The former acting director of the Office of Personnel Management is offering guidance for federal workers affected by the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce.
In a Sunday virtual town hall, hosted by Prince George’s County Council member Calvin Hawkins, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks and Maryland State Sen. Nick Charles, Rob Shriver, who was the acting director of OPM under the Biden administration, expressed concern and support for federal employees.
Shriver, who was replaced on Jan. 20 when Charles Ezell was nominated by President Donald Trump, is now a managing director at Democracy Forward, an advocacy group involved in several lawsuits to protect civil servants.
“This ‘Fork in the Road’ deferred resignation is not authorized by law, it’s not funded,” Shriver said. “There are a lot of questions about whether the government is going to hold up to this deal, and what happens if it doesn’t.”
Are you a federal employee or contractor who has been impacted by the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce? Send us a voice note through the WTOP News app, available on Apple or Android. Click the “Feedback” button in the app’s navigation bar.
While the deferred resignation offer is now closed, Shriver isn’t certain the government plans to abide by the offer.
“Who is to say that the Republican-controlled Congress won’t defund this in their new budget, leaving folks without the rest of the payment,” Shriver asked.
Shriver had heard anecdotally that some employees who took the deferred resignation offer were later fired, although on Friday OPM said some employees may have received termination notices in error and said the resignation agreements would be honored.
“I would say if this happens to you, first thing to do is go to your agency HR, and say, ‘Hey, wait a second, I signed up for this other deal here,'” Shriver said.
Protections for whistleblowers
Alsobrooks and Shriver encouraged federal employees concerned that they were being asked to do something illegal, or that they witness wrongdoing, to report it, and that local, state and federal elected officials will support them.
“You can report to your Office of Inspector General, of course Trump has fired most IGs across the government,” Shriver said. “But there are acting IGs in those offices.”
There are other resources, too.
“There are organizations like the Government Accountability Project, at whistleblower.org,” said Shriver. In addition, “The Project on Government Oversight, and there’s organizations that specialize in helping whistleblowers.”
Shriver said “federal employees also have the privilege to make disclosures to member of Congress, confidentially.”
If employees are retaliated against for whistleblower activities, “You do have rights — you can go to the Office of Special Counsel, they specialize in whistleblower protections,” said Shriver.
Editor’s Note: Rob Shriver works for Democracy Forward. This article has been corrected.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
