Employment disputes are all too common inside and outside of government, including at the CIA. In one pending lawsuit, a former CIA employee claimed that the Agency improperly terminated his employment and communicated negative information about him to another prospective employer, thereby violating his rights.
In this case, however, the name of the aggrieved employee is a national security secret.
“As plaintiff’s true name is classified, he has been permitted to file as ‘Peter B.’,” according to a recent court ruling (pdf), in which Judge Richard W. Roberts rejected the CIA’s motion to dismiss the case. “Peter B’s” attorney, Mark S. Zaid, whose name is not classified, welcomed the June 1 opinion.
The new alignment signals a clear shift in priorities: offices dedicated to clean energy and energy efficiency have been renamed, consolidated, or eliminated, while new divisions elevate hydrocarbons, fusion, and a combined Office of AI & Quantum.
We came out of the longest shutdown in history and we are all worse for it. Who won the shutdown fight? It doesn’t matter – Americans lost. And there is a chance we run it all back again in a few short months.
Promising examples of progress are emerging from the Boston metropolitan area that show the power of partnership between researchers, government officials, practitioners, and community-based organizations.
Americans trade stocks instantly, but spend 13 hours on tax forms. They send cash by text, but wait weeks for IRS responses. The nation’s revenue collector ranks dead last in citizen satisfaction. The problem isn’t just paperwork — it’s how the government builds.