Management

ICE Deported a Woman Who Accused Guards of Sexual Assault While the Feds Were Still Investigating the Incident

The DHS and DOJ inspectors general are investigating allegations that ICE guards assaulted detainees in camera blind spots. DHS instructed ICE not to deport a key witness, then suddenly decided to allow it.

Oversight

GovExec Daily: Career Feds and Political Interference

Eric Katz joins the podcast to discuss the investigations into interference into agency work.

Route Fifty

Hawaiian Island Can Create ‘Resort Bubbles’ for Quarantined Visitors

STATE AND LOCAL NEWS ROUNDUP | People in Alabama and Florida dealing with ‘historic and catastrophic’ flooding … Vermont governor vetoes climate legislation … Minnesota governor asks presidential candidates to follow Covid precautions.

Route Fifty

Grant Funding Will Help Bolster Financial Literacy Programs for State and Local Public Workers

Recent research found that two-thirds of public employees are interested in workplace programs that provide guidance on how to better manage their finances.

Management

Postal Employees Skeptical as Top Officials Testify They Were 'Appalled' Over Mail Delays

Top brass from USPS headquarters say slowdown was caused by local officials misinterpreting Louis DeJoy's initiatives.

Route Fifty

California Opens a Path to Professional Firefighting for Formerly Incarcerated People

In California, many wildfires are fought by incarcerated people trained to be firefighters. Their criminal records barred them from continuing in the field after release—until now.

Management

TSP Board Nominees Advance From Committee, But Vote on OPM Nominee Postponed

Senators in both parties last week expressed concerns about OPM director nominee John Gibbs’ fitness for the position in light of Twitter posts that were Islamophobic, anti-LGBT and endorsing debunked satanic conspiracy theories.

Nextgov

Interior IG Team Used Evil Twins and $200 Tech to Hack Department Wi-Fi Networks

A team of hackers was able to gain access to Interior networks using publicly available equipment, open source software and a backpack.

Pay & Benefits

How to Know if You’re Contributing Enough to the TSP

For some people, $100,000 may be enough; for others, $2 million may not be enough.

Workforce

Coronavirus Roundup: Lawmakers Ask for Emergency Review of ICE Whistleblower Claims, Administration Releases Vaccine Distribution Strategy 

There's a lot to keep track of. Here’s today’s list of news updates and stories you may have missed.

Nextgov

Why the Pentagon’s JEDI Saga Is Far From Over

The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure procurement may be grounded until at least February, according to a new timeline agreed to by the government and Amazon Web Services. 

Defense

Revealed: US Air Force Has Secretly Built and Flown a New Fighter Jet

The new digital tools that designed the full-scale flight demonstrator could herald a sea change in weapons acquisition.

Management

Gauge of U.S. Democracy Hits Its Lowest Score Yet

The latest survey results from the political science research project Bright Line Watch are in: U.S. democracy gets just 61 out of 100.

Oversight

GovExec Daily: Communications and the Pandemic

Courtney Bublé joins the podcast to discuss the $250M messaging contract at HHS that Democrats want to investigate.

Route Fifty

Louisville Agrees to $12 Million Settlement and Police Reforms After Death of Breonna Taylor

STATE AND LOCAL NEWS ROUNDUP | Minneapolis police making fewer traffic stops … Maryland needs to decide how to complete transit project after contractors leave … Private schools will get less CARES Act money than U.S. Department of Education wanted.

Pay & Benefits

Appeals Court Overturns Dismissal of EEOC Attorney’s Retaliation Claims

D.C. Circuit Court finds that a lower court improperly dismissed a lawsuit by an EEOC attorney who said the agency interfered with her pay and benefits and denied reasonable accommodation requests over her filing discrimination claims against federal agencies.

Management

Calls for Investigations, Resignations Ramp Up Over Allegations of Political Interference at Federal Agencies

Democrats are probing potential improper political influence at several different agencies across government.