Workforce
GovExec Daily: 45,000 VA Employees Still Aren't Vaccinated
Eric Katz joins the podcast to talk about the upcoming deadline for workers at the Veterans Affairs Department to get their COVID-19 vaccines.
Employee Policy
Better, faster research could cut vet suicides
About 17 veterans take their own lives every day, a far higher toll than occurred in America's most recent wars. The think tank RAND Corporation recently presented testimony suggesting that faster collection and publication of data, and associated research, could be used to reduce these horrific losses.
Employee Policy
CISA chief looks to new system for new talent
Despite increasing competition among the public and private sectors in hiring top cyber talent, CISA Director Jen Easterly said she has high hopes for a new personnel management system which reduces friction in hiring and offers new career paths.
Workforce
After Having Their Computers Monitored, Employees Blast SSA Watchdog
Employee group pledges to bring its complaints to the White House and Congress.
Pay & Benefits
Annual Employee Viewpoint Survey Coming Next Month, and More
A weekly roundup of pay and benefits news.
Management
Federal Data Officers Council Seeks Input on Mission, Focus Areas
This request “signals a maturation of the [chief data officer] position,” said a data expert.
Nextgov
GSA Needs Users to Test SAM.gov Ahead of DUNS Transition
Unique Entity IDs are being issued now and the General Services Administration team wants help testing the system that assigns and manages the new identifier.
Pay & Benefits
Federal Retirees to See Largest Cost-of-Living Adjustment in Decades in 2022
While CSRS retirees will receive a 5.9% boost to their defined benefit annuity payments next year, enrollees in FERS will only see a 4.9% increase, renewing calls to change the law.
Breaking News
Defense
Catholic Troops Can Refuse COVID Vaccine, Archbishop Declares
“No one should be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience,” Broglio wrote.
Defense
Taliban Takeover Of Afghanistan Is Inspiring Americans Online, FBI Says
“That’s where they see this rallying cry and their opportunity. Now it’s ‘time to buy a gun, run people over with a car,’ do whatever they’re going to do,” an FBI official said Tuesday.
Management
Racist Housing Policy from 80 Years Ago Still Affects Maternal Health
"This is further evidence of the influence of a legacy of structural racism on the disproportional burden of adverse pregnancy outcomes for Black women..."
Defense
GovExec Daily: The Future of Defense and Modernization
Defense One's Patrick Tucker speaks to Col. Elizabeth Sweet and Dr. Stephen Russell about how the Pentagon sees the future.
Retirement
Sharply higher COLAs announced for 2022
The Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-W calculation of price rises across the economy has resulted in sharply higher cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), just announced Sept. 13 for Social Security as well as federal retirement and other plans.
Employee Policy
IT spend at DOD expected to rise
Rising IT and cyber budgets may lay ahead, as the Defense Department moves forward with implementing zero trust architecture and begins relying more on artificial intelligence.
Management
U.S. to Avoid Default as House Passes Bill to Kick Crisis to December
Congressional leaders have yet to spell out how they will avoid potential delayed paychecks for feds in the long term.
Nextgov
Help Celebrate the Boldest Projects in Government
Nextgov and Government Executive’s BOLD Gov showcases excellence in government—and nominations are open.
Oversight
ATF Misclassified Jobs as Law Enforcement and Retaliated Against Whistleblower, Agencies Say
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is demanding additional information after revelations that the Office of Personnel Management partially suspended the agency’s authority to classify positions.
Nextgov
The Air Force’s First Software Chief Stepped Down—But He Won’t Be Quiet
Nicolas Chaillan briefed Nextgov on his government exit, what’s to come, and why he believes the U.S. should ban TikTok.
Management
Observers Call on the Federal Government to Stop Doing Business With the Trump Organization
The legal basis for a suspension is “clear cut,” said three signatories of a letter on Tuesday.
Management