Management

Amid budget squeeze, FLRA panel regs encourage electronic documents filing

Less physical paper taken in by the board that settles bargaining-table disputes between unions and agencies will help streamline workloads as its parent agency reduces its office footprint due to budget woes.

Management

The new FAFSA was supposed to be easier to use. Technical glitches have made it anything but

Marginalized students may have the most to lose as the Education Department’s rollout of the new college financial aid application has hit several bumps.

Management

White House launches federal spending inventory

The new online information service was mandated in 2010 legislation.

Management

County officials lobby for internet subsidies

The FCC is currently turning away hundreds of thousands seeking assistance. If Congress doesn’t soon approve more funding, rural and urban county officials warn, millions will be plunged into “digital darkness.”

Management

Some DHS agencies are more likely to discipline employees than supervisors, GAO says

The watchdog said data gaps in the disciplinary adjudication process at four Homeland Security component agencies meant that they were unable to identify why rank-and-file employees were more likely than supervisors to face misconduct judgments.

Management

Gold, silver and lithium mining on federal land doesn’t bring in any royalties to the US Treasury – because of an 1872 law

Hard rock minerals like gold, silver, copper and lithium on public lands belong to the American public, but under a 150-year-old law, the U.S. gives them away for free.

Management

DHS to slash operations, reshuffle workforce without additional funds, agency warns

The department becomes the latest in the Biden administration to sound the alarm over the impact of budget shortfalls.

Management

Counties want more money for elections. Washington is unlikely to provide it.

“I just don't want anybody to walk out of here thinking that all of a sudden a massive flow of funds is going to come forward,” a House committee chairman told county officials.

Management

On take two, House impeaches DHS secretary

Alejandro Mayorkas becomes the first cabinet secretary to be impeached in nearly 150 years.

Management

FDA’s plan to ban hair relaxer chemical called too little, too late

The move comes at a time of rising alarm among researchers over the health effects of hair straighteners, products widely used by and heavily marketed to Black women.

Management

The DOJ works with law enforcement to improve how deputies communicate with people who don’t speak English

A ProPublica investigation revealed how a grammatical mistake in Spanish led sheriff’s deputies in Wisconsin to wrongly blame a Nicaraguan dairy worker for his son’s death.

Management

OPM to tweak draft dodging rules, delegate investigations to agencies

The federal HR agency said its new plan for investigating when a federal job applicant failed to register for the draft will give applicants a better—and faster—chance to explain themselves.

Management

VA lacks the emergency budget modeling to prepare for health crises like COVID, GAO says

The watchdog said that the Veterans Health Administration does not have the modeling capability to predict how much supplemental funding would be needed to address a black swan event like the pandemic.

Management

USPS sees some signs of a turnaround while losing $2B during recent busy season

The overall loss doubled in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, but the Postal Service doubled its profits in the part of its business that officials can control.

Management

OPM’s talent acquisition system needs better processes for managing agencies’ data

A GAO report found that OPM’s USA Staffing program lacked procedures for managing the interagency agreement data used when agencies utilized its talent acquisition system. 

Management

National Archives tees up new rules for UFO records

New legislation mandates a governmentwide repository of records dealing with "unidentified anomalous phenomena."

Management

House fails to impeach DHS secretary

Alejandro Mayorkas is no longer in peril after the failed vote. If the measure had passed, it would have been the first time a cabinet secretary had been impeached in nearly 150 years.