The Solidarity Docket
Weekly Dispatch from Suzanne Summerlin, General Counsel
Week of December 11, 2025
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
As the year approaches its end, the federal civil service is again under stress from aggressive re-shuffling, purges, personnel chaos, and renewed political pressure. Here are the major developments this week that all federal employees, supporters, and our volunteer attorneys should know about.
DOJ Employees Allege Coordinated Purge of Career Staff
More than 200 former career employees at the Department of Justice, many from the Civil Rights Division, say the administration orchestrated a campaign to drive out longtime staffers:
Career leaders were reassigned to menial tasks unrelated to their expertise.
Those who resisted “deferred resignation” offers faced forced exit.
Political appointees reportedly took over critical civil-rights litigation, raising concerns over institutional memory, case quality, and litigation integrity.
Allegations of this purge shed light on how political pressure can be used to hollow out agencies from within and replace experienced staff with loyalists.
$70,000 Signing Bonuses and Fast-Track Hiring
At least one federal agency is on a hiring spree – and has reportedly rolled out $70,000 signing bonuses and dramatically accelerated qualifications. The US Park Police are waiving key fitness tests and loosening vetting protocols, in a move critics warn resembles the creation of a de facto “new federal police force.” Lawmakers and labor advocates have voiced concern that the rush undermines civil-service standards, threatens oversight, and may prioritize quantity over qualifications.
Unions Urge Congress to Reject NDAA Rule That Strips Collective-Bargaining Rights
On December 8, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) publicly urged Congress to vote NO on the House rule for the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The concern: Conference negotiators removed Section 1110, the bipartisan provision that would have restored collective-bargaining rights for Department of Defense civilian employees. Without it, thousands of DoD civilians will remain subject to the anti-union executive orders issued earlier this year. “DOD civilians are patriots … Denying them collective-bargaining rights is wrong, and it has no place in a defense bill,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley.
NFFE and other unions have also pushed lawmakers to preserve union protections via the final NDAA or alternative legislation.
If the NDAA moves forward without protections restored, this risks enshrining broad, systemic rollback of labor rights for civilian defense workers.
Judge Blocks State Department Layoffs
A federal judge (Northern District of California) issued a temporary restraining order preventing the State Department from laying off more than 250 Foreign Service and civil-service employees. The judge ruled the layoffs likely violate the continuing resolution’s prohibition on RIFs through January 30.
Unions, including AFGE and the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), requested the injunction after the State Department attempted abrupt terminations late Friday, giving impacted employees alarmingly short notice, even for overseas posts.
This ruling is a major win: it reaffirms Congress’s recent protections and places judicial check on agencies attempting to bypass legal limits.
Education Department Civil-Rights Staff Returning Amid Lawsuit
Dozens of employees in the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), initially slated for mass layoffs, are being reinstated as litigation over the cuts proceeds. The backlog of more than 25,000 civil-rights complaints underlines how critical these staffers remain.
Even as legal outcomes remain uncertain, this reinstatement offers a temporary reprieve for critical civil-rights enforcement efforts — though questions remain about long-term staffing and agency intent.
Will Feds Get Christmas-Eve Off This Year?
It’s the evergreen question (pardon the pun) feds ask every year: will Christmas Eve be a holiday granted by the President?
A recent analysis by FedSmith suggests the answer is likely no. This is notable given the long history behind the decision. Since President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940s, presidents have periodically granted federal workers extra time off around Christmas. Over the last 85 years, Christmas-Eve leave has generally been granted when:
Christmas falls close to a weekend
Agencies face unusual hardship (e.g., post-shutdown recovery)
The administration wants to boost morale
But it is entirely discretionary. Christmas Eve is not a federal holiday under statute.
According to FedSmith:
This year’s indicators point toward normal operations on Dec. 24.
If extra leave is granted, FedSmith predicts it is more likely to be Friday, December 26 (the day after Christmas), not Christmas Eve itself.
Mission-critical employees should plan to work regardless of any announcement.
Federal employees should expect to work on Christmas Eve, with the possibility of a half-day and a slightly higher (but still uncertain) chance that the administration will grant Friday, December 26 as an additional holiday.
As always, federal employees should watch for an executive order in mid-December confirming the final decision.
In solidarity,
Suzanne Summerlin
General Counsel, Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network