Workforce

Low Vaccine Booster Rates Are Now a Key Factor in COVID-19 Deaths – and Racial Disparities in Booster Rates Persist

Early on, public health messaging focused on the need for vaccines to combat COVID-19. But far less attention has been given to the role of boosters in preventing deaths and reducing inequities.

Management

OMB Prioritizes Customer Service in Budget Planning

The inclusion of customer experience and service delivery priorities in budget preparation guidance from OMB will likely get the attention of agencies as they prepare their budget requests for the next fiscal year, experts told FCW.

Workforce

Unraveling the Interplay of Omicron, Reinfections, and Long COVID

The omicron variant has proved adept at finding hosts, often by reinfecting people who recovered from earlier bouts of covid. But whether omicron triggers long COVID as often and severe as previous variants is a matter of heated study.

Management

GovExec Daily: Can the CDC Effectively Restructure?

Julie Swann joins the podcast to discuss the health agency's potential reorganization.

Management

The Ban on the Contractor Vaccine Mandate Was Lifted Partially. That Could Cause Confusion.

“At this time, the nationwide injunction remains in effect, and thus agencies should continue not to take any steps to enforce Executive Order 14042,” said a spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget. 

Pay & Benefits

Lawmakers Are Urging OPM to Beef up Feds’ Fertility Benefits

Democrats in both chambers of Congress bemoaned the abridged—and often expensive—coverage of treatments such as in vitro fertilization in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Management

A Much-Hyped Effort to Help DHS Land Cyber Talent is Slow to Make Hires

So far about four hires have been made under the Cybersecurity Talent Management System, with the agency hoping to make offers to 150 new cyber specialists by the end of September.

Management

There’s No ‘Easy Button’ to Modernize the Civil Service

But the hard work of cultivating effective, accountable federal managers is essential.

Tech

Traffic Overwhelms Student Loan Sites Following Biden’s Debt Relief Announcement

Student loan company Nelnet said providers received no advance warning about the White House’s loan forgiveness plan, contributing to confusion and site outages.

Workforce

Many People Lost Sense of Time During The COVID-19 Pandemic

The pandemic altered many people's sense of time, leading to trouble keeping track of days and feeling that hours either rushed by or slowed down.

Workforce

GovExec Daily: The Inflation Reduction Act's IRS Priorities

Former White House official Diana Furchtgott-Roth joins the podcast to discuss how the law will affect taxpayers and small businesses.

Defense

Do Some 9/11 Responders Have a New Kind of Dementia?

World Trade Center responders who have PTSD may have a new, specific form of dementia, a new study suggests.

Management

Human Nature Can Steer People Away from New Things – and that Can Blind Them to Novel Threats

Those who seek to cause harm are as capable of generating creative ideas as anyone else. Two psychologists and counterterrorism scholars suggest how not to overlook a new danger.

Workforce

Language Patterns Reveal People’s Hidden Feelings About Others

New research digs into how patterns in the language people use to describe their feelings can reveal what they really think about other groups of people.

Management

FBI’s Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant Affidavit Reveals How Trump May Have Compromised National Security – a Legal Expert Answers 5 Key Questions

A search warrant expert breaks down the affidavit the FBI used to search Mar-a-Lago, and the national security concerns it presents.

Oversight

As Colorado River Dries, the U.S. Teeters on the Brink of Larger Water Crisis

The megadrought gripping the western states is only part of the problem. Alternative sources of water are also imperiled, and the nation’s food along with it.

Management

USDA Plans ‘Historic’ Funding to Help Struggling Farmers and Develop New Ag Leaders

“The idea here obviously is to enlarge the number of people that are engaged in this very important occupation and calling,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said.

Management

Coronavirus Roundup: The Secret Service Returned $286 Million in Fraudulently Obtained Pandemic Funds 

There's a lot to keep track of. Here’s a list of this week’s news updates and stories you may have missed.