Fedweek

Congress is poised to pass yet another short-term measure to buy time to enact agency spending authority for the remainder of the current fiscal year and head off yet another partial government shutdown threat. A short-term measure needs to be–and apparently will be–enacted by midnight tonight (Wednesday), the expiration of a temporary measure passed just before the previous deadline last Friday, which in turn was set by a measure passed just before the deadline previous to that, of September 30. The new measure will provide several days to enact a sweeping bill, agreed to last evening, to fund agencies through September 30. While full details of that larger bill haven’t been released yet, the measure apparently: allows a 1.3 percent average raise to take effect in January while denying a raise to political appointees; extends the identity monitoring services for federal employees affected by the breaches of personnel and background investigation files to 10 years; bars the IRS from giving awards to current employees, or rehiring former employees, unless their conduct and personal compliance with tax laws is considered; and continues numerous long-standing policies such as the ban on “lifestyle” training and the general ban on abortion coverage in the FEHB.