 17, 2025 VA determination that had already removed Chapter 71 rights from several VA unions the Trump administration deemed “national security–sensitive.”

The new Nov. 13 notice adds the following unions to those already excluded since April:

  • Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA)

  • Western Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP)

  • Veterans Affairs Staff Nurse Council (VASNC) Local 5032 – Milwaukee VAMC

  • IAFF-99 – Little Rock VAMC

  • United Nurses Association of California / Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) – Loma Linda VAMC

  • Teamsters Local 115 – Coatesville VAMC

  • IBEW Local 2168 – Cheyenne VA

  • IAMAW Local 1998 – VA National Cemetery of the Pacific (Honolulu)

This reverses the VA’s own April 17, 2025 determination, which had previously afforded these unions Chapter 71 rights.

Full notice:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-11-13/pdf/2025-19867.pdf

VA Collective Bargaining Legislation Introduced

  • Sen. Richard Blumenthal (S.3174) and Rep. Delia Ramirez (H.R. 6015) introduced bills to affirm collective bargaining rights for VA employees and nullify recent VA-specific anti-union executive actions.

Workplace, Survey & Events

The Partnership for Public Service has opened the Public Service Viewpoint Survey, now available to all permanent, civilian, career federal employees through December 19. This survey is especially important this year: the Trump administration announced in August that it would not administer the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) in 2025, the first cancellation of the government’s flagship workforce survey in nearly two decades.

In the absence of FEVS, the Public Service Viewpoint Survey is now one of the only nationwide mechanisms for federal workers to share their perspectives on workplace climate, leadership, job satisfaction, burnout, and agency performance. The results will inform advocates, policymakers, inspectors general, and the public about the state of the civil service during a period of historic disruption.

Survey link: https://ourpublicservice.org/public-service-viewpoint-survey/

Upcoming Event: “Disorganized Diplomacy” Panel – Nov. 20

Hosted as part of the Service Disrupted campaign, this public conversation will examine how recent changes affect federal employees, unions, and the functioning of American democracy.


Featuring:

A Note of Gratitude: Rise Up Receives the ABA’s Frances Perkins Award

Finally, Rise Up is deeply honored to receive the Frances Perkins Public Service Award from the American Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Law Section. This award recognizes extraordinary commitment to providing free labor and employment legal education, outreach and empowerment.

We are humbled by this recognition and remain steadfast in our mission: to serve as a legal-education lifeline for federal workers, helping them understand their rights, navigate their options, and access the resources available to them from our broad coalition of partners.

Our commitment is to provide clear, accurate, and compassionate guidance, especially during moments of uncertainty and upheaval. With this award, we move forward more determined than ever to defend the integrity of the civil service and ensure that federal workers understand the rights and protections they deserve.

In solidarity,


Suzanne Summerlin
General Counsel
Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network

Marisa Browne
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The Solidarity Docket