Originally published Federal employees impacted by Trump administration can turn to new legal support network on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce-rightsgovernance/2025/04/federal-employees-impacted-by-trump-administration-can-turn-to-new-legal-support-network/ at Federal News Network
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Federal employees who were recently fired from their jobs by the Trump administration have a new place to turn for pro-bono legal advice.
A coalition of good government organizations and federal unions has launched an initiative called “Rise Up,” a network of thousands of lawyers who will offer free legal support to employees impacted by the Trump administration’s recent actions to overhaul the federal workforce.
The project is led by Democracy Forward, AFL-CIO and We The Action, and has the backing of multiple federal unions and long-time good government organizations, such as the Partnership for Public Service.
Rob Shriver, managing director of the Civil Service Strong program at Democracy Forward, said the project came as a result of the recent and “unprecedented” level of concern from federal employees on their legal rights.
“We’ve never seen it at this scope before,” Shriver, former acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, said in an interview. “With the normal mechanisms for helping feds out, like going to their union representatives or going to federal employment law firms, the volume was too high for that normal support system to manage.”
Federal employees’ legal questions have stemmed from the Trump administration’s actions over the last few months, such as the deferred resignation program, the governmentwide terminations of probationary federal employees, agency reductions in force (RIFs), and the recurring “five things you did this week” emails — just to name a few.
Federal unions and many other organizations have taken broader legal actions against the Trump administration in the last few months. But the coalition said there’s still a need for legal support in many individual employees’ situations.
For instance, thousands of terminated federal employees are still in limbo and receiving mixed messages from their agencies on the future of their jobs. The probationary employees governmentwide who were fired in February — and many of whom were later brought back due to a court order — are now once again vulnerable to fully losing their jobs after an appeals court blocked the rulings that previously reinstated them.
But the coalition that launched Rise Up said it also remains wary of what it anticipates will be an even further escalation of the need for legal support, as deeper workforce cuts get underway at agencies in the coming weeks and months.
“We knew that time was of the essence because this was coming, and we are expecting a big influx of questions from feds as they start getting notices of reductions in force,” Shriver said. “It will be great to have this organized approach with trained lawyers that can do intake and make sure that we’re getting federal workers the help they need, whether that’s individual representation or feeding them into some of the larger impact cases.”
Lawyers at AFL-CIO similarly said they are anticipating many federal employees will have questions about RIFs as agencies start to implement their reorganization plans. AFL-CIO said it has already been receiving a “steady stream” of requests from federal employees seeking legal advice.
“There are many factors that go into deciding whether to challenge an employment action,” AFL-CIO lawyers said by email. “Whether to take action, which in most cases involves going to an administrative agency first, depends on the nature of the claim, the evidence in the employee’s favor and timing. Our volunteer lawyers can help the employee evaluate those factors.”
Another anticipated change that may spur a swarm of legal questions from federal employees is the Trump administration’s plan to convert broad swaths of the career federal workforce to a new “Policy/Career” employment classification. Any employees reclassified into the new schedule would see their merit systems protections removed and become at-will employees who are then easier for agencies to fire.
Through Rise Up, terminated federal employees can sign up online to request assistance, at no cost. The application asks for basic information about the individual’s situation and offers scheduling options for free legal consultations.
On the website, federal employees can access resource documents on the deferred resignation program, equal employment opportunity rights, whistleblower protections and the rights of terminated probationary employees, among many other topics.
The project is also offering training sessions to thousands of lawyers to prepare them to take federal employees’ cases.
“It is critical that federal workers have access to legal recourse as the Trump administration threatens and unlawfully terminates hundreds of thousands of proud civil servants,” Randy Erwin, national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said in a press release Wednesday. “We are incredibly grateful for the attorneys and allies in our communities who stand with federal workers delivering essential services to the American people.”
If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email [email protected] or reach out on Signal at drewfriedman.11
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Originally published Federal employees impacted by Trump administration can turn to new legal support network on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce-rightsgovernance/2025/04/federal-employees-impacted-by-trump-administration-can-turn-to-new-legal-support-network/ at Federal News Network
Originally published Federal News Network
