Management

Leaked Project 2025 training videos warn aspiring political appointees of ‘persecution’ by career feds

Though the videos don’t overtly discuss the Trump campaign or the Heritage Foundation-led transition project’s endorsement of Schedule F, conservatives repeatedly stressed the need for more “political control” of agencies.

EEOC workers could be furloughed for one day due to budget shortfall

No additional funding and a high pay increase for federal employees helped create the agency’s financial conundrum.

The Good Government Agenda for 2025 and beyond

COMMENTARY | A good presidential Management Agenda is, well, good. But a Good Government Agenda might be better.

GSA updates standards to advance green federal buildings

The Biden administration wants federal buildings to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045.

How the FDA could shape the future of psychedelics research

To move the drugs forward, manufacturers may need to follow the agency’s advice for elevating the quality of evidence.

Justice Department sues freight railroad to improve Amtrak service

Trains are late three-quarters of the time along one Amtrak route. The Justice Department blames Norfolk Southern for the chronic delays.

New Senate bill aims to codify Chevron deference with congressional intent

Sen. Ron Wyden’s, D-Ore., Restoring Congressional Authority Act would reimpose judicial deference to federal agencies in clarifying regulatory intent after the Supreme Court struck down a 40-year precedent in June. 

Senate appropriators propose $500 million budget increase for Social Security overhead

The decision to include $14.7 billion for the Social Security Administration’s administrative budget sets up a fight with the House, which is proposing a nearly half billion-dollar cut.

Trump, Harris offer starkly different paths on transportation policy

The next president will decide how best to carry out President Joe Biden’s infrastructure initiatives. They could affect what cars Americans drive, the air they breathe and how easy it is to get a job in construction for transportation projects.

Federal employees exposed to lead and bacteria in water due to delayed GSA response, IG says

A new report found that water quality at a federal building in Detroit included potentially harmful levels of lead, copper and Legionella bacteria, and the Public Buildings Service did not respond to the threat promptly. 

Senators take another crack at solving over-classification

The bipartisan Classification Reform for Transparency Act would establish a new task force to narrow the criteria for classifying documents and make it harder for agencies to exempt records from automatic declassification.

Senate bill could reduce feds salary to $1 if they don’t respond to congressional requests

The Upholding Standards of Accountability Act would require agency leaders to testify before congressional committees after publishing any new major rule, among other provisions, in the wake of the Chevron deference decision.  

White House roadmap looks to guide emerging tech standardization

The Biden administration unveiled a to-do list for federal agencies developing standards for cutting-edge technologies, focusing on external communications.

The General Services Administration celebrates 75 years as the federal government’s landlord

The agency is central to efforts to promote green buildings and right-size the federal real estate portfolio.

25 states file an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to halt EPA’s carbon rule

The rule could end coal-fired power plants in America, attorneys general argue.

House panels review ‘startling’ allegations at Bureau of Indian Education university

An April 2024 report said the school did not act on sexual abuse claims, lacks institutional control to prevent theft and other abuses and is unresponsive to student complaints.

Cost overruns and delays plague VA’s new integrated financial management system

The rollout of VA’s modernized financial management and acquisition system has been affected by delays in the department’s new electronic health record system, since “multiple deployments” depend on the EHR’s launch at medical facilities.