Oversight
Watchdog: HHS Should Update Congress on COVID-19 Spending Time Frames
GAO offers 15 new recommendations for improving the federal government’s pandemic response.
Workforce
IRS Funding Surge Punted From Bipartisan Infrastructure Package
Democrats still plan to fund major hiring boost for the tax agency in another measure.
Workforce
Coronavirus Roundup: Smithsonian and National Archives Advance Reopenings; Court Sides with CDC on Cruises
There's a lot to keep track of. Here’s today’s list of news updates and stories you may have missed.
Defense
Republicans Try New Bill to Repay National Guard for Post-Riot Protection, Minus a Rapid Response Force
No House GOPers voted for a May bill that would have reimbursed the Guard more than a half billion dollars.
Oversight
New COVID-19 Vaccine Warnings Don’t Mean It’s Unsafe – They Mean the System to Report Side Effects Is Working
Ongoing tracking is meant to spot very rare risks – like the connection between the Johnson & Johnson shot and Guillain-Barré syndrome. And it relies on public reporting.
Workforce
63% of Workers Who File an EEOC Discrimination Complaint Lose Their Jobs
Workers who filed complaints faced retaliation and rarely got a favorable result from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Workforce
GovExec Daily: The Complications of Raising the Minimum Contractor Wage
GovExec contributor Stan Soloway joins the podcast discuss the the Biden Executive Order.
Management
DOJ Will Not Prosecute Trump Officials After IG Referred Findings of False Testimony on Census
Investigators verified that former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross misled Congress, but the Justice Department said it won't pursue prosecution.
Nextgov
NIST Outlines Security Measures for Software Use and Testing Under Executive Order
Eyes now turn to the Office of Management and Budget to issue requirements for federal agencies and contractors based on NIST’s work.
Oversight
Inspector General Vindicates Top Global Media Agency Officials Suspended During Trump Administration
The situation was one of many controversial ones under the agency’s former CEO, who claims he was trying to “return this agency to fulfilling its legally mandated mission.”
Route Fifty
How Localities and States Can Prepare for Broadband Expansion
Governments can use American Rescue Plan Act funding to pay for broadband infrastructure. Experts say local governments are in the best position to know what initiatives will work to connect residents.
Pay & Benefits
GPO To Offer Full-Time Telework After COVID
Around one-third of the agency’s 1,500 employees will be able to work entirely remotely, and officials said some will be able to move out of the Washington, D.C., area.
Management
A Postal Worker Begged for Stronger COVID-19 Protections. She Ended Up Spending Six Weeks in the Hospital.
The limited response to postal workers’ repeated appeals for help provides a window into the failures of two federal agencies: the Postal Service, which is one of the country’s largest employers, and OSHA, which is supposed to protect workers.
Defense
National Guard Scrambles for Funds After Congress Refuses to Cover Jan. 6-Related Costs
More than a half billion dollars in the hole, the Guard’s chief has ordered the heads of the Army and Air Guards to claw back money from state units.
Workforce
Biden Targets Noncompete Agreements, Which Restrict the Job Opportunities of Millions of Low-Wage Workers
The president is asking the Federal Trade Commission to ban or limit their use as part of an executive order promoting competition.
Workforce
GovExec Daily: Federal In-Person Office Policies and the 'Honor System'
Federal employment attorney Stephanie Rapp-Tully joins the show to discuss vaccination proof and agency's – and feds' – risks.
Workforce
House Spending Bill Pushes Social Security to Reverse Trump-era Workforce Changes
Language accompanying the bill orders a report by the end of 2021 on telework, and urges the agency to reverse actions that undercut the independence of administrative law judges.
Pay & Benefits
Inflation and the Great COLA Countdown of 2021
For the first time in recent memory, the annual cost-of-living adjustment for federal retirement benefits could increase significantly.
Nextgov
Lawmakers Look to Improve Cyber Workforce, Especially for Acquisitions
The effort is happening through major Department of Homeland Security reform legislation recently introduced in the House and a supply-chain bill that just cleared committee in the Senate.
Management