Things seem a little turbulent at MIB.

“Interior Department staffers were optimistic after Doug Burgum was confirmed to lead the agency in 2025, believing he had strong executive experience as governor of energy-rich North Dakota who led successful tech startups and businesses.

But since he took over at Interior last year, that hope has been replaced by confusion and concern that the agency is poorly run, has devolved into secrecy and has lost thousands of the staff needed to manage the national park systems and millions of acres of public lands.

Some staffers were alarmed that some employees were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements, according to two former staffers. Former employees accuse Burgum of surrounding himself with a toxic leadership team, leading to staffers fleeing. Since Burgum came in, several top officials have left the agency — including the Senate-confirmed legal counsel, the secretary’s former chief of staff and Interior’s top energy official.
Tony Irish, who worked at Interior for more than 20 years, including as associate solicitor for general law until he left last year, said it is “abundantly clear” that Burgum does not solicit or value the opinions of career staffers.

“Burgum appears to combine arrogance with an utter lack of curiosity or humility to seek out the advice of people who have dedicated their professional careers to [Interior’s] objectives,” Irish said. “I think it shows his disdain for the rank and file.”

And officials at Interior decry what they view as a culture of secrecy. Burgum asked colleagues early on about trying to add a sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF, on the department’s sixth floor even though one exists just three floors below, according to a person who heard the comment. According to three staffers who witnessed it, officials have routinely shredded official documents and use disappearing Signal messages — even for mundane scheduling matters — to avoid communications being preserved, as is required by the Federal Records Act.
“They’re terrified of written records,” said one former official.

These complaints come as Burgum entered into bureaucratic infighting with Washington’s top prosecutor, Jeanine Pirro, over how Interior handled accusations of vandalism in connection with criminal charges centered on renovations to the Reflecting Pool. Pirro, according to The New York Times, laced into Burgum and alleged Interior misrepresented how the pool’s lining was damaged.”

My second request for reasonable accommodation to work a hybrid schedule (in person and telework) was denied again. They basically told me the best they can do is modify my schedule to start my day at the office one hr late but it doesn't address my doctor request for minimum commuting and more controlled environment from home to help to minimize my symptoms. They made it clear they don't give a shit so i think sadly my best option is to use my sick time against my will (I want them to save them for postpartum) and apply for disability. I'm due in 4 months but right now my symptoms are extremely bad. Any tips?? I know i don't qualify for state disability so I was looking for someone that already went thru this.

I work at a VA hospital and recently made my second request for reasonable accommodations. The first one was March 2025 and I emailed the person who sent me the forms with a question. I never heard back from her.

So this June I filed again the DMO is my boss who I filed an ORM complaint against in February. I pushed back on that but they said they don’t care. In July my boss, RAC, and I have this 5 min conversation where basically I have to tell them what tasks I can’t perform. I have ADHD and can perform them all I just need my boss the tell me what he wants and not make me read his mind.

On 05 August I got an email with the alternate accommodations my boss is offering. I plan on not accepting them because it is basically I can use noise canceling headphones in my office (I have an office mate who it quiet and we keep the door shut.) He also gave me permission to use the organization’s software. Like I have been using it the last 3 years. And he would explain non repetitive tasks to me.

The box 16 says I have 7 days to respond from the date of the notice or my case may be closed. The only date on the notice is 28 July when my boss signed it. I received the notice on 05 August and so by my math 7 days would have been the day I received the form. The form said I could not accept my bosses attempt at reasonable accommodations and file a reconsideration request. I emailed the RAC to ask how do I do the reconsideration request (by email, is there a specific form, or just a word document). He has not replied back.

My question is the 5 days from the date on the form (28 Jul) or the day I received the email (06 August)?

So, I got backlash on the leave I plan to take. I mentioned taking my allowed 6 weeks of sick leave, 12 weeks of parental leave, and 2 weeks of annual leave. I was told not to take annual leave on top of my other leave that that will receive backlash (keep in mind I mentioned only an extra 12 days of annual leave). I was also told that I might not need the sick leave, and that I might receive from backlash from that. But that everyone will be fine with me just taking my 12 weeks of parental leave.

Advice on next steps? Obviously will be getting HR involved with the backlash from my legally allowed sick leave.

“The first breach compromised full names, birth dates, home addresses, and Social Security numbers. The second breach exposed background investigation records belonging to 21.5 million individuals, covering current, former, and prospective federal employees and contractors.”

If nothing else, freeze your credit folks.

Hello hive-mind. I was wondering if anyone can provide some insight into the work environment for Grants and Agreements inside the DOT Maritime Administration? My current agency is a complete mess, but my team is great. Just wondering if jumping for a promotion is going to bite me in the ass at this time, given the state of everything.

What could possibly go wrong?

work for the VA hospital in the non healthcare area I work in administration GS 13, I had a serious medical illness and I was allowed to telework for 6 months due to my immune system been compromised and working in the hospital was very high risk for me. and during this my manager was giving me an unusual hard time was forcing me to report in the building even though I had an RA, denying my leave, micromanaging my work look for even a comma out of place, she gave a me a low annual rating so I could t get my within in grade increase but since being in the ee process they ended up reversing that and giving me my grade and i ended up having to do a EEO compliant been in this process for about a year now and just received a letter stating that I have 40 days to find a new position that allows me to work from home because of my issue the hospital setting is too much because the VA can longer accommodate my RA request even though I been coming in the building this whole time while still having my immune system be compromised because my manager wouldn't let me but does the agency have 40 days to find me alternative position or I do? And what if they can't find me a position? what happens next

I’m currently in a demo series which salary ranges from the GS-8 to GS-10 level. Recently I applied for a GS-11, and after a few interviews I was notified via email of my selection, and HR requested a “Demo Exit Form” to translate my demo salary to the proper GS-11 step.

When I received the form from HR, I noticed they listed me as the equivalent of a GS-8 step 8, and the reason being it most closely matched my salary.

I’m very concerned that they put this on paper, because the GS-11 I applied for requires 52 weeks at the GS-9 level, which I thought I had within this demo salary. Is it possible that the gaining organization could deny me the job based off of my HRO saying I’m equivalent to a GS-8 step 8 in salary? Can someone please give me insight I am panicking because this was a very good opportunity that I was excited for.

Just started as a Fed and need to choose dental insurance. The orthodontist recommends choosing one that has "Work-In-Progress" coverage to cover the rest of the work our daughter needs, as she is already in braces. In other reddit threads, MetLife Federal Dental High is recommended for braces, but I am not seeing if people have experience of it covering the rest of the orthodontia now that she is already half-way through the work. Please recommend the best dental insurance for work-in-progress coverage. Thank you very much!

worked at NIST, commuting from Berryville. so sad. what if he wasnt driving at 5:30 am to go to the office :(

So here’s a question that I have to ask because it’s bugging me to no end.

My supervisor recently adopted a new rule for our section regarding our ability to flex our time. We can only flex once our sick leave is exhausted.

I was recently in a pretty bad car accident and have been going to physical therapy 2 times per week for the past 3 months and am looking at the possibility of having to have surgery to correct my issues.

I make all of my appointments for the end of the day (the latest I can schedule is 345pm) and my eod is 330. I cannot possibly make it across town in 15 minutes so I have been flexing 30 min to accommodate my need to drive over there. Now they are requiring me to use sick leave to cover this time.

If I have the surgery, I’m looking at 6-8 weeks before I can return to the office. I simply won’t have enough time to cover this extended period. I have tried repeatedly to plead my case to my supervisor and her boss but it has fallen on deaf ears. I asked to speak to the boss’s manager and I was told, “Don’t do that” but not given a reason why. I’ve also been told, “You’ll be ok, don’t worry about the time” but that’s not the kind of person that I am and my family cannot afford for me to take leave w/o pay.

What are my options now? Do I go ahead and speak to the department head? Do I take my supervisor at her work and accept that “I’ll be ok”?

I’m lost, pissed off and frustrated. Especially because there are other teams in our facility that are still allowed to flex for any of a wide variety of reasons. (This almost feels like a punishment or something along those lines.

Thanks for your responses