Pay & Benefits
5 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself Right Now
Federal employees need to be financially ready in case they’re affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Workforce
Coronavirus Roundup: Majority of Pandemic Contracts Have Been for Medical Supplies and Were Not Awarded Competitively
There's a lot to keep track of. Here’s today’s list of news updates and stories you may have missed.
Route Fifty
Figuring Out School Bus Routes Is More Complicated Than Ever. Districts Are Turning to Technology for Help.
In places where kids go to in-person school, buses will look different this year as systems deal with the challenges of transporting kids during a pandemic.
Defense
Boeing’s Coronavirus Losses Now Bleeding Into Its Defense Accounts
More layoffs, production slowdowns and factory closures are being considered, executives said.
Workforce
9/11 First Responder Brains Are 10 Years ‘Older’ Than Normal
First responders who were at the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001 are at risk of developing dementia, two new studies show.
Benefits
AI commission floats idea of digital service academy
The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence has suggested establishing a national digital service academy to train technical talent.
Oversight
GovExec Daily: Election Security as November Approaches
The Alliance for Securing Democracy's David Levine spoke to the podcast about how to keep voters – and votes – safe at the polls.
Employee Policy
Union pleads for USCIS funding as furloughs loom
The immigration agency is seeking $1.2 billion to keep employees working through an anticipated financial shortfall it links to the pandemic.
Route Fifty
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown Says Many Federal Officers Will Leave Portland
STATE AND LOCAL NEWS ROUNDUP | A couple states report surprisingly good tax receipts in July … Tennessee governor OKs resumption of high school football … Florida marks 5,000 Burmese pythons removed from Everglades.
Route Fifty
States Warn Residents About Unsolicited Seed Packages Sent From China
People have received the mysterious shipments in at least 22 states. The seeds could pose threats to the environment and agriculture. Federal authorities are investigating.
Management
Expanded Telework Could Save Individual Feds $2.5K-$4K Annually
Lessons from the pandemic have big implications for federal offices and employees, lawmakers and experts say.
Workforce
USCIS Pleads for Money to Avoid Furloughs, Democrats Float Making the Funds Contingent on Policy Changes
"Don't send us home," employee implores lawmakers at hearing.
Pay & Benefits
Feds' Chances For a Bigger 2021 Pay Raise Wane, and a Renewed Push for Coronavirus Hazard Pay
A weekly roundup of pay and benefits news.
Nextgov
GAO: More Than Half of COVID-19 Government Contracts Not Competitively Awarded
While some of that spending went through existing IDIQs, some $7.7 billion in new contracts were awarded “using the unusual and compelling urgency exception.”
Nextgov
Facial Recognition Algorithms Struggle to Detect Faces Under Masks, NIST Study Finds
A new study from the National Institute of Standards and Technology found facial recognition algorithms developed pre-pandemic struggle to identify masked faces.
Employee Policy
Time to reinvent federal telework, lawmaker says
With the dramatic changes affecting the federal workforce since the outbreak of COVID-19, it’s time to re-evaluate telework, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) says.
Workforce
Coronavirus Roundup: Senate Republican Says It Might be Time to Update Telework Policies; IG Flags Fraud Concerns with SBA Loans
There's a lot to keep track of. Here’s today’s list of news updates and stories you may have missed.
Management
After Months of Negotiations, Postal Service Reaches Agreement for $10B Loan From Treasury
Congress authorized the loan in March, and USPS has since said additional relief is necessary.
Defense
Raytheon CEO Projects Three-Year Coronavirus Downturn
It’s "a hell of a lot worse than what we originally projected," says the head of the new company formed by the United Technologies-Raytheon merger earlier this year.
Nextgov