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By: FEDweek StaffThe House has approved HR-8466, to require agencies to have safety plans meeting certain specifications for onsite work during the period of a public health emergency such as the current pandemic; and HR-6967, to expand and put into law several changes to hiring policy already underway downplaying the role of educational credentials in job qualifications and the role of self-evaluations in assessing candidates.
Also approved were HR-8510, to expand whistleblower protections at the VA by widening the types of actions considered to be retaliatory and increasing enforcement of settlements in such cases; and S-2551, to increase training on ethical and national security risks of artificial intelligence for federal employees responsible for purchasing such technologies. The latter now goes to President Biden for his expected signature.
Meanwhile, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has approved:
* S-4828, to make permanent and expand the GSA’s Office of Executive Councils, which provides administrative and project management services for federal agencies and government-wide councils in complying with the President’s Management Agenda.
* S-4894, to formally authorize and provide an ongoing source of funding for Federal Executive Boards, which coordinate emergency response, employee training and other interagency activities in more than two dozen city areas, and enhance FEB workforce development-related activities, such as supporting recruitment into federal internship and apprenticeship programs.
* S-4908, to require agencies to assess their software purchasing practices and report to Congress, OMB and GSA, which would use those assessments to increase oversight of those contracts to streamline operations and reduce spending.
* S-4913, to require DHS to identify ways to mitigate risks in federal IT systems and other systems that use open source software and foster better communications between the government other parties on preparing for and addressing incidents.
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