Management

OMB overhauls federal grant guidance to simplify it for recipients

The Biden administration offered new updates to the Uniform Guidance that governs federal grant programs, aiming to slice red tape and simplify the language recipients use to apply for funding. 

Oversight

Citizen oversight panels could make the federal rulemaking process more open and democratic

Juries render decisions on complex legal questions and could do the same as part of the regulatory process.

Management

Senate bill looks to chop through red tape in procurement

The bipartisan legislation aims to both expand access to special acquisition authorities and give new, innovative contractors more opportunities to work with the government.

Pay & Benefits

Before asking for help, know the rules

Coordinating Medicare and the Federal Health Benefits Program can be hard to navigate without the right information.

Updated Workforce

OPM issues its final rule for Schedule F protections

The federal HR agency finalized its rule offering protections for career civil servants meant to safeguard against the potential reemergence of the Trump-era Schedule F policy.

Management

Special Counsel’s office cites whistleblower protections in immigration judge gag order

The Office of the Special Counsel highlighted its recent enforcement actions of Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act provisions to curb agency efforts to chill employee speech.

Tech

Federal weather system experiences outage amid severe weather nationwide

The agency is seeking money to shore up weather forecasting IT systems in fiscal year 2025.

Pay & Benefits

The federal government will now offer its employees generous fertility benefits

The nation's largest employer will offer plans that cover a broad menu of fertility services, including up to $25,000 annually for IVF procedures.

Workforce

How transforming federal workforce culture can enhance safety and productivity

COMMENTARY | It takes more than annual check-the-box training and motivational posters to bring about change.

Defense

The Pentagon wants to help boost cybersecurity for small contractors

A new strategy outlines how the Defense Department plans to increase security and strengthen relationships across the industrial base.

Management

Nuclear regulators should weigh climate change risk to power plants, report says

A GAO report found the Nuclear Regulatory Commission needs to factor more risk from the impact of more extreme natural events in how it licenses the safety of power plants. 

Oversight

Lawmakers propose extending pandemic analytics center beyond 2025 sunset

Oversight officials say that the Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence needs to survive past the looming sunset date, unlike a similar analytics center used to oversee stimulus spending that shuttered in 2015.

Tech

AI is creating ‘more sophisticated’ but not unprecedented election threats, DHS official says

AI is likely to create more convincing phishing campaigns but is “not necessarily introducing a new threat or risk in and of itself,” the official said.

Workforce

National Security compensation set a record high in 2023

COMMENTARY | The uptick in cleared compensation is good news for the national security workforce and also a good thing for national security.

Oversight

Why plugging leaks sometimes means protecting leakers

COMMENTARY | Congress needs to establish a form of amnesty that, where appropriate, provides an exit ramp for individuals who have unwittingly violated the terms of a security clearance and wish to come clean.

Management

Indigenous Pacific wildfire survivors on Maui can finally get FEMA help

The new fiscal 2024 spending bill has re-established Compact of Free Association citizens' access to federal safety net programs after it was inadvertently removed by the 1996 Welfare Reform Act.

Oversight

Bill would axe classified access for feds charged with a crime

Legislation sponsored by Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., appears tailored to allegations of Donald Trump's retention of classified documents, but would remove almost any federal employee’s access if they were charged with specific offenses.  

Pay & Benefits

TSP funds touts well-rounded gains in March

Every portfolio in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program posted increases last month.

Workforce

The MacGuffin of Schedule F

COMMENTARY | Plans to convert federal workers in policy-related positions into at-will employees leave the workforce dangling.