Pay & Benefits

House Democrats Aim to Add Paid Family Leave for Feds to Defense Policy Bill

A proposed amendment to the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act would provide all federal workers with 12 weeks of paid family leave.

Management

House Appropriations Bill Would Block Impasses Panel from Imposing New Union Contracts

Federal labor groups have frequently accused agencies of engaging in bad faith “box-checking” collective bargaining negotiations, in an effort to fast track proposals to an all-Republican board.

Management

OPM Still Lacks Legal Analysis of Proposed Merger with GSA

Lawmakers in both parties expressed outrage at the lack of documents provided to support the Trump administration’s proposal.

Management

House Approves 3.1% Pay Raise and Blocks OPM Furloughs, Merger

Lawmakers dealt the Trump administration’s proposal to merge OPM and GSA another setback.

Oversight

HASC Chair on Mini-Nukes: ‘We’re Not Trying to Manage a Nuclear War’

hairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., speaks as Secretary of the Army Mark Esper, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson, and U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein. Tuesday, April 2, 2019.

Management

OPM Leader Threatens Furloughs, RIFs if Congress Doesn’t Approve GSA Merger

The administration has given lawmakers until the end of June to greenlight the merger, or else roughly 150 OPM employees could lose their jobs this fall.

Management

Senate Panel Advances Merit Board, FEMA Administrator Nominees

The federal employee appeals board may soon have a quorum for the first time in 2.5 years.

Pay & Benefits

House Panel Advances Bills to Protect Feds’ Insurance During Shutdowns

Legislation would ensure that workers can adjust health benefits following significant life events and prevent their dental, vision and long-term care coverage from lapsing.

Management

Kansas City Region Will Host Relocated Agriculture Offices

Local lawmakers welcome Secretary Perdue’s choice in still-disputed moves out of Washington, D.C.

Defense

House Democrats Want To Ban Sending New Prisoners To Gitmo

President Trump has vowed to keep the facility open, promising on the campaign trail to fill it up with “bad dudes.”

Management

Congress Scraps Provision to Restrict IRS From Competing With TurboTax

The change comes after ProPublica highlighted the deceptive marketing practices of Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, and other major tax prep companies.

Management

Labor Authority Chairwoman Defends Decisions to Decertify Union, Close Regional Offices

Democratic lawmakers blasted decisions that overturned decades of agency precedent, and suggested Federal Labor Relations Authority Chairwoman Colleen Duffy Kiko was untruthful in her testimony.

Oversight

Incoming and Outgoing Congressional Budget Office Chiefs Praise Staff for Independence

Agency’s culture is “fearless” in producing scores and not worrying about the political consequences, outgoing director Keith Hall says.

Oversight

The Big Names Missing From the Mueller Hearings

The star witness of the House Judiciary Committee’s hearings on the Mueller report won’t be Robert Mueller.

Defense

Space Force Clears Senate Committee After House Attempt to Stall

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s legislation “greatly increases the odds that we end up with some sort of a Space Force,” one expert says.