Management

National Archives tees up new rules for UFO records

New legislation mandates a governmentwide repository of records dealing with "unidentified anomalous phenomena."

Pay & Benefits

TSP and Required Minimum Distributions

Rules around these mandatory withdrawals changed under the Secure 2.0 Act.

Workforce

Efforts to right-size agency real estate portfolios are often stymied

COMMENTARY | “There is a path forward and relevant, recent examples exist,” writes one former federal real estate official who urges the Biden administration to embrace the hybrid work model.

Management

House fails to impeach DHS secretary

Alejandro Mayorkas is no longer in peril after the failed vote. If the measure had passed, it would have been the first time a cabinet secretary had been impeached in nearly 150 years.

Tech

Proposed contractor cyber reporting rule sets a ‘significantly problematic’ bar, industry groups say

The groups, which represent tech and cybersecurity companies sometimes contracted by the government, say the proposals are too rigorous and inconsistent.

Management

IRS says its hiring surge and funding boost could generate $560B more than it thought

Improvements to IT, increased use of data analytics and deterrence factors will improve the return on IRS spending infusion, Biden administration says.

Pay & Benefits

Lawmakers urge OPM to update parental leave policy docs

The federal government’s HR agency’s self-imposed deadline of the end of 2024 to ensure the federal employee handbook and public-facing web pages reflect the enactment of 12 weeks of paid parental leave should be “a floor and not a ceiling.”

Tech

Autonomous tech featured in Senate border and foreign aid bill 

The Senate’s proposed $118 billion immigration and foreign aid package includes more than $260 million to deploy emerging technologies to secure the border.

Tech

Who should be in charge of protecting our water systems from cyber threats?

Federal officials don’t agree. Recent hacks on water systems exposed their vulnerabilities. But while some want the EPA to play a stronger role, others emphasized that local systems are best suited to defend themselves.

Pay & Benefits

Some Coast Guard personnel can’t find housing in vacation-rich areas, GAO says

The watchdog said that despite some government housing and a private sector housing allowance, some Coast Guard personnel can’t find affordable lodging stationed in either remote areas or ones where rentals are positioned for vacation economies. 

Tech

Vet centers need better systems, data to enhance support services

Watchdog officials warned lawmakers that the community-based counseling centers for returning veterans use a platform for identifying those at high risk of suicide that is “neither effectively nor consistently utilized.”

Updated Workforce

Hiring and pay reforms accompany staffing surges in bipartisan border deal

After months of negotiations, Senate group unveils measure to ramp up border security, provide foreign aid and largely meet President Biden's request for thousands of new federal employees.

Workforce

The jobs boom is hitting the federal sector, too

Federal agencies added 11,000 jobs in January and hit a 20-year high for non-census years.

Workforce

OPM offers guidance for agencies implementing salary history ban

Federal agencies will have until October to excise the solicitation and use of job candidates’ past compensation when setting pay for new hires.

Defense

What's at stake as Congress hashes out the 2024 defense budget

A guide to the biggest differences between proposals for the four-months-late defense appropriations bill.

Oversight

Agencies contend with new metrics, another missing hearing for IT acquisition reform

Cracks are showing in the usual, bipartisan buy-in for oversight on 2014 Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act progress.

Tech

National Cyber Strategy needs better implementation measures, GAO argues

The White House Office of the National Cyber Director can improve on performance measures and cost estimations, the U.S. federal oversight agency said in a Thursday analysis.

Workforce

Elon Musk and why you should never compare when it comes to security clearances

COMMENTARY | The government looks holistically at the benefits and risks to national security with each clearance granted.

Tech

Agencies must disconnect all exposed Ivanti products by Friday, cyber officials say

The directive follows a related warning issued last month about cybersecurity flaws in Ivanti systems.