Government Labor Unions Reach Settlement over Mass Firings

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) have reached a settlement with the Administration over mass firings of federal career employees during the 2025 government shutdown. The agreement pauses ongoing litigation and requires federal agencies to remove provisions authorizing shutdown-related reductions in force (RIFs) from their shutdown plans. Agencies must also provide 30 days’ notice before changing those plans to allow RIFs during a future shutdown. The settlement makes it harder to use future government shutdowns to conduct sweeping RIFs, such as the termination of nearly every special education expert at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) in October 2025. Congress later overturned those mass terminations.

Read news of the settlement on the AFSCME website here.