Oversight

OPM’s retirement backlog has fallen off the agency’s list of top management challenges

The Office of Personnel Management’s inspector general last month reported that the federal government’s dedicated HR agency faces taller tasks in the form of launching a health insurance program for postal workers and verifying enrollees’ eligibility for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Updated Management

Officials describe rosy future for problem-plagued background check system overhaul

One interagency official said a long-awaited implementation strategy for the National Background Investigation Services system would be released this week.

Management

FEMA vows readiness as it prepares responses to concurrent crises

The emergency management agency has all the staff it needs for Helene and Milton work, administrator says.

Tech

HHS looks to balance use of clinical data in AI with safety, bias considerations

The agency’s acting chief artificial intelligence officer discussed the future of AI in healthcare delivery.

Workforce

USPS employees in hurricane-ravaged areas deal with loss—and still make their deliveries

Postal workers are navigating downed power lines, fallen trees, sinkholes, and their own tragic circumstances as they carry mail for devastated communities.

Pay & Benefits

A closer look at 2025 FEHB premiums

Open Season is just a few weeks away, and costs are increasing this year. What does that mean for federal employees?

Management

Bipartisan Senate duo seeks to push IRS customer service forward

The tax agency is already working on some of the items in the bill — like improving online accounts.

Management

EEOC touts more than two decades of data-based agency anti-discrimination policy

Management Directive 715, which debuted in 2003, has improved EEO data collection in the federal workforce, providing better insights.

Management

Trump’s refusal, so far, of transition assistance creates a ‘real risk’ for government continuity

The Harris campaign has reached agreements with GSA and the White House on presidential transition preparations.

Tech

Trump and Harris are sharply divided on science, but share common ground on US technology policy

The candidates have demonstrated different budget priorities when it comes to the role of science and research funding in the federal government, but have taken similar approaches in the technology competition with China.

Management

Candidate-centric vetting: A new era of mobility

COMMENTARY | Improved tracking of suitability determinations would lead to true reciprocity and transfer of trust, writes one Trusted Workforce 2.0 expert.

Tech

Inside VA’s drive to offer rideshare services to vets

Since its launch in January 2022, the Veterans Health Administration’s rideshare program for veterans in need of medical-related transportation has provided more than 438,000 rides.

Management

USPS makes its pitch to again slow delivery for some mail

The Postal Service is promising significant savings and to protect most mail from slowdowns, but the plan is facing some resistance.

Pay & Benefits

OPM moves to standardize General Schedule, blue collar locality pay areas

For years, federal employee unions have bemoaned that the pay systems’ differing maps of high-cost regions created pay inequity within agency workforces.

Management

Election-year politics color hurricane recovery efforts

A week after Hurricane Helene struck the Southeast, some elected officials have been reluctant to put on a united front.

Workforce

Does Trump have the right idea about dismantling the Deep State?

COMMENTARY | "Trump’s diagnosis is correct in part but his reform proposal badly misses the target," writes one observer.

Tech

IRS delay on key system could cost up to $70 million

The IRS had been considering switching to a new system for core, individual tax processing, but it’s waiting to do so until after the coming tax season.

Management

‘All hands on deck:’ From Hawaii to Texas, FEMA employees pitch in on Helene response

FEMA personnel, even those not deployed, are working long hours to get supplies where they are needed.

News

Congress left D.C. with little done, they’ll be back Nov. 12 to give it another try

The legislative branch remains on recess until after the election, but a robust slate of congressional action remains, from must-past bills and appropriations to Hurricane Helene response.