Management
Trump seeks to spike stopgap funding bill, sending Congress into chaos days before shutdown
A short-term spending bill appeared dead less than 24 hours after its introduction and less than three days before agencies must shutter.
Pay & Benefits
Bill to repeal windfall elimination provision clears a key Senate hurdle
The Senate voted 73-27 to invoke cloture on the Social Security Fairness Act, clearing the way for a final vote to pass the bill later this week.
Management
Republicans signal targeted federal hiring surge and easier firing as priorities in the next Congress
Lawmakers are looking ahead toward legislation that will bring changes to the federal workforce.
Tech
Tech leader says DOGE has Washington ‘inspired and fired up’
ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott believes there is genuine momentum building behind President-elect Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency.
Management
Bill enshrining skills-based hiring heads to Biden’s desk
The Senate last week passed the Chance to Compete Act by unanimous consent, and the House followed suit with a voice vote Monday.
Pay & Benefits
VA omnibus bill including community care and pay waiver updates heading to Biden’s desk
A compendium of bills packaged into the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act features veteran educational assistance funding, community care improvements, increased funding for veteran homelessness providers and more.
Oversight
Fed employee advocate Connolly to lead Democrats on House Oversight Committee
The Virginia Democrat could be a leading opponent to Trump’s plans for overhauling the civil service.
Updated
Management
Congress aims to punt agency funding to March, but hurdles remain ahead of shutdown deadline
White House has warned that such a plan, without additional funds, could lead to hiring freezes at agencies.
Workforce
Last-ditch effort to block Schedule F’s return thwarted by Senate Republicans
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., sought unanimous consent on the Senate floor to pass the Saving the Civil Service Act, but his motion was opposed by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.
Tech
DHS launches internal GenAI chatbot to leverage non-public data
Agency Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the tool, known as DHSChat, “will help men and women across DHS draft vital reports, summarize critical information, develop new software, streamline administrative tasks and much more.”
Defense
20 years of clearance reform: From intelligence reform to Trusted Workforce
COMMENTARY | It’s time to finish what the 2004 Intelligence Reform And Terrorism Prevention Act started, argues one clearance expert.
Management
Will civil service protections hold up against RFK Jr.’s threats to the federal public health workforce?
Kennedy, Trump’s pick to lead HHS, has talked openly about removing swaths of civil servants at FDA and NIH.
Management
USPS privatization again under consideration, Trump says
The president-elect suggested he could bring back an idea from his first term that proved unpopular with both parties in Congress.
Workforce
OPM finally issues regulations implementing 2016 administrative leave reforms
An environmental advocacy group sued the federal government’s HR agency earlier this year in an effort to prod the federal government’s HR agency to implement a law aimed at ending lengthy periods of paid administrative leave.
Management
What does the head of the Education Department do?
The secretary of education helps set national priorities in a system primarily funded and guided by local governments.
Tech
Intelligence CIO moves to helm IT at the National Institutes of Health
Adele Merritt, who served as CIO for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence since January 2022, took over as the NIH CIO on Dec. 16.
Workforce
Immigration judges seek renewed union recognition
In a controversial November 2020 decision, the Federal Labor Relations Authority overruled its regional director and decertified the National Association of Immigration Judges.
Workforce
Federal employees could be more easily removed under new House bill
Rep. Barry Loudermilk’s, R-Ga., MERIT Act proposes radical civil service reforms, including repealing statutes governing unacceptable performance actions, ending union grievances based on adverse personnel actions and prohibiting furlough appeals.
Transition
What does the director of the FBI do?
The role of both the FBI and its leader have dramatically shifted over time.
Oversight