Workforce
COVID Hits Wildfire Fighters Even Harder Than Last Year
At least 421 U.S. Forest Service fire personnel tested positive for COVID-19 this year.
Management
Biden’s Pandemic Plan Overlooks Mask Mandates and Vulnerable Populations
President Biden outlined a six-point strategy to confront the pandemic. But two public health scholars believe it would work better with help from states.
Management
GovExec Daily: Updates to the Vaccine Mandate for Feds
Courtney Bublé joins the podcast to discuss clarifications from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force.
Employee Policy
How the Pentagon copes with funding hiccups
The GAO examines some of the Defense Department's tactics to lessen the effects of inconsistent funding during continuing resolutions.
Employee Policy
Fed Reserve moves on mandates
The Federal Reserve System's twelve regional banks and offices are moving ahead quickly with COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Route Fifty
Deploying the National Guard to Fill a School Bus Driver Shortage
Schools across the country are finding it difficult to recruit and retain school bus drivers.
Pay & Benefits
Career Prosecutors Continue Push for Pay Equity
According to Justice Department statistics, only 65% of assistant U.S. attorneys are paid equivalent to a GS-15 or above, while the attorney corps at several other subcomponents are over 90% GS-15s.
Management
House Panel Approves Spending Surge to Fix and Upgrade VA Buildings
Funding would preempt a commission that will determine what VA's footprint should look like going forward.
Nextgov
Postal Service Law Enforcement Isn’t Fully Tracking Inspectors’ Use of Cryptocurrencies
Investigators reported using cryptocurrencies in nine closed cases. Auditors found another 1,064 that might not have been properly recorded.
Management
Questions Linger on Vaccine Mandate for Federal Contractors
More guidance is expected to be released on September 24.
Defense
Congress’ Afghanistan Oversight Marred By Politics
Lawmakers overwhelmingly postured instead of asking America’s top diplomat real questions.
Workforce
Coronavirus Roundup: A November 22 Deadline for Feds to Get Vaccinated; Booster Shot Clashes
There's a lot to keep track of. Here’s today’s list of news updates and stories you may have missed.
Defense
Will Congress Ever Repeal Its Post-9/11 War Authorizations?
The passage of two decades since the Sept. 11 terror attacks might be a “wake-up call” for lawmakers.
Management
18 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic – a Retrospective in 7 Charts
A lot has happened since the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. A portrait in data highlights trends in everything from case counts, to research publications, to variant spread.
Oversight
GovExec Daily: The Sept. 11 Attacks' Effects on Government Administration
Public administration experts join the podcast to discuss how the events of 9/11 have changed the administrative state.
Employee Policy
How COVID has changed citizen services
Record demand for services and pandemic precautions have prompted some fundamental reassessments about delivery.
Employee Policy
NTEU: Five fed families win scholarships
Five federal employee families this week were awarded with scholarships to help further public-minded career endeavors, courtesy of NTEU.
Route Fifty
Justice Department Issues New Rules to Monitor Oversight of Police
The changes are meant to help minimize the costs of consent decrees to local jurisdictions and to avoid any conflict of interest among the monitors who oversee the reforms.
Management
Court Appears to Favor Allowing Large Postal Service Price Hikes
Large-scale mailers are arguing federal statute requires increases to be tied to inflation.
Nextgov