Workforce
Coronavirus Roundup: Secret Service Ramps Up COVID-Investigations; Questions About New COVID Testing Website
Here’s today’s list of news updates and stories you may have missed.
Tech
Air Force Breakthrough Brings Space-Based Solar Power One Step Closer
Tomorrow’s remote military bases could be powered by a light-to-microwave tile that just passed a key test.
Exclusive
Defense
Army Creates Single Vaccine Against All COVID & SARS Variants, Researchers Say
Within weeks, Walter Reed researchers expect to announce that human trials show success against Omicron—and even future strains.
Management
GovExec Daily: Mandates and Next Federal COVID-19 Steps
Courtney Bublé joins the show to discuss the Biden administration's fight against the Omicron variant.
Oversight
Agencies Are Getting Better at Using the Defense Production Act for Pandemic Response
A watchdog report shows progress just as the Biden administration plans to increase reliance on the law to combat the omicron variant.
Employee Policy
Be a mentor -- or learn from one
Young Government Leaders has opened applications for next year’s Mentoring Program.
Management
Biden to Launch Federal COVID-19 Testing Centers, New Federally Run Vaccination Sites
White House again ups federal agency deployments to confront COVID-19 pandemic and the Omicron variant.
Breaking News
Defense
Click ‘Like’, Get Punished Under Pentagon’s New Anti-Extremism Policy
First update since 2012 adds rules for social-media behavior.
Workforce
GovExec Daily: Ahuja on Pay, COVID-19 and Hiring
The OPM chief joins the podcast again to discuss how to make the civil service younger, pay scales and how the COVID-19 rules are affecting federal employees.
Employee Policy
NDAA requires DOD to report on prospects for a ‘cyber academy’
The annual defense bill included a provision to report on the potential efficacy of a National Cyber Academy modeled after existing military service academies.
Employee Policy
Union: Some wins, some compromises in NDAA
The National Federation of Federal Employees is taking a victory lap for changing a much-derided two-year probationary period for some new employees back to one year.
Workforce
Science Foundation and Union Clear the Air on Reentry, Remote Work Plans
In a message to employees, agency leaders provided a detailed timeline for returning to the office and implementing plans to adopt a hybrid work environment, and sought to assuage employee fears amid the rise of a new COVID variant.
Oversight
EPA Watchdog: Oversight ‘More Important Than Ever’ With Infrastructure Package
A specific oversight plan for the new funding is likely forthcoming.
Management
Postal Service Settles Election Case, Agrees to Continue Prioritizing Ballots
USPS will continue steps it implemented for the 2020 election through at least 2028.
Workforce
Coronavirus Roundup: Tracking Vaccine Mandate Clauses in Contracts; Dr. Collins Has Stepped Down as NIH Director
There's a lot to keep track of. Here’s today’s list of news updates and stories you may have missed.
Defense
At Least 458 U.S. Crimes Tied to Extremism Involved Veterans, Active Duty Troops
The “underlying factors are not going away,” says one researcher.
Management
GovExec Daily: OPM Director Kiran Ahuja on the Biden Management Agenda
The Office of Personnel Management chief joins the podcast to discuss her agency's role in executing the PMA.
Pay & Benefits
Pay Agent Adds One New County to Locality Pay Area, Encourages ‘Fresh’ Look at Other Issues
Although the president’s pay agent declined to waive the requirement that there be at least 2,500 General Schedule employees in a region to be eligible for a locality pay area, it noted that Carroll County, Illinois, has recently met the requirement anyway.
Retirement
Debt-ceiling deal averts steep losses for retirees
Had Congress not acted to lift the federal government’s debt ceiling limit, it would potentially threaten the retirement savings of millions of Americans, according to the National Association of Plan Advisors.
Management