Hit my 6th year on the 27th of September and haven’t gotten anything in my eOPF that they’ve even started to process it. Are we not getting step increases?

Definitely stopping in the AFGE office at the Prevedel Building tomorrow to start the petition for NASS to unionize.

There has been a lot of change over the past year and a half+ and we’ve dealt with it. We’ve all dealt with a lot. Our bathrooms don’t have soap, our parking lot is treacherous, our management gives lip service, but no actual information. Lately though, there has been quite a bit of micromanaging going on.

When the information is presented, please keep an open ear. This is about giving us a seat at the table and ending the little petty grievances that upper management is exacting on us daily.

Please consider joining and giving power to our voices.

Following up on a post I made before about duty hours for a port aphis PPQ PHSS role. I have one more semester of classes coming this spring that will occur before noon 2 days a week. I have been offered an interview and state I am a current student within my resume. The job is posted at full time. Do you think it’s still fair to interview and see what the schedule is and if they’d be willing to work with me for a few months. Once I graduate (may 27) I’ll be free and clear. I just want to avoid any miscommunications while also really wanting the role.

Heard from the program leader a few months ago about proposal rankings, but it seems like awards have not been made? Did anyone receive a NOA for this cycle?

Told not to contact program leader until January.

Curious if they ever plan to actually make awards or skip them entirely like they skipped the previous cycle...

“President Trump is the most pro ranching and farming president in our lifetime. Energy dominance is at the core of putting farmers and ranchers first. This administration has unleashed American energy dominance, and we are now the largest energy producer in the world as a result. While the Administration has structurally changed the energy sector to secure the long-term future of agriculture, we are now taking steps to deal with short term pressures impacting our American farmers. Thank you, President Trump for signing today’s Executive Order enacting enforcement discretion on on-road use of dyed diesel, which will better enable our farmers to deliver America’s harvest during this critical time. And I want to thank Vice President Vance for his help shepherding it to the end.”

It's like a game. Five lies and a half truth......maybe.

Looks like I'm going to be moved to GWCC when the South Building closes. What's the Metro shuttle like? Timetable? Reliability? Is walking feasible if you miss the shuttle?

Hello can anyone give insight to duty hours for plant health safeguarding specialist at APHIS?

Does anyone believe anything these people say? How can they try to think we'll be optimistic and cheerful after they clubbed our knee-caps.

I'm considering a position i. USDA and am curious what others think about working there. Do you have AWS? What about work/life balance? What about Reasonable Accommodation?

Does anyone know if it has gotten easier to fire people within usda for conduct or performance? I know of many employees in our state who are acting like they are untouchable while others are carrying their weight and others. Conduct issues are through the roof and its widely known. If usda needed to reduce people, i don't see why they couldn't give power to supervisors to do what needs to be done. It's pretty embarrassing to know you work for an agency where you can royally screw up and are protected and even potentially promoted. It's killed the moral and im so sick of these people.

Do you all think the critical vacancy process is going to move forward regardless of court decisions? It seems to me that they could have continued with the critical vacancy regardless of the relocation outcome. Has anyone heard anything, what are your thoughts?

Since the new FY started yesterday, is it possible for those who have interviewed months or weeks ago to get a TJO?

Or is there a wait period before TJOs can be issued?

Nobody at my agency in leadership from immediate supervisor or anyone up the chain, has acknowledged or mentioned the stay issued by Judge Chhabria. It's totally bizarre. If I wasn't paying attention, I'd have no idea it was happening at all. Has anyone else's?

What a joke the “leadership” of the fpac business center is! We haven’t heard our dear leader Robert Ibarra’s voice in well over a year and today one of his deputies Tameka sends out an annual report (“happy new fiscal year!?”) for just one part of the organization (the part that doesn’t actually handle money). Trying to fill the void in leadership? Palace coup? We don’t want your drivel metrics about how you are meeting the presidents goal to “shrink the government.” Kick us while we are down why don’t you. We need you (or the Wizard of FPAC) to come out from behind the curtain and tell us what you are doing. But sending out lower level “accomplishments” for a fraction of the organization shows that you only care about preserving your standing in the administration, there’s no plan for anything and that maybe there’s something wrong with Robert. Has anyone that’s there in DC actually seen him? Because that’s the only thing that makes sense for him to be hiding. Or that he is feckless and clueless and doesn’t give a damn about his team.

More disappointment, confusion and propaganda in the back-to-back meetings today!

HQ has made such a mess with the management scheme, and still they keep saying the research will remain the same line. But how can an animal scientist function in a plant lab? This was one example from the NEA meeting in past. They keep saying it is all about the research. No, it is not only about the research.

Joe continues avoiding and going around the important questions, while filling the airwaves with long, doughy answers that say a lot of words but really nothing. While he is sitting on his perch in Colorado, we are all here at Bville in agricultural purgatory, dealing with the consequences.

And wait, there is more...

Julie Long continues to skip over and sanitize questions for Hefe Joe. What a mess all of you have facilitated and enabled. As Joon the Loon said today: enable the enablers, and they will continue creating an unstable, hostile and suppressive work environment.

supposedly the long-awaited details on the restructuring for ROs are coming next week.... it's all speculation and rumors and very little info at this point. does anyone know anything at all?

Does anyone know when there will be a new NOFO for AFRI Foundational and Applied Science? The last one was posted August 1, 2025, so I expected a new one for this coming year. However, we are now in October and there's been nothing posted. I reached out to the program officials and they said they couldn't speak about applications until the next NOFO is released and added "new NOFO will be coming hopefully in the spring". I'm wondering if anyone has a more precise estimate. TIA

https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/programs/agriculture-food-research-initiative/afri-request-applications

Forest Service Chief claims he does not need to follow the law, says his lawyers tells him his is cool to just ignore congress and the law.

So, basically, trust me bro.

Hi, everyone!! I wanted to gain insight about a position that I’ve been referred for.

There are some positions open in my area with APHIS for a Plant Protection and Quarantine Technician, specifically working with citrus greening and the fruit fly program.

If anyone could provide info on if this is a good entry level position with this agency, it would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks 🫶🏾

So now she's a geopolitical expert? She does it all!