Management

Congress Is Still Heading Toward a Shutdown Despite the Budget Deal, Democrats Say

House Republicans are voting on spending bills that would cut funding below the frozen levels lawmakers agreed to as part of the debt ceiling negotiations.

Management

A Bill to Hamstring Agency Rulemaking Passed the House Despite Veto Threat

The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act would require all new major regulations by federal agencies to first be approved by both the House and Senate.

Workforce

Adjusting Jobs to Protect Workers’ Mental Health is Both Easier and Harder Than You Might Think

The tasks employees perform are often not what leads to their mental health degradation. Instead, an employer’s culture and the way its jobs are designed play big roles.

Pay & Benefits

Even The Best Federal Health Benefits Won’t Protect You From The Wildfire Smoke

Great insurance and benefits only helps you to manage potentially terrible consequences. Better to prevent.

Defense

Air Force Lab Seeks Higher-Risk, Higher-Reward Breakthroughs

At the Defense One Tech Summit, AFRL's tech chief says the lab wants to answer science questions that have never been asked.

Oversight

How The Exposure Of Highly Classified Documents Could Harm U.S. Security – And Why There Are Laws Against Storing Them Insecurely

The Espionage Act is much broader than traditional spying and includes the unauthorized possession, storage or disclosure of classified information.

Management

To Advance Equity in Contracting, Make It Easier and Cheaper to Sell to the Public Sector

COMMENTARY | The key to making procurement more inclusive will be to systemically reduce the cost of doing business with public entities—by an order of magnitude.

Workforce

No Telework Cuts for Weather Service Employees, Under Union Settlement

Commerce Department employees represented by the National Weather Service Employees Organization are exempt from recent cuts to telework, though labor leaders bemoan deteriorating relationship with management.

Defense

We’re Still Arguing Over Women in the Military?

The U.S. armed forces need women, and suggestions to the contrary hurt recruiting and readiness.

Workforce

Better Data Sharing Begins With Dispelling Staff Mistrust

Ensuring that employees understand data-sharing agreements and are comfortable with the terminology will build the trust they need to learn to use data effectively, experts say.

Oversight

Trump Indictments Won’t Keep Him From Presidential Race, But Will Make His Reelection Bid Much Harder

Because the Constitution does not require that the president be free from indictment, conviction or prison, it follows that a person under indictment or in prison may run for the office and may even serve as president.

Workforce

Bringing Federal Retirees Back Might Do More Harm Than Good. Here’s Why.

COMMENTARY | There are better ways to build, sustain and grow the federal workforce long-term than rehiring those who have already left it, one writer argues.

Management

Agencies Brace for a Renewed Era of Belt-Tightening

Most non-defense agencies will see their budgets frozen or cut next fiscal year.

Workforce

‘Flexibility’ Will Be Key to Agencies Retaining Military Spouses, Biden Says

President Biden signed an executive order last week tasking agencies with developing new plans to recruit and retain spouses of military service members and said telework will play a key role.

Oversight

Trump Indictment Unsealed – A Criminal Law Scholar Explains What The Charges Mean, And What Prosecutors Will Now Need To Prove

The 49-page document details how Trump kept classified government documents – including papers concerning U.S. nuclear capabilities – scattered in boxes across his home at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, long after his presidency ended in 2021 and the government tried to reclaim them.

Management

Let's Play: How Games Can Improve Employee Learning

COMMENTARY | Gamification or game-based learning is a great tactic in training employees on the skills and processes they need to know for their current positions and to encourage them to upskill for their next jobs.

Management

House Republicans Want NOAA to be an Independent Agency

Removing it from the Commerce Department would boost protections for scientists and eliminate "bureaucratic inefficiencies," they say.

Workforce

FLRA Could Be Back to Full Strength With Latest Nomination

After six months of operating with an even partisan split, President Biden announced he would nominate a top Defense Department official for the final post at the FLRA.