Oversight
Sun Microsystems quits GSA multiple award contract
Company has been under ongoing scrutiny from the agency’s inspector general and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
Defense
Pentagon changes policy for NSPS pay raises in 2008
Some employees in the new personnel system won’t get the increase they expected.
Oversight
Working group to stay mum on FDA consolidation plan
Lab closure strategy remains suspended as officials see if it would fit in with the panel’s broader recommendations.
Pay & Benefits
Unions call on OPM to rein in health care premiums
Labor leaders say federal government should increase its share of payments and take advantage of subsidies.
Pay & Benefits
Public or Private?
If you want to keep working after you become retirement-eligible, should you stay in government or shift to the private sector?
Tech
Post-Katrina tech funds prove difficult to track
Spreadsheets show millions of dollars in spending on tech-related products and services, including for software and telecommunications, but the data is not always recent.
Tech
Technology agency's leader resigns, agency to close
Move follows efforts in recent years -- both on Capitol Hill and in the Bush administration -- to eliminate the Technology Administration.
Oversight
Watchdog agency seeks extra funds for Hatch Act probe
Office of Special Counsel says it needs to add investigators for wide-ranging inquiry into briefings given by White House staffers.
Oversight
Pilot program to gather subcontracting data moves forward
Information collected as part of test run won’t be available to the public, in a compromise move drawing a mixed reaction.
Defense
Economist warns against vague statements on security threats
Officials should make sure any information they provide is backed by data analysis, rather than gut feelings, researcher says.
Pay & Benefits
Federal health premiums to rise slightly in 2008
Overall, they will go up by an average of 2.1 percent next year, as OPM dips into reserve funds to keep increases down.
Oversight
Staffing shortages slow vets’ employment counseling
VA and Labor coordination efforts hindered by personnel limitations, difficulty sharing information.
Pay & Benefits