Oversight
The Trump Administration’s Final Push to Make It Easier for Religious Employers to Discriminate
Last-minute policies on religious freedom clear the way for employers to hire on the basis of faith. Some of the changes won't be easy for Biden to undo.
Oversight
Groups Request Reminder of Federal Employees’ Whistleblower Rights
They are concerned agency heads could be scaring employees away from disclosing wrongdoing.
Oversight
Watchdog Finds Education Department’s Return to Office Plan is Generally Good
The plan largely incorporates recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, White House, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Oversight
GovExec Daily: Revisiting 2020 Election Security
The Alliance for Securing Democracy's David Levine joins the podcast to discuss how elections can be more secure in the wake of the recent presidential contest.
Oversight
Viewpoint: IGs Need More Resources to Combat COVID Stimulus Spending Fraud
Problems with the Small Business Administration’s pandemic loan programs illustrate the need for stronger oversight.
Oversight
GovExec Daily: The CR and the Possibility of a Shutdown
Eric Katz joins the podcast to discuss the negotiations in Congress before funding runs out.
Oversight
Efforts to Stop Trump’s Border Wall Construction Could Extend Long Past Inauguration Day
President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration next month will mark a change in border policies, but the litigation over Donald Trump’s border wall could continue, wall opponents say.
Oversight
White House Trade Adviser Violated Hatch Act Multiple Times, Watchdog Finds
The Office of Special Counsel recommended disciplinary action, but the Trump administration has been weak on enforcing the law prohibiting political activity in the federal workplace.
Oversight
OSC Finds ‘Substantial Likelihood’ of Wrongdoing at Global Media Agency
The ongoing investigation centers on CEO Michael Pack’s six-month tenure.
Oversight
GovExec Daily: Midnight Regulations During the Transition
Courtney Bublé joins the podcast to discuss the outgoing administration's last-minute rulemaking.
Oversight
Watchdog: OMB Should Issue Guidance About Improper Payments With COVID Relief Funds
The full extent of the issue is not fully known yet, but there could be a “substantial” sum in mistaken payments, said the Government Accountability Office.
Oversight
Watchdog Finds EPA Reopening Plans Largely Follow CDC, But Were Inconsistent
The reopening process, a source of tension between the agency and its union, is a “significant challenge” for EPA, said the report.
Oversight
Census Workers From Across the U.S. Are Raising Big Concerns about This Year’s Count
Workers say poor training, a cascade of shifting deadlines and clunky technology produced confusion on the ground. Now, a lawsuit and several government reports are echoing their claims.
Oversight
Trump Races to Weaken Environmental and Worker Protections, and Implement Other Last-Minute Policies, Before Jan. 20
The Trump administration is rushing to approve dozens of eleventh-hour policy changes. Among them: The Justice Department is fast-tracking a rule that could reintroduce firing squads and electrocutions to federal executions.
Oversight
Lawmakers Seek Watchdog Briefings on Schedule F Implementation
Democrats asked the Government Accountability Office to keep them informed of how the Trump administration is moving ahead with a plan to politicize potentially hundreds of thousands of federal jobs in the coming weeks.
Oversight
GovExec Daily: The Coronavirus Response During the Transition
Courtney Bublé joins the podcast to discuss the COVID-19 crisis amid vaccine news and the transfer of power.
Oversight
GovExec Daily: The Effects of the Ascertainment Delay
George Washington University's Steven L. Schooner joins the podcast to discuss GSA chief Emily Murphy's decision to not officially start the transition.
Oversight
Judge Orders Trump Administration to Stop Immediate Deportations of Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors
The practice started in March as a way to contain the spread of COVID-19. At least 13,000 unaccompanied children had been removed from the country under the order, the ACLU said in a statement.
Oversight
House Considers New Whistleblower Protection Rules
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s proposal would protect the identities of federal whistleblowers.
Oversight