Federal leaders agreed during a Feb. 25 virtual conference organized by GovExec that the Federal government needs to change its mindset and culture to allow for more telework in the future, even after the COVID-19 pandemic. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said today he was reintroducing legislation to create a stronger Federal workforce by reauthorizing the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and requiring Federal agencies to report publicly about their workforce diversity and inclusion efforts. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has unveiled three key leadership appointments including the agency’s deputy director, and two covering hot-button security posts. […]

A group of House Democrats is urging the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to allocate COVID-19 vaccinations for the Federal workforce, many of whom are considered essential workers. […]

The Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) needs to reevaluate its reporting compliance standards and fix the current deficiencies in the system, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) updated its Technology Assessment (TA) Design Handbook to include more recently published literature, recent GAO team experiences, and submitted comments from external experts and the public. Per GAO, the Technology Assessment Design Handbook is meant to give GAO staff and other users tools and guidance when designing technology assessments. It […]

The House Government Operations Subcommittee has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 23 at 11 a.m. EST on ways to “rebuild” the Federal workforce after four years of bruising under the Trump administration, including a late 2020 bid to establish a new classification for policy-related Federal positions. […]

Kevin Smith has taken over as CIO of the Federal Housing Finance Agency in Jan. 2021, according to his LinkedIn page. Smith has a wide range of Federal experience, having served for five years as the CIO of the U.S. Census Bureau and six years with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as Deputy CIO […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., on Feb. 11 reintroduced the Chai Suthammanont Remembrance Act, a bill which is designed to protect Federal employees who must return to the workplace from COVID-19 by requiring government agencies to publish safety plans to guide their return. […]

The prospects for Snow Days for most Federal workers may be melting away in the Washington, D.C. area even as the 2021 winter season stays stormy, and the COVID-19 pandemic persists. […]

The House Energy and Commerce Committee met Feb. 11 to begin marking up the legislative language it will report to the House Budget Committee as part of the reconciliation process. Currently, there is $7.6 billion allocated by the committee to bolster the E-Rate program, as well as funding for COVID-19 testing and data management. […]

The U.S. Army Materials Command is forgoing a competitive bidding process for cyber training services while it waits for a bid protest between two contractors to be resolved. […]

The White House has issued a memorandum to revitalize the U.S.’ national security and foreign policy workforce and institutions and establish an Interagency Working Group on the national security workforce. […]

The Office of Management and Budget told Federal agencies in a Jan. 24 memo that Federal workplaces should run at no more than 25 percent of occupancy while the coronavirus is running at high rates. […]

Almost all Federal agencies are hiring employees based solely on information provided by the candidate, according to new data from a public dashboard report. […]

In a detailed report that compares the compensation and benefits for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) employees in the both the Federal and private sectors, it was found Federal employees have more advanced degrees, but make less money annually. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., reintroduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act on Jan. 21, to give Federal employees a 3.2 percent pay raise for 2022. […]

Getting in and out of the District of Columbia will likely be more trouble than it’s worth until after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration with the Secret Service adding bridge closures to mounting restrictions. The Secret Service announced restrictions on seven bridges Jan. 18, with all but one restricting all access into the city. […]

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Gerry Connolly, D-Va., asked Office of Management and Budget (OMB) leaders in a Jan. 15 letter to halt implementation of the Trump administration’s 2020 executive order that created a new “Schedule F” classification for Federal employees in policy-making positions. […]

A bill introduced in the House by Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Ryan Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., on Jan. 13 aims to invalidate a controversial executive order issued by the Trump administration in October 2020 that created a new “Schedule F” classification for Federal employees in policy-making positions and makes it easier to hire and fire them. […]

A group of women in senior IT leadership positions at Federal agencies is calling for increased gender diversity in top government positions. […]

The Office of Personnel and Management (OPM) has issued guidance for Federal agencies to allow employees to telework and use all other “workplace flexibility” to keep employees out of downtown in the District of Columbia for the next week. […]

Reps. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, have released a new bill that aims to improve science, technology, engineering, math, and computer science (STEM) education in rural communities. […]

The Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University – which focuses on data and technology issues to drive more equitable practices in society – has named Cori Zarek executive director. […]

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is seeking public comment on a proposed rule that would change the relative value of performance in decisions to lay off Federal employees. The proposed rule, published Dec. 17, would correspondingly deprioritize length of service in layoff decisions, making it the least important factor in the proposed order of retention. […]

Online learning provider Coursera is scoring a big Federal sector win by making its services available – via an agreement with immixGroup – to the General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) to help with Federal government employee reskilling efforts. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the completion of all IT initiatives for the implementation of the Forever GI Bill – also known as the Colmery Act – and the full deployment of associated software and systems, finishing the implementation of a policy initiative that initially put VA’s IT in the headlines for the wrong reasons. […]

President Trump on Dec. 11 signed an executive order (EO) giving Federal employees the full day off on Christmas Eve. While Christmas Eve is not officially a Federal holiday, President Trump gave Federal employees Dec. 24 off in 2019 and 2018, as well. Department heads will still ultimately have the last call as the EO […]

The National Security Agency (NSA) released a cybersecurity alert on Dec. 7 warning that state-sponsored hackers based in Russia have been attacking remote workspaces and exploiting a vulnerability in a suite of VMware products. […]

For the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) to further narrow the pay gap for Federal workers, better quality data on promotions is needed as it is often incomplete. […]