This article was originally published by NPQ Online on June 25, 2025, https://nonprofitquarterly.org/federal-workers-are-organizing-for-democracy-from-the-inside-out/. Used with permission.
In the face of a relentless effort to dismantle the federal government from within, a new movement is taking shape—led not by politicians or pundits but by federal workers themselves. The largest effort to date is the Federal Unionists Network (FUN). The FUN is offering a direct response to sweeping purges, politicized restructuring, and the hollowing out of public institutions under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The FUN is a federal-sector workers-led network born from a crisis, grounded in solidarity, and driven by a vision to build a democratic, accountable, and community-rooted public sector—one that not only survives political assaults but can ensure that the government fulfills its promise of meeting people’s needs.
What began in 2022 as a few dozen local leaders of federal unions organizing for stronger protections and supporting each other on a group text, has quickly grown into a multiagency organizing force. The network spans dozens of federal agencies—from veterans’ services to environmental protection, from public health to infrastructure. And the core message is clear: We are committed to public service. We will fight back against authoritarian attacks. And we will work together to create the conditions necessary to build a government that serves the public good.
Finding Our Voice
One of the FUN’s earliest and most powerful principles is voice. For decades, federal workers have been expected to remain invisible—diligent but silent. But federal workers took an oath to serve and protect the Constitution, and that means protecting and serving our communities. When institutions are gutted, programs shuttered, and colleagues fired en masse, silence is no longer an option.
“We are speaking out in our own names and our own stories,” Paul Osadebe, a FUN organizer and trial attorney with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, told NPQ. “Because if you give up your voice as soon as you’re under attack, you’ve already lost.”
That message has reverberated. Federal workers who once operated quietly behind the scenes are now appearing on picket lines and press conferences, giving face and voice to the programs and protections that hundreds of millions of people rely on.
This is not just resistance to false narratives about government bloat or inefficiency. It’s a rebuttal to the deeper attack—that public service is itself suspect, that governance is inherently broken, and that communities are better left to fend for themselves.
This is not about waste, fraud, or abuse. This is about corporate theft, authoritarianism, and stripping away the protections that keep working people from total dependence on