Madison Alder

Madison Alder is a reporter for FedScoop in Washington, D.C., covering government technology. Her reporting has included tracking government uses of artificial intelligence and monitoring changes in federal contracting. She’s broadly interested in issues involving health, law, and data. Before joining FedScoop, Madison was a reporter at Bloomberg Law where she covered several beats, including the federal judiciary, health policy, and employee benefits. A west-coaster at heart, Madison is originally from Seattle and is a graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

Articles by Author

The National Science Foundation building (Wikimedia Commons)

NSF says it’s reinstating fired probationary employees

Workforce

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 17: The Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building is visible along with signs that read “Protect National Park Workers” and “No One is Above The Law” at a rally against the Trump administration during “Not My President’s Day” protests at the Capitol Reflecting Pool on February 17, 2025 in Washington, DC. Protests are being held in cities across the nation on Presidents’ Day against what the organizers say are “the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration.” (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

US judge issues temporary pause on federal probationary worker firings

Transition

Former federal workers protest against Trump administration policies in front of the Hubert Humphrey Health and Human Services building in Washington D.C. on Feb. 19, 2025. (Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Federal board stays firing of six probationary workers, opening door to further challenges

Workforce

Protesters gather outside of the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building headquarters of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management on February 03, 2025 in Washington, DC. The group of federal employees and supporters are protesting against Elon Musk, tech billionaire and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and his aids who have been given access to federal employee personal data and have allegedly locked out career civil servants from the OPM computer systems. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Agencies take cautious approaches to OPM email asking for list of accomplishments

Workforce

The E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse located at 333 Constitution Avenue NW in the Judiciary Square neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The building houses the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit). (Flickr/AgnosticPreachersKid)

Federal judge denies request to halt agency probationary firings

Workforce

The National Science Foundation building (Wikimedia Commons)

NSF terminates 170 probationary employees, experts amid mass federal firings

Workforce

AFGE banner — Members of the American Federation of Government Employees set up a banner before a protest of a government shutdown on Jan. 8, 2019, in Philadelphia. Mark Makela / Getty Images)

AFGE says it will fight mass federal firings, refuting ‘performance’ claims

Federal

Demonstrators stand outside the Office of Personnel Management headquarters Feb. 4 to protest the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency and a “deferred resignation” offer to federal workers from the OPM called “Fork in the Road.” (Photo by Madison Alder)

Unions lack standing to challenge ‘deferred resignation,’ judge rules, voiding deadline pause

Workforce

Federal judge orders HHS, CDC, FDA to restore webpages, datasets

Federal