Join federal workers from across the government as we urge Congress to pass nothing less than a continuing resolution (CR) that reasserts Congress's constitutional powers, upholds our democracy and protects the American people.  

Allies outside the government are now welcome to sign in support (use the pull down to indicate your status!). We will provide regular updates on the signer breakdown.

Have questions? read our FAQ here

Updates:

9/19 - We surpassed our second goal of 2,500 signers. We are upping our goal to 5,000!

As of 8pm:

Feds: 1,200 (716 current, 484 former)

Fed allies: 1,723

9/18 - We surpassed our first goal of 1,000 signers. We are upping our goal to 2,500!

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September 18, 2025

Dear Senators and Representatives,

We, the undersigned federal workers from across the federal government, write with urgency as Congress approaches the September 30 funding deadline. The continuing resolution (CR) you pass—or fail to pass—can determine whether Congress reasserts its constitutional powers, or allows further erosion of our democracy and harm to the public.

We are the workers who respond to natural disasters, protect our food and water supply, deliver new cures, keep people healthy, and serve the American people in many other ways. This is the government of every American, and the Trump administration is destroying it. The administration has clawed back funds duly appropriated by Congress, dismantled federal agencies, and trampled on the rule of law. These are not ordinary policy disputes; they are deliberate acts of authoritarian overreach. Our three branches of government were designed to protect against such overreach. Alongside executive overreach, the Supreme Court has permitted Trump administration actions that lower court judges have declared flatly illegal. Congress must get off the sidelines and use its constitutional powers, as the Article I branch, before our republic is irreparably harmed.

We call on you to pass nothing less than a fighting CR: a funding bill that not only keeps the lights on, but that also includes statutory protections to rein in executive lawlessness. The fight may lead to a shutdown. As federal workers, we will be personally affected by that, along with the public. We do not want a shutdown, but we will accept a temporary shutdown to preserve our government on behalf of the American people. Congress must use this and future budget bills to protect public goods and government services that benefit every American.

Core Protections for the American People

We see four types of provisions for a fighting CR, to rein in the lawlessness and Constitutional violations of this administration.

1. Defend healthcare, science, safety, and public health. Bring back Affordable Care Act subsidies on a permanent basis. Restore agencies’ ability to operate based on scientific evidence by removing political interference by the president or political appointees. This includes ending arbitrary grant terminations, funding halts, and vaccine decisions by political appointees with no relevant scientific credentials. Reverse cuts and policy changes that affect access to veterans’ care, Social Security, Medicaid, disaster relief, and infrastructure that millions of Americans depend on.
2. Stop the lawless impoundment of congressionally appropriated funds. Congress—not the White House—decides how taxpayer dollars are spent. Fully funding our services means nothing if the president can unilaterally ignore or redirect that funding. In particular, Congress should ensure that funds from this fiscal year can and must be spent, as appropriated, even after Sept. 30th, to foil the Trump administration's lawless actions to impound funds.
3. Protect the federal workforce needed to carry out our agency missions from unlawful purges, retaliation, and reorganizations. Reinstate staff fired without cause, stop lawless reductions-in-force that have been allowed to proceed by the Supreme Court, and restore merit-based civil service protections. Use the power of the purse to halt destruction of independent agencies, for example by removing funds from OMB if independent commissioners, who were unlawfully fired without cause, are not reinstated. Stop the destruction of federal unions via bogus 'national security' reclassifications.
4. Protect civil liberties. Ban deployment of federal troops to U.S. cities, give DC complete power to spend its budget, including funding its schools and teachers, unmask ICE and other federal law enforcement, and ensure free, safe access to courts and civil institutions.

These measures are not partisan asks, they are constitutional imperatives.

Members of Congress: Obey your Oath

Like all federal workers, members of Congress are sworn to "protect the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Constituents—like farmers relying on NOAA forecasts and USDA support, veterans at the VA, patients awaiting clinical trials, and people on Social Security income—are already being harmed by the administration’s actions. Every member of Congress should be clear-eyed: ceding more of Congress’s power to avoid a shutdown will only worsen the damage, embolden authoritarianism, and cost the country more in the long run.

Do not repeat March’s mistake, when a bad CR paved the way for mass firings across our agencies, gutted science, slashed healthcare access, and emboldened further attacks. We cannot wait for future elections; people in this country are suffering now. There is risk, but this is a moment unlike any of our lifetimes. The country needs you to lead the fight, not avoid it.

We urge you to accept nothing less than a fighting CR, even if that means accepting a government shutdown. The greater shutdown is already underway: the shutdown of our democracy. Do not accept short-term measures that will only delay the inevitable need for Congress to assert its power to stop authoritarianism. Accept only a CR that defends the American Republic.

Our Commitment as Civil Servants

Our oath of office leaves us no choice but to blow the whistle on reckless and lawless mismanagement by the executive branch that is endangering the American public (see Appendix). More than 800 of us have signed this letter. We have signed in our personal capacity, on personal time and equipment. Many have signed anonymously because we no longer have confidence our legal rights as civil servants will be upheld. Many more support the letter but fear retaliation for signing, even anonymously, after our EPA and FEMA colleagues were punished for bravely raising alarms about the dismantling of their agencies. We know the First Amendment protects our right as civil servants to speak out truthfully on matters of public interest without government retaliation (confirmed by an 8-1 Supreme Court in Pickering v Board). That many of us fear exercising this right to free speech illustrates that this moment is a constitutional crisis.

We will accept a shutdown if that is what it takes to protect the American Republic and its people. We have firsthand experience that shutdowns are painful: most of us will go without pay and many of the vital services we provide the public will be disrupted. But the short-term disruption pales in comparison to the long-term damage the Trump administration will inflict on our country if given another unchecked opportunity to dismantle our public goods and freedoms. Healthcare, education, safety, national security, and democracy are on the line.

We took an oath. You did too. Will you uphold yours?

Respectfully,

Current and Former Federal Workers from across federal agencies including:

• Americorps
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Commerce (including Census Bureau, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and United States Patent and Trademark Office)
• Department of Defense
• Department of Education
• Department of Energy
• Department of Homeland Security (including Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Citizenship and Immigration Services)
• Department of Health and Human Services (including Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Aging, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Food and Drug Administration, Health Resources and Services Administration, Indian Health Service, National Institutes of Health, Office of the Secretary, Public Health Service, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
• Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Department of the Interior (including Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey)
• Department of Justice
• Department of Labor
• Department of State
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Treasury (including the Internal Revenue Service)
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Executive Office of the President
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
• Federal Trade Commission
• Government Accountability Office
• General Services Administration
• International Development Finance Corporation
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• National Archives
• National Labor Relations Board
• National Science Foundation
• Office of Management and Budget
• Office of Personnel Management
• Small Business Administration
• Smithsonian
• Social Security
• United States Digital Service
• United States Agency for International Development
• Veterans Administration

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For media inquiries, interviews, or additional information:

civilservantscoalition@proton.me

Who we are:

Civil Servants Coalition is a loosely affiliated group of Federal Workers from across the government. We include "free agents" as well as members of the following organizations:

Federal Workers Against DOGE (FWAD): a coalition of federal workers and allies, mobilizing the federal workforce to directly defy dangerous, illegal orders. https://federalworkersagainstdoge.com

Science and Freedom Alliance (SAFA): a group of scientists and allies, including NIH and biomedical scientists affected by the Great NIH Collapse of 2025, working to chart a new course forward for strong and vibrant US science and academia, backed by democracy and supported by the public.https://www.scienceandfreedomalliance.org

This letter is endorsed by:

Indivisible MoCo WoMen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lisamocowomen/