Congress Passes Measure to Modernize Acquisition Practices; Cybersecurity, Training Bills Advance
The House has joined the Senate in passing a bill to modernize federal agency acquisition practices by building on lessons …More
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Group Finds Incomplete Reporting on Response to GAO, IG Recommendations
A good-government group has said that agencies are not fully complying with a 2019 law that requires them to report …More
Agencies Reassessing Themselves in Many Ways Due to Pandemic, Says GAO
Federal agencies are reassessing themselves in many ways due to the changes in operations the pandemic caused, although a lack …More
Bills on Agency Cybersecurity, Immigration Judges Offered
The bipartisan leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have introduced a cybersecurity bill affecting federal agencies …More
Greater Use of Subject Matter Experts in Hiring Called a Success
A State Department test of greater involvement by subject matter experts in the hiring process and greater internal sharing of …More
USAspending.Gov Called Valuable but Underused
The usaspending.gov site “provides a trove of information” but it is underused because it is not well enough known, including …More
GSA Changing Emphasis on Art Content in Federal Buildings
The GSA has issued final rules changing policies on art content in federal building, ending the Trump administration’s emphasis on …More
Return of Native American Cultural Items Held by Agencies Still Incomplete, GAO Says
GAO has said that federal agencies still are holding some Native American cultural items—ranging from funerary objects and other cultural …More
Administration Lays Out Initiatives on Unions in Federal Workplace
The Biden administration has laid out a series of initiatives regarding unions in the federal workplace, some of which it …More
Task Force Urges Another Try on Labor-Management Cooperative Programs
Among the initiatives in the report of the administration’s Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment is reinstating a program …More
Study of Mental Health Services for Overseas Employees Requested
The heads of two House committees have asked the GAO to study the adequacy of mental health services for federal …More
Order Sets Standards for Federal Construction Projects, Training for Contracting Workforce
President Biden has issued an executive order designed to “help alleviate the management and coordination challenges that can stymie progress” …More
FLRA, MSPB Nominees Get New Votes but Confirmation Still Uncertain
A Senate committee has again voted to approve a nominee for the FLRA’s governing board and one for the MSPB’s, …More
Panel Approves Bills on Hiring, Other Management Issues
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has approved bills including: * S-3423, to specify that hiring in the competitive …More
FLRA Overturned on Another Policy Restricting Bargaining
For the second time in less than a week, a federal appeals court has overturned a restriction on bargaining in …More
Schedule A Hiring Authorized for Carrying Out Infrastructure Law
OPM has authorized agencies to use Schedule A excepted service hiring for temporarily filling positions related to the Infrastructure Investment …More
Intergovernmental Mobility Program Little Used, GAO Says
Federal agencies are making little use of Intergovernmental Personnel Act mobility program, GAO has said, even though such rotations, which …More
USERRA Case Results in Reinstatement, Four Years of Back Pay
The FAA has agreed to reinstate an employee with benefits including four years of back pay for failing to comply …More
Court Overturns FLRA Restriction on Midterm Bargaining
A federal appeals court has overturned an FLRA policy restricting bargaining during the term of a labor-management contract, one of …More
FOIA Requests Dropped Due to Pandemic but Backlog Still Grew
Freedom of Information Act requests declined government-wide by 8 percent in fiscal year 2020 but agencies processed 12 percent fewer …More
Battle Continues Over Union Status of Immigration Judges
The back and forth regarding the status of a union for Justice Department immigration judges is continuing, with a new …More
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Support Telework at Least Two Days a Week
A poll conducted by the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys found that more than nine-tenths of its members say …More
Satisfaction with Government Services Hits Low Point
In a poll that could have implications for agency planning for long-run working arrangements, citizen satisfaction dropped in 2021 by …More
Bipartisan Senate Group Presses SSA on Customer Service
A group of more than a dozen senators has pressed the SSA to improve customer service, saying that while the …More
Guidance Issued on ‘Zero Trust’ Initiative; Cybersecurity Bill Offered
OMB has issued guidance on the Biden administration’s initiative to move the federal government toward a “zero trust” approach to …More
Court Addresses ‘Abuse of Authority’ Standard under Whistleblower Law
A federal appeals court decision has addressed the standards for what types of disclosures by federal employees qualify for protection …More
Staffing Shortages Hampering FEMA Capabilities, Says GAO
Shortages of staff have hampered FEMA’s ability to respond to natural disasters, the GAO has said, and “With an increase …More
Report Documents Cost Savings of Taking an Agency Function Virtual
In one of the few assessments so far of cost savings for an agency due to a shift from in-person …More
Grades Stall on FITARA Scorecard; Changes Planned
Grades were generally flat on the latest scorecard of agency implementation of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, with …More
Interagency Council Set Up on ‘Made in America’ Initiative
The Biden administration has established an interagency council to coordinate agency activities under its Made in America initiative, the latest …More
