Prevents elimination or hollowing-out of Ecological Services field offices responsible for ESA Section 4 and Section 7 work.

Blocks sudden loss of listing biologists, SSA leads, and recovery coordinators, which would stall species listings and critical habitat rules.

Protects Refuge System staff from office closures or forced relocations that disrupt refuge operations and visitor services.

Protects newly hired biologists, biological technicians, refuge staff, administrative employees, and others within their first years of service, who have fewer protections than longer serving employees.

Prevents loss of early-career staff who often carry heavy workloads in consultations, surveys, and data collection.

Under DOGE these workers were Illegally terminated en-mass without supervisor input or approval. Blanket termination letters were issued erroneously stating they were being fired for cause preventing them from accessing unemployment benefits. 

All illegally terminated staff were reinstated, paid backpay, and their records expunged of false statements indicating poor performance.

Protects GS-11–13 biologists and senior specialists from being fired for scientific conclusions (e.g., species status determinations, jeopardy analyses).

Preserves scientific integrity by preventing political retaliation through at-will firing.

Prevents DOI, including FWS,  from using shutdown-related funding gaps to justify unlawful, permanent job losses in field stations, refuges, and other offices.

Stabilizes staffing during shutdown recovery when backlogs already overwhelm staff.

Protects staff from being pushed out during peak workloads (e.g., listing deadlines, consultation surges).

Prevents sudden institutional knowledge loss from coordinated resignations.

Protects performance reviews, discipline files, payroll, benefits, and telework data of FWS staff.

Prevents misuse of data to target employees based on job duties, location, or program area.