Partnership for Public Service

10/22/2026

When government works, no one notices.

Blockers by Michael Lewis is the story of people who believed they had a calling, who were convinced they were doing something the country couldn’t do without and then discovered they were no longer wanted.

One kept Americans’ most sensitive tax data out of the wrong hands and another made sure that politicians and civil servants played by the rules. One figured out how to stop wildfires from destroying suburban neighborhoods, another helped uncover the mysteries of cystic fibrosis.

Lewis offers an inside look at the early days of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency and the public servants it targeted.

Get the Blockers audiobook today at blockers.fm and use code PPS25 for 25% off now through Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Take a look at the Blockers book trailer here.

Everybody says they don’t trust the government. In theory, I don’t ...

10/22/2026

When experienced civil servants leave, what happens to the work? In ARRC’s Federal Employee Exit Survey, only 10% of respondents said their responsibilities were fully covered when they left.

Among those who were involuntarily separated, 39% said their role was eliminated outright.

When asked what their departure, combined with other staffing losses, would cost their agency, respondents put loss of specialized expertise at the top. Even so, the door remains open.

Among those who were involuntarily separated, most, 87% of respondents, said they might or would consider returning to federal service.

The survey draws on 2,045 career civil servants from 55 agencies and departments who left federal service on or after November 5, 2024. It is the first systematic, independent evidence base on these departures and what they mean for government capacity.

The survey was led by Gary Hollibaugh and William Resh. The Partnership for Public Service was proud to be one of eight organizations that helped shape and distribute the survey.

Explore the key findings here.

Federal Employee Exit Survey How career civil servants who left federal service since November 2024 describe how they left, why they left, and what it cost. Nearly 400,000 civilian executive branch…

10/22/2026

Public health and scientific research are major industries in Georgia and North Carolina.

Georgia is home to the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and American Cancer Society, as well as the schools of public health at Emory University, University of Georgia, Georgia State University and more.

North Carolina is known as the "Research Triangle," named for its three major research universities: Duke University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

So when the Trump administration forced change in medical research and public science and cut federal funding, the effects were felt across both states.

Listen to two personal accounts on the impact federal cuts have had on public science in Georgia and North Carolina.

NPR's Steve Inskeep explores how the Trump administration's policies have impacted public health research in NC and GA.

10/20/2026

Federal science plays a role in conducting innovative research, preserving our public lands and keeping our communities protected from health threats. It also funds innovation and jobs in state and local government, universities and the private sector across the country.

So, when federal science jobs and funding are cut, as they have been during the Trump administration, the damage spreads through the entire American scientific ecosystem and threatens the future of scientific innovation and talent.

Our latest report, The Cost of Cutting American Science: Impacts on Science Jobs Across Sectors, breaks down what that looks like:

• As of August 2026, federal science agencies had 113,136 fewer employees than in September 2024, a 13.4% decrease, a higher decrease than the overall federal workforce at 12.5%. This means fewer staff to conduct weather balloon launches integral to forecasting, fewer food inspectors to keep our food safe and fewer employees to achieve agency missions.

• Overall project grant funding from science agencies decreased by 56% in fiscal 2026 compared to 2024, with thousands of grants facing interruptions or cancellations. In states like Texas, Ohio, North Carolina and Utah, state and local governments that rely on federal funding have been forced to lay off employees. Universities like Duke and Johns Hopkins have announced layoffs and other staff reductions explicitly linked to these funding changes.

• The loss of federal programs threatens to shrink the American scientific workforce over time by disrupting the training, recruitment and retention of future researchers. Major research universities admitted 15% fewer Ph.D. students for fall 2026 than in fall 2025, a decrease partially attributed to changes in federal funding. Less research talent means slower innovation and reduced economic growth.

Why does this matter? Because cuts to federal science jobs and funding affect public services, research and jobs across industries and every level of government.

What we lose today may continue to be felt far into the future, as federal funding cuts make scientific careers less certain and reduce opportunities to train the next generation of scientists and innovators.

Learn more about the impacts of federal science job and funding cuts here.

Recent cuts by the Trump administration to federal science jobs and funding have not only affected the government and its employees, but they have had a significant impact on the broader American scientific ecosystem.

10/19/2026

The people who protect us deserve protection, too.

That’s what drives Susan S. Xu, Ph.D., a mechanical engineer and researcher at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that isn’t talked about often.

Susan studies protective personal equipment for people who run to the frontlines to protect the public, such as firefighters entering burning buildings and healthcare workers exposed to airborne hazards.

“When I work on firefighters’ protective equipment, I’m thinking about a firefighter who may have to enter an extremely hot environment to rescue someone,” Susan shared.

It’s a mission close to her heart: “The people being protected are often the people protecting everyone else.”

Susan’s research helps improve protective equipment, inform safety standards and ultimately make workplaces safer. This is government-led innovation in action.

Susan was a 2025 Service to America Medals® for her work. Learn more: https://servicetoamericamedals.org/honorees/susan-s-xu-ph-d/

10/19/2026

10/16/2026

We’re excited to have two Partnership initiatives named Anthem Awards finalists!

• The 2026 Service to America Medals®, honoring outstanding public servants who have made our lives better: https://celebrate.anthemawards.com/PublicVoting #/2026/human-civil-rights/content-media/non-profit

• Our Public Science Serves America campaign, highlighting how public science saves lives, protects our health and strengthens communities: https://celebrate.anthemawards.com/PublicVoting #/2026/belonging-inclusion/campaign/non-profit

Both are now up for the Anthem Community Voice Award, and we’d love your votes! Voting ends Thursday, Oct. 29.

To learn more about the 2026 Service to America Medals® visit servicetoamericamedals.org.

To learn more about our Public Science Serves America campaign, visit ourpublicservice.org/public-science-serves-america.

10/14/2026

The 2026 Public Service Viewpoint Survey is now open for responses.

This quick and confidential survey, administered by the Partnership for Public Service, provides current federal employees with an opportunity to share their experience on their agency and workplace, giving federal leaders, Congress, policymakers and the public a better understanding of how federal workplaces are functioning, what issues federal employees may be facing and where opportunities exist to improve employee experience.

As a federal employee, you have firsthand knowledge of what helps your team succeed and how well your organization is serving the public. Make your voice heard.

Take the Public Service Viewpoint Survey today: ourpublicservice.org/PSVS.

10/13/2026

Public science has helped solve some of America's greatest challenges and usher in new generations of technology that we depend on every day.

Here are a few ways investments in science have made our lives more convenient.

💡 In the 1950s, USDA chemists were looking for a way to temper potato overproduction and create a market shift towards a more convenient mealtime option. Their three-step dehydration process created instant mashed potato flakes that we still use today.

💡 Because of decades of atomic timekeeping research by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, your phone always knows the exact time. This keeps your cell phone and computer clocks in sync.

💡 Diaper development came from research at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory. Scientists applied fluid dynamics, originally developed for nuclear programs, to help engineer a leak-resistant disposable diaper.

Today, scientists are working on technology to keep our energy bills down, help rural hospitals treat patients faster and keep our bridges and roads from cracking. Cutting investments in federal science doesn't save money. It shifts the cost onto you.

Join us in sharing why we need public science to protect our health, environment and future: https://ourpublicservice.org/public-science-serves-america

10/13/2026

While the Trump administration has never publicly acknowledged the active use of Schedule G, a new appointment category for positions of a “policy-making or policy-advocating” character, Office of Personnel Management data now show 25 political appointees serving under Schedule G.

Twenty-two of these political appointees are at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the first began serving in August 2025, over a year before any public record of these appointees appeared. Even that number may not be the full picture, as agencies have discretion over what they report to OPM.

The bigger issue here is transparency: The current administration is reshaping the workforce meant to serve the American people but doing it under the radar, without input from Congress and more than a year before the public had a chance to weigh in through rulemaking.

This quiet rollout of Schedule G supplements the administration’s broader effort to expand presidential control over the executive branch and politicize federal leadership.

The Partnership's Chris Piper dives into the findings and shares how guardrails can be restored.

The Trump administration has quietly appointed 25 officials under Schedule G—a new political appointment category created last year without formal regulatory guardrails.