THE FEDERAL NEWSCAST, (length about seven minutes), is a daily Monday through Friday, high-information compilation of nine 40-second news stories and news packages, generated by the non-partisan, non-political, private-sector team of reporters at Federal News Network. Federal News Radio Producer/Newscasters Eric White and Michele Sandiford assemble and read the stories on the THE FEDERAL DRIVE with TERRY GERTON, the weekday morning-drive program, heard from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. (ET) on the Federal News Network app (and website), on any smart speaker, and on WFED 1500 AM, a 50,000-watt 'Class A' powerhouse radio station in the nation's capital. The podcast is most popular with FNN's audience of highly educated listeners, who conveniently access THE FEDERAL NEWSCAST, 24/7, on any podcast platform . Listen to it (as just mentioned) or read the stories each weekday morning at FederalNewsNetwork.com, where the news items contain hyperlinks for those who want more information on a given story.
In today's Federal Newscast, the Office of Personnel Management will start sending the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey to all federal employees in July. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, the Trump administration is reminding Congress of budget challenges at US Citizenship and Immigration Services. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Federal employees are getting an inflation increase when it comes to accepting non-sponsored gifts at widely-attended events and those under the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act. The Office of Government Ethics raised the thresholds to $415 from $390 over a three-year period. The final rule raises the dollar thresholds for the first time since May 2017. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
The Department of Veterans Affairs is dealing with a cumulative total of over 19,000 corona virus cases, with 2,285 veterans being treated today. More than 200 VA health professionals have active cases, with nearly 1,800 VA additional VA employees having already recovered from COVID-19. And there have been 27 deaths of VA employees due to coronavirus. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
In today's Federal Newscast, the Senior Executives Association is urging the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to take action this year on hiring reforms and other recommendations to modernize the federal workforce. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, a new bill is introduced to set up a temporary federal commission to propose recommendations for eliminating certain agencies. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, another senior pentagon official is stepping down for what appear to be political reasons. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, telework limitations rank high up on the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee’s list of federal agency challenges during the pandemic. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, Elaine McCusker, DoD’s acting comptroller and chief financial officer, will step down on June 26. She was nominated by President Trump for a permanent position, but it was revoked over reported disagreements about Ukraine. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, the Senate applauds the State Department for bringing more than 100-thousand Americans home during the coronavirus pandemic. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, the IRS will no longer be giving employees 10-25% pay increase for going into the office during the coronavirus pandemic. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, Veterans Affairs officials tell Congress they're in the process of securing enough materials to test agency employees. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, the Chief Information Officers Council says government needs a new pay and personnel system to better recruit and compensate the future federal IT workforce. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, while many agencies are setting reopening dates in early to mid-June to bring an initial wave of employees back to the office, the Merit Systems Protection Board is waiting until the end of June. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, a possible silver lining of the coronavirus pandemic, FEMA has a headstart as the 2020 hurricane season officially gets underway. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, one of the biggest federal employee unions is asking the House Armed Services Committee for protection. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is putting a hold on two Trump administration nominations until the White House sheds more light on the recent firing of two inspectors general. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's inspector general says the agency was generally well prepared for the change to mandatory telework. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, the president's nominee to be the Office of Personnel Management inspector general got some face time before the Senate. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, an IRS watchdog finds serious gaps in the agency’s enforcement of high-income households that haven’t filed or paid their taxes. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, with vote-by-mail services in high demand, the Postal Service sets recommendations for state and local governments to make sure each ballot gets counted. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, the Transportation Security Administration soon will offer early retirements to employees across the agency. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, the number of cybersecurity incidents across government is down for a second straight year. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, lawmakers ask Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Karl Schultz asking eight questions about how the coronavirus is impacting the service. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, the IG Independence Act would limit the grounds a president has to remove an inspector general. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, a new chatbot from the Veterans Affairs Department aims to help veterans with any coronavirus questions they may have. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In todays' Federal Newscast, Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee worry the panel is failing to hold federal agencies accountable for their response to the coronavirus. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, a bipartisan bill in the Senate would fast-track hiring staff to work for the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery, who’s now one step away from confirmation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
In today's Federal Newscast, the military has made some gains in recruiting women over the past 15 years. But they’re still much less likely to serve for a full career than men are. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
The National Federation of the Blind and four individual plaintiffs file a lawsuit in federal court against the Social Security Administration for its refusal to accept digital signatures. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
