Pay & Benefits
Survivor Benefit confusion: part two
What about insurance instead of a survivor benefit election?
Pay & Benefits
Court sides with Biden administration in dismissing federal employee union’s effort to eradicate debt default threat
Federal workers do not have standing after Congress narrowly avoided forcing them to work without immediate pay, judge rules.
Management
Under fire, Social Security chief vows ‘top-to-bottom’ review of payment clawbacks
House members faulted the agency for issuing billions of dollars of payments in error and then, often much later, demanding that beneficiaries pay the money back.
Tech
Login.gov to add facial recognition tech
The General Services Administration is changing its digital identity service to allow users to authenticate themselves by matching against a previously submitted government ID.
Management
Senate lawmakers float plan to revamp agencies’ customer service
The Improving Government Services Act would require agencies to develop plans to implement private-sector customer experience best practices into how they interact with members of the public.
Workforce
The latest GOP speaker nominee has a history of targeting federal employees
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has orchestrated shutdowns and called for drastic reductions in federal agency rolls.
News
House stalled again after rejecting Jim Jordan as speaker a second time
Jordan plans to talk with the Republicans who voted against him and hopes to win those who flipped Wednesday back to his side.
Management
COVID relief payments triggered feds to demand money back from Social Security recipients
House and Senate members have called for action on problems at the Social Security Administration.
Tech
IRS announces 13 states where taxpayers could use its Direct File pilot
The agency has yet to commit to a long-term product for the in-house filing tool.
Pay & Benefits
Pay Agent: Locality pay increases, when implemented, need to be calculated specifically to job skills
But annual pay adjustments by profession is a long-running organizational idea that has been too difficult to actually implement, one expert says.
Defense
Budgetary limbo could cost the Navy Department $26B in missing or ‘misaligned’ funds
Comptroller lays out the price of a full-year continuing resolution if Congress can’t pass a 2024 budget.
Oversight
GAO: Army Corps’ cleanup of Manhattan Project-era sites suffers from management, cost uncertainties
Although the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ cost estimate of contaminated sites associated with the early decades of nuclear weapons manufacturing sat at $2.6 billion at the end of fiscal 2022, that number could easily grow substantially over time.
Workforce
Federal agency accused of tolerating employees who distributed Nazi propaganda and harassed colleagues
One worker greeted coworkers with a Nazi salute and praised Hitler, a lawsuit alleges, while supervisors declined to take action.
Management
OIG: Eligibility gaps are a major challenge for SBA next year
A report outlining ongoing management and performance challenges for the Small Business Administration includes critiques of set-aside contracts versus the amount of contracting dollars actually headed to small businesses.
News
Ohio’s Jim Jordan fails in bid for U.S. House speaker, leaving chamber paralyzed again
Jordan was unable to clinch the votes needed to hold the gavel amid concerns about his agenda and frustrations with his history inside and outside of Congress.
Workforce
What are federal agencies doing to fill out the cyber workforce?
New numbers released Monday show that employers posted over 572,000 cybersecurity jobs in a 12-month period starting in September 2022.
News
Jim Jordan gains support as vote nears for U.S. House speaker, but outcome still in doubt
The Ohio congressman will need the backing of nearly all the chamber’s 221 GOP lawmakers in order to hold the highest office in Congress.
Workforce
Agencies have hired nearly 5,500 feds to implement Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law
The Biden administration has surpassed its infrastructure law hiring goals, and plan to bring on another 1,000 personnel next year.
Workforce
Meet the winners of this year’s ‘Oscars’ of public service
The recipients join the over 750 awardees of the Partnership for Public Services’ recognition program since it began in 2002.
Tech