Karla L Miller

Scoop: White House memo says furloughed federal workers aren't entitled to backpay A move to deny backpay to up to 750,000 furloughed workers would dramatically escalate Trump's pressure on Democrats to end the shutdown.

Hallmark of Trump’s 2nd term: undoing his few good moves from the 1st. First undermining the success of Operation Warp Speed, now he’s targeting GEFTA—the law guaranteeing back pay for furloughed workers. Pure shutdown panic politics. Unions will fight it, but the stress is the point.

Are rising prices and inflation eating into your or a loved one’s Social Security payments? Want to talk about it with a reporter for a news article? DM or email sluterman at 19thnews dot org.

OMB deletes reference to law guaranteeing backpay to furloughed feds from shutdown guidance An Office of Management and Budget FAQ document now states that only excepted employees forced to work without pay are guaranteed backpay at the conclusion of a lapse in appropriations.

OMB quietly removed language from its #shutdown guidance that referenced the 2019 law guaranteeing retroactive pay to furloughed federal employees. buff.ly/P0AsxeZ

Column | Food critic Tom Sietsema is stepping down — and dropping his anonymity After a quarter-century of reviewing restaurants, donning disguises and turning down photos, The Post’s food critic is ready for his next course.

So *that’s* what he looks like. Thanks @tomsietsema.bsky.social for 25 years of excellent, unpretentious, foodie-friendly guidance.

www.washingtonpost.com/food/2025/10...

The audio intro:

Column | Work Advice: My boss loves AI. I want nothing to do with it. Even if you don’t need it yourself, learning about AI can help you separate the helpfulness from the hype.

This week’s Work Advice: My boss is an AI enthusiast. I am not. How do I navigate this?

(For a little thrill, listen to the intro of the AI-generated audio version.)

wapo.st/46S35JP

Oh, there you are! I tried finding you on here to tag when I posted this, but my search-fu was weak 😅

Tweet from the VP: Joy Reid has had such a good life in this country. It's been overwhelmingly kind and gracious to her. She is far wealthier than most. Yet she oozes with contempt. My honest, non-trolling advice to Joy Reid is that you'd be a much happier person if you showed a little gratitude

Weaponized gratitude is a key tool in the abuser's toolkit. The goal is to convince the victim that they owe the abuser so much, they should feel guilty for wanting to complain.

@juliusgoat.bsky.social has a way of laying out the words for the things I'm choking on.

"In the Klein world, moral clarity about abuse is polarizing, and polarization, not abuse, is the problem to solve."

Seeing The Sound of Music at the Kennedy Center at this particular point in history sure hits different when the red banners with the “scary black spider” unfurl behind the family singing for their lives at the festival and you realize you’re playing the role of the festival audience.

Because free speech

DC phases out Health Care Alliance, impacting thousands Advocates say the elimination of DC Health Care Alliance, which insures 26,000 low-income residents, could have disastrous consequences.

“What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to afford it? I can’t.”

The first round of cuts to the DC Health Care Alliance go into effect this week. Advocates say the plan will have disastrous consequences over the next few years.

ICE is here in Chicago, clearly going after the worst of the worse, or as they apparently call it, "Adorable families with small children attempting to enjoy an early fall day at a park."

May shame follow those participating in this cruelty for the rest of their lives.

Screenshot of comment that reads: “Do Journalists live in the real world. In a life, one may have a job to escape your parent's basement, or your small town, or to make this month's rent, or a tuition payment, or to save up for a house, or start a business, or because of the healthcare benefit. One may stick with job because of children, job of spouse, educational opportunity of children, cost of living. employer sponsored advanced education, resume building, or more long term opportunity.”

Sigh. Once again, my bona fides:

Divorced mom/co-parent, working full time and writing column on the side. Believe me, I live in the real world. (And still don’t work half as hard as a good journalist.)

Column | Work Advice: Hugging a job you no longer love? As the labor market contracts after years of growth, “job hugging” is the new buzzword.

This week’s Work Advice: Job hugging.

“Not hugging as in a comforting embrace. Hugging the way a fugitive hugs the shadows, or a stranded climber hugs a cliff face.‘Job hunkering’ is more like it.”

With many thanks to Hanna Hasl-Kelchner for her expert perspective.

wapo.st/3IH1L4s

Woke up early depressed and full of doubts about whether I could be doing things better in this fucked up moment.

Opinion | The Tax on Being a Girl

"As medical care evaporates it is moms who die in childbirth. As food disappears overwhelmed husbands abandon wives and children. As social order unravels it is mostly girls who are raped. And when times are desperate it is girls who are married against their will."

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/27/o...

Old floppy drive with printed label 'Works, but makes Sad Noises'

Got my performance review.

The moment institutions start saying "no" is the moment it crumbles.

These people are not serious, they are not hardworking, they are not smart.

They are coasting on luck, and institutional cowardice.

The moment institutions stop enabling them, they will fold like cheap camp chairs.

Column | Employers are ghosting job applicants. It’s cruel and unprofessional. The labor market is weakening and employers are swamped by applications. But that’s no excuse to freeze out job seekers.

Are you a job seeker who’s being ghosted by employers? @michellesingletary.bsky.social wants to hear your story.

Read on for her advice on how you can save your sanity, and how employers can do better.

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

This week’s Work Advice: When you’re a prickly co-worker’s sole confidant, should you tell HR about his increasing combativeness?

ALSO: Are you clinging to a job you don’t want because the market is bad? Tell me more.

wapo.st/46w8y9b

Holy fucking Christ. Just go to the fucking protest without signing up for a fucking email newsletter for fuck’s sake! Who fucking cares‽ They aren’t ordering pizza for everyone! They don’t need RSVPs! Why is this still happening‽

What it’s like raising trans kids in Trump’s backyard Families in and around Washington, D.C., are navigating the White House’s crackdown on gender-affirming care and a growing assertion of federal power.

I spoke with five families in the D.C. region about what it's like raising trans kids in Trump's backyard.

They shared fears about being personally targeted by the federal government and their joys in raising kids that are learning to express themselves authentically in a difficult world.

Stephen Miller’s Quota Likely Drove Korean Arrests In Immigration Raid When ICE agents arrested over 300 Korean workers at a Georgia battery plant, a daily immigrant arrest quota was likely on their minds.

according to an immigration attorney representing several arrested workers, ICE agents chose to arrest the Korean workers to fulfill the quota of 3,000 daily immigrant arrests set by Stephen Miller www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...

This one hurts on multiple levels

Are you considering moderating what you say in public (incl here) bc of potential for backlash, being doxxed/your family threatened wo legal recourse, being targeted by our own government, losing your job? Do you know people who are?

Did you have this concern a year ago?

That's what we've lost.

under this language charlie kirk would not have been allowed to speak on clemson’s campus

Buh-rilliant. I’d like Funko POP!s of the whole set, thank you

Conservatives Are Doxxing Innocent People Over Charlie Kirk | Taylor Lorenz Get more from Taylor Lorenz on Patreon

Please read and share this story to help clear these innocent people's names.

I also publish my work on Patreon if you prefer to share the Patreon link instead of Substack.

To my black students and teachers specifically:

PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND STAY SAFE.