The top Republican on the House Veterans Affairs Committee will keep his post in the next session of Congress. Congressman Mike Bost will continue to serve as the committee’s chairman for the next two years. Bost says he’ll focus on expanding veterans’ options to seek health care outside the VA’s medical system … and holding the VA workforce accountable to the veterans they serve. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-se...
Dec 12, 2024•6 min
The next leader of the Senate Judiciary Committee is backing President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to clear out top officials at the FBI. Senator Chuck Grassley is calling on FBI Director Chris Wray and his second in command … to step down from their posts. Grassley says the FBI hasn’t done enough to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct within its workforce or to protect whistleblowers from retaliation. Wray’s term doesn’t end until 2027. But President-elect Donald Trump says he plans to n...
Dec 11, 2024•6 min
Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn plans to introduce a new package of bills this week, called the DOGE Acts. One bill would require agencies to report to Congress on the impacts of expanded telework and remote work for federal employees. Another bill in the package would freeze federal hiring and salaries for one year. The legislation aligns with the goals of the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” an external team led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy that promises to drastically ...
Dec 10, 2024•7 min
Some employees at the Social Security Administration have locked in their current telework levels through 2029. The agency reached an agreement last week with one of its unions, the American Federation of Government Employees. The updated contract, which was first reported by Bloomberg, secures current hybrid work schedules for thousands of telework-eligible feds. The SSA agreement comes as leaders of the Department of Government Efficiency are alluding to plans of returning federal employees to...
Dec 09, 2024•5 min
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth is asking President-elect Donald Trump to support her legislation to expand insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization for military personnel. In a letter to Trump, Duckworth is urging the President-elect to mandate the federal government and insurance companies to pay for all IVF-associated costs. Both House and Senate versions of the defense policy bill have provisions that would provide service members with the same level of IVF services coverage that federa...
Dec 06, 2024•8 min
A watchdog report finds Veterans Affairs incorrectly processed disability claims from veterans and underpaid benefits that some veterans were eligible for. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Dec 05, 2024•8 min
The IRS is raising the alarm on identify theft scams this holiday season. The agency says it's seeing an uptick in phishing email and texts and other scams to get taxpayers to hand over their personal information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Dec 04, 2024•7 min
President-elect Trump tapped businessman John Phelan to serve as the next secretary of the Navy, saying Phelan will 'put the business of the U.S. Navy above all else." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Dec 02, 2024•6 min
The Treasury Department says an IRS hiring freeze is possible if Congress doesn't address a $20 billion budget anomaly. The IRS already saw a $20 billion cut to its modernization fund. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 27, 2024•6 min
The Pentagon is out with its first draft of what could become the biggest government AI contract in history. Potential bidders have a little under a month to offer feedback on the draft RFP for what DoD is calling the Advancing AI Multiple Award Contract. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 26, 2024•6 min
SSA confirmed that President Joe Biden is expected to name Colvin, a 30-year SSA veteran and former acting commissioner for six years, to lead SSA during the transition. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 25, 2024•7 min
President Joe Biden is recognizing 236 federal employees across 30 agencies for their exceptional leadership and accomplishments. The Office of Personnel Management announced the winners of the 2024 Presidential Rank Awards on Thursday. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 22, 2024•6 min
Two government contractors agree to pay a total of $4.3 million to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act and forced the Army to overpay for IT hardware. The Justice Department says Dell Technologies and Iron Bow will each pay more than $2 million to resolve a Qui Tam lawsuit. DoJ says Dell and Iron Bow allegedly conspired to collude on solicitations under the Army's AMDC-3 contract. Justice says from 2020 to 2024 Dell operated a deal registration program, whereby it gave adv...
Nov 22, 2024•8 min
At least one member of Congress wants to do away with the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program. Alabama Republican Gary Palmer has submitted a joint resolution of disapproval to overturn the CMMC rule. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 21, 2024•6 min
The White House-led initiative to overhaul the security clearance and personnel vetting process has entered a new phase. The Performance Accountability Council in its latest report on “Trusted Workforce 2.0 says agencies have updated all major policies related to personnel vetting. The PAC is now entering phase three of Trusted Workforce implementation. That includes expanding continuous vetting shifting to more shared services and speeding up the clearance process to get people to work faster. ...
Nov 19, 2024•7 min
OMB Director Shalanda Young says in the coming days the White House will send Congress a comprehensive disaster package to replenish funding for agencies ranging from FEMA to SBA to EPA to the Transportation Department. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 18, 2024•6 min
Congress already passed legislation in Veterans Affairs to fire employees accused of misconduct in 2017, but federal courts and the MSPB block the law from covering VA's workforce. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 18, 2024•6 min
The Food and Drug Administration is having trouble retaining employees who inspect drug manufacturers. The vacancy rate for these FDA investigators nearly doubled between November 2021 and June 2024. The agency tells the Government Accountability Office that travel … pay … and work-life balance are contributing factors to turnover. Investigators can spend up to 75% of their work hours on travel. The FDA paused many inspections of drug manufacturing facilities height of the COVID-19 pandemic. See...
Nov 14, 2024•6 min
The new organization isn't an official department. It is charged with working from the outside of the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 13, 2024•7 min
The agency's Payroll and Compensation Branch tells FEMA's inspector general that it will complete all premium pay reconciliations for 2021 by January 31. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 13, 2024•6 min
Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey officially assumes duties as the new commander of U.S. Southern Command, making history as the first Black commander of SOUTHCOM since its inception more than six decades ago. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 11, 2024•6 min
The General Services Administration says it’s standing at the ready to give Trump’s transition team post-election resources. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 08, 2024•7 min
The General Services Administration is gearing up for post-election presidential transition efforts. And this time around, the process will look a little different. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 07, 2024•6 min
Congress gave nearly $3 billion to the Department of Veterans Affairs at the end of fiscal 2024. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 07, 2024•7 min
Federal employees can contribute more money to their Thrift Savings Plan accounts in 2025. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 05, 2024•7 min
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is warning federal executives about a large-scaling spear phishing campaign by a foreign actor. In a new alert issued late yesterday, CISA says the adversaries are often posing as a trusted entity by sending spear-phishing emails containing malicious remote desktop protocol files. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Nov 01, 2024•7 min
Top lawmakers on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee are calling on a government watchdog to take a closer look at how agencies are addressing improper payments. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Nov 01, 2024•7 min
A new bill in the House would penalize career federal employees who don’t follow directives from a presidential administration. The so-called STRAFE Act would require agencies to report any policy resistance from federal employees to the White House. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Oct 31, 2024•7 min
The Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Safety Review Board will look into an alleged China-linked hack of U.S. telecom networks. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Oct 29, 2024•6 min
The Defense Department’s contract obligations, payroll spending and grant awards across the country totaled 609.2 billion dollars in fiscal 2023, which is equivalent to 2.2% of the United States GDP. Approximately 59% that went to ten states, including Texas, Virginia, California, Connecticut and Florida. Top three states by defense grant spending are California, Maryland and Michigan. Top three states by defense contract spending are Texas, Virginia and California. Over $431 billion went to con...
Oct 28, 2024•7 min
