Management
Senate rejects measure to end shutdowns for good, but makes progress on spending bills
Rather than end the threat of shutdowns, Congress is barreling toward a possible one three weeks away.
Pay & Benefits
Senate panel advances measures to overhaul federal workers’ death benefits, agency customer service
The money families of federal workers who die while on the job receive in gratuity and funerary benefits has not been updated since 1997.
Management
OMB should set office space benchmarks accounting for telework reality, GAO says
The watchdog followed up its September testimony on underutilized federal offices to call for the Office of Management and Budget to set the standard for optimizing federal real property portfolios in an increased telework environment.
Pay & Benefits
Time for the fall deadlines
A checklist to help you prioritize as you sort through your federal retirement and insurance benefits.
Workforce
New House speaker has a plan to avoid a shutdown—and to overhaul the civil service
Mike Johnson is giving his Republican colleagues options to keep agencies open while the larger spending fight plays out.
Tech
CISA and HHS look to help the health sector ramp up cyber hygiene
Agency resources are intended to address the longstanding challenges health systems and hospitals have faced from increasingly advanced cyberattacks.
Workforce
Private sector’s best practices can help agencies bring feds back to the office
COMMENTARY | Federal agencies can help employees ease their way back into the office this fall by creating a healthy and flexible workplace culture, writes one observer.
Workforce
‘There’s no fat left to trim’: FLRA chairwoman warns of possible furloughs in 2024
The agency tasked with overseeing labor-management relations in the federal government had a smaller budget in fiscal 2023 than it did in 2004.
Management
House picks new speaker, but shutdown threat looms
Federal agency missions often take a back seat amid preparations for a funding lapse.
News
After three weeks of stalemate, Louisiana's Mike Johnson is elected speaker of the House
Johnson, who does not have a strong bipartisan track record, will be tasked with working with the Democratic-controlled Senate on a quickly approaching Nov.17 government funding deadline.
Management
USPS significantly ramps up payouts for those who help convict mail thieves
The Postal Service touts progress in crime crack down despite pushback from watchdogs and employee groups.
Management
Legacy programs stymie Biden's efforts to boost equity in infrastructure spending
Communities of color benefit when federal agencies pick transportation projects, but most infrastructure money is doled out using old rules that favor whiter areas, according to a new report from the Urban Institute.
Pay & Benefits
Bill would significantly raise the on-duty death benefit for fed workers
A bipartisan group of lawmakers want to increase the amount tenfold.
Management
Lawmakers propose establishing a new customer experience chief at OMB
A House bill would also have agencies tap a senior official to coordinate improvements to government services.
Workforce
IRS chief confident tax experts will make the 'financial sacrifice' necessary to work for his agency
The commissioner on Tuesday defended his implementation of new funds to skeptical Republicans.
Management
‘Historic agreement’ reached between VA and Cherokee Nation to expand veterans care in Oklahoma
The clinic, which will serve both non-Native and Indigenous veterans, is expected to open early next year.
Management
GOP’s House paralysis is a crisis in a time of crises
The House remains in limbo, with action needed as budget deadlines loom and a war between Israel and Hamas threatens to spread to other fronts.
Management
FBI’s new headquarters plan was not influenced by the Trump White House, watchdog says
An inspector general report four years in the making found that FBI officials nixed a plan to move its headquarters to suburban Washington, D.C., for reasons not related to alleged political pressure from the Trump administration.
Management
GSA starts the bidding for employee travel system competition
The General Services Administration will choose a single company to provide a "configurable (and) commercial" service that manages travel and expense services for other civilian agencies.
Pay & Benefits