Management
One More Time: Can Government Be Run Like a Business?
Managers have been encumbered far too long by a civil service system that makes managing poor performers more important than rewarding stars.
Management
Faced with Vacancies, Trump Quietly Resets Justice Department Succession
Trump signed the executive order the same day Attorney General Jeff Sessions was sworn in.
Management
Trump’s Labor Secretary Nominee Just Got Sued For Labor Violations
Andrew Puzder, Trump's pick for Labor, isn't famous for being a friend to workers.
Oversight
Ethics Office Pressures White House to Discipline Kellyanne Conway
Four dozen lawmakers had questioned her on-site commercial for Ivanka Trump products.
Management
Donald Trump's Glacial Pace Toward a Full Cabinet
Most presidents have the majority of their Cabinet confirmed by this point in their first term. Why doesn’t he?
Defense
Flynn's Calls With Russia's Ambassador: Who Knew What, and When?
A timeline of the events that led to the national-security adviser’s resignation
Management
Lawmakers Attempt to Add Veterans to Growing List of Hiring Freeze Exemptions
OPM encourages agencies to continue recruiting and posting openings, despite freeze.
Route Fifty
Police Officers in Iowa Decry GOP Plan; Austin Mayor’s Open Letter on ICE’s ‘Secretive Raids’
Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Florida’s Everglades are at an environmental “tipping point”; snowplow driver shortage in Maine; and Oklahoma governor’s sales tax expansion.
Oversight
Secret Service Chief Clancy Announces Retirement
Obama appointee had sought reforms following series of scandals.
Oversight
Trump's Performative Presidency
The decision to handle the minor crisis of a North Korean missile launch in full view of Mar-a-Lago members makes little sense—except as an opportunity to act out leadership in public.
Defense
Flynn Resigns As National Security Adviser
The retired general acknowledged he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador
Oversight
Play of the Day: Mar-a-Lago is the Open-Air Florida Situation Room
Donald Trump and Shinzō Abe took to the patio dining area to discuss classified information in full view of the club's members.
Management
Why Hiring Freezes Don’t Work
Shrinking the workforce through attrition is guaranteed only to produce a federal bureaucracy badly out of step with the government we want.
Route Fifty
Half of the Children in California Have an Immigrant Parent
In this time of heightened tension surrounding immigration policy, the Golden State faces a disproportionate challenge.
Defense
Pentagon’s Audit Readiness Still a Work in Progress
GAO finds all the services provided iffy financial data to outside auditors.
Management
The Federal Voting Agency Republicans Want to Kill
GOP lawmakers argue the Election Assistance Commission, created in 2002, has outlived its usefulness. Democrats say that in the age of hacking, it’s needed now more than ever.
Defense
Donald Trump Used His Club’s Restaurant as a Situation Room This Weekend
After North Korea launched a ballistic missile, Trump strategized in front of dozens of diners at Mar-a-Lago.
Management
Donald Trump Requested 64 Foreign Guest Workers For His 'Winter White House'
He's hiring the best people.
Tech
A NASA Engineer Was Required to Unlock his Phone at the Border
A U.S.-born scientist was detained at the Houston airport until he gave customs agents the passcode to his work-issued device.
Route Fifty