Saving Overnight Mail Delivery
House Approves 1.8% Military Pay Raise
Increasing Danger for Feds on Public Lands
IG: No Undue Access for Makers of Bin Laden Film
Should Leaders Ever Lie?
Bedbugs at a DHS Office in Vermont
AUTHOR ARCHIVES
Eric Katz
Staff Correspondent
Eric Katz joined Government Executive in the summer of 2012 after graduating from The George Washington University, where he studied journalism and political science. He has written for his college newspaper and an online political news website and worked in a public affairs office for the Navy’s Military Sealift Command. Most recently, he worked for Financial Times, where he reported on national politics.
African Americans Still Face Obstacles in Federal Workplace, Report Finds
March 15, 2013 African Americans still face discrimination and fewer opportunities in the federal workplace, according to a new report. An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission work group found unconscious biases, insufficient training and mentoring and outdated recruiting and hiring practices have stymied African Americans in federal government. In 2010, EEOC began asking various ...
Unions Bargain for Voluntary Furloughs
March 14, 2013 Federal employee unions are negotiating with agencies across government to allow workers to volunteer to take unpaid leave in the face of sequestration. “We’re getting emails and inquiries from employees who are interested in doing that,” Colleen M Kelley, the National Treasury Employees Union president told Government Executive, adding agencies ...
Postal Service Should Consider Larger Role for Private Sector, Report Says
March 14, 2013 An outside proposal to cut the U.S. Postal Service’s operational expenses in half by outsourcing many services to the private sector is worth considering, a non-profit organization said in a report. But many outstanding concerns must first be addressed. The National Academy of Public Administration -- a congressionally chartered, independent ...
Not Everyone Hates Sequestration
March 14, 2013 While most in government -- from President Obama to agency heads to front-line workers to lawmakers to contractors -- have decried the across-the-board spending cuts of sequestration, a select few could actually benefit from them. Here are some examples: Premium pay executives: Premium pay is offered to certain federal employees ...
Postal Service Turns to Six-Hour Shifts to Reduce Costs
March 13, 2013 Six has been a critical number for the U.S. Postal Service lately. In February, the Postmaster General announced USPS was cutting Saturday mail delivery, going from a six-day to a five-day schedule. The House passed a government funding bill Wednesday that included the rider “six-day delivery…shall continue,” calling into question ...
TSA Will Avoid Furloughs for Now, Union Says
March 13, 2013 The Transportation Security Administration will not furlough employees for the time being, a union official said Wednesday. TSA will instead rely on hiring freezes and eliminating overtime hours to meet sequestration cuts, according to Stacy Bodtmann, an American Federation of Government Employees official who represents TSA employees. Sequestration will still ...
Union Cries Foul Over Navy’s Furlough Exemptions
March 12, 2013 A union representing federal employees has charged the Navy with circumventing Defense Department guidance and exempting civilian managers from sequestration furloughs, though Navy officials denied any wrongdoing. In a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers pointed to ...
IRS Sees Spike in Feds Who Owe Uncle Sam
March 11, 2013 This story has been updated. Nearly 312,000 federal workers and retirees owed more than $3.5 billion in back taxes in 2011, according to The Associated Press. The number of tax delinquent feds marks a 12 percent jump from 2010, when 279,000 employees owed $3.4 billion. Feds have a delinquency rate ...
Some Lawmakers Gave Staff Bonuses as Fiscal Cliff Loomed
March 11, 2013 Nearly a quarter of House lawmakers gave bonuses to their staff in the months leading up to expected tax hikes and spending cuts dubbed the fiscal cliff, according to a CNN report. Representatives from both parties defended the late 2012 bonuses as a reward for good work and an incentive ...
USDA Doesn’t Pay for the Wine-Tasting Anyway
March 8, 2013 The Agriculture Department does not fund or host either of two conferences a Republican lawmaker highlighted as an example of potential agency savings to avoid employee furloughs, USDA officials have said. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in the most recent in a string of letters sent to the Obama administration regarding ...
