Pay & Benefits
TSP funds touts well-rounded gains in March
Every portfolio in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program posted increases last month.
Oversight
MSPB political firing case raises new questions on Schedule F
The Housing and Urban Development Department’s 2017 firing of a probationary employee over alleged leaks was politically motivated, the agency tasked with enforcing civil service laws said last week.
Management
Biden administration finalizes first demographics data standards update in nearly 30 years
No longer will “race” and “ethnicity” be bifurcated into separate questions in federal datasets and questionnaires such as the U.S. Census, and people of Middle Eastern or North African ancestry will have their own distinct category.
Management
Biden vows to rebuild collapsed Baltimore bridge as feds lead emergency response
Six people remain missing after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River early Tuesday when a cargo ship lost control and crashed into a support column.
Pay & Benefits
House conservatives recycle federal worker pay and benefit cuts in budget document
The Republican Study Committee’s fiscal 2025 budget plan would drastically cut federal workers’ retirement and health care benefits and end across-the-board annual pay hikes.
Workforce
O’Malley urges lawmakers to support hiring money for Social Security
President Biden’s fiscal 2025 budget proposal would boost the beleaguered agency’s funding by 9% over fiscal 2023 levels, which the new commissioner said is key to improving customer service.
Pay & Benefits
Public Service Loan Forgiveness passes $60 billion in erased debt
Since a series of tweaks to make the program easier to access, more than 850,000 Americans have had their loans forgiven in exchange for a decade of public service.
Updated
Oversight
House committee leaders want Biden to oust the acting Commerce IG
Lawmakers on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee said the current acting inspector general is “entangled” in the allegations that led to his predecessor’s ouster, adding that they lack confidence in “any” senior staffers to lead the watchdog office.
Workforce
D.C. lawmaker wants to restore due process to feds in ‘sensitive’ posts
A new bill would overrule a 2013 federal appellate court decision that denied roughly 200,000 federal employees access to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
Workforce
OPM’s labor-management forum guidance charts new ground for union policies
Federal agencies will be expected to embrace the return of collaborative councils, where federal employee unions may weigh in on future workplace policies, and measure the forums’ impact on employee engagement, agency performance and cost savings.
Workforce
Lawmakers, employee groups call for a permanent increase in federal firefighter pay
Under current measures implemented by the Biden administration, federal wildland firefighters will face yet another “pay cliff” this fall.
Workforce
Employees ratify TSA’s first union contract since rights expansion
The American Federation of Government Employees’ new collective bargaining agreement streamlines grievance and arbitration rules and greatly expands work-life balance policies like shift trading.
Updated
Pay & Benefits
Biden proposes 2% raise for feds in 2025 budget
Following multiple years of multi-decade record pay increases, the White House cited “fiscal constraints” facing agencies to justify smaller raises next year.
Oversight
OPM slices record retirement processing time in February
The overall retirement backlog ticked back under 20,000 last month, amid the federal government’s HR agency’s busy season.
Management
Biden uses State of the Union to paint Republicans as barriers
The president scolded former President Trump and House GOP lawmakers for scuttling a bipartisan plan to boost border agency staffing, and frequently touted governmental investments enacted without Republican support.
Workforce
Biden order expands federal apprenticeships, reestablishes labor-management forums
Federal employee unions say the new order provides much-needed teeth to the president’s existing labor policies.
Workforce
Congress' minibus spending deal could potentially avert firefighter pay cliff
Lawmakers have until Friday evening to pass the first of two spending packages that will run until Sept. 30.
Workforce
FLRA: CBP owes backpay to officers denied nightwork premium pay
The chairwoman of the body that oversees federal sector labor issues also expressed an openness to revisiting the legal definition of repudiating a union contract.
Pay & Benefits
Most TSP funds gained ground in February
Only one of the portfolios in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program ended last month in the red.
Oversight