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‘Continuous vetting’ procedures will soon apply to more feds governmentwide

By the end of fiscal 2024, all federal employees in “non-sensitive public trust positions” will be subject to more regular background checks.

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Army plans major changes to recruiting after falling short of 2023 goals

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Spy agency leaders aim to change workforce perceptions about well-being, mental health

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Editor's Pick

Federal News Network's New Hire Guide

New to civil service? We created this guide to provide insights and pointers to first-time feds. Be inspired by careerists and also get pointers to make the transition to your new job as smooth as possible. (Pssst: It includes health and life insurance cheat sheets too!)

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Updated with DOJ: A running list of agencies' return-to-office plans

Updated with the Justice Department’s plans: Federal News Network is compiling a list of agencies that have so far made return-to-office announcements for their employees. The list will be regularly refreshed as we learn more.

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Tune in to Federal News Network's newest show: Eye on Washington

Join longtime federal community advocate Jessica Klement and her guests as they cut through the noise and provide you with the information you need to understand how emerging workforce policies will affect you – or not – and make informed decisions about your future.

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A national lab wants to make complex chemistry problems a little more solvable

Computational chemistry may not be at your top concern, but in reality, it’s a key to solving some of the world’s biggest problems. It takes a massive amount of computing power, something not everyone has had access to until now. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is collaborating with Microsoft Corp. and Micron Technology to make computational chemistry broadly available to applied researchers and industrial users. For more, Federal News Network’s Eric White spoke with the PNNL scientist leading the effort, Karol Kowalski.

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A new interagency council aims to improve financial assistance programs

The White House recently established a new interagency council. It’s called COFFA, the Council on Federal Financial Assistance. It will consist of grant-making agencies with the aim of making financial assistance more accountable and equitable.

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government shutdown budget

Less than a week in, contractors sort out the meaning of the 45-day continuing resolution

The continuing resolution, which lasts until November 17, takes a six-and-a-half week bite out of fiscal 2024’s calendar. In a sense, it resets the countdown to a government shutdown, especially if House Republicans succeed in ousting Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which, in case you hadn’t heard…happened. Contractors have been sorting out what it all means. For an update, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Stephanie Kostro, the Executive Vice president for Policy at the Professional Services Council.

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Workplace Reimagined: How to provision new employees for hybrid success

By leaning into automation and cloud for provisioning technology, agencies can improve the onboarding experience and heighten security too, explain experts from ThunderCat and Dell in a conversation with The Federal Drive’s Tom Temin.

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Amelia Brust/Federal News Network

Military spouse hiring authority for agencies extended to 2028

The hiring authority lets agencies forgo traditional hiring procedures and noncompetitively appoint some military spouses to certain federal positions.

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TSP

TSP funds see mostly negative returns in September

For the second month in a row, most Thrift Savings Plan funds posted negative returns in September, with the exception of the government securities investment G fund, which again posted returns of 0.35%.

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FITARA

Why some CIOs say it’s time to rethink governmentwide cyber metrics

Andre Mendes, the chief information officer at the Department of Commerce, was one of several agency technology executives pushing for more consistency around cyber metrics under the FITARA scorecard.

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Summer may have ended, but VA hopes to stay on top of the increase in heat-related illnesses

Veterans may not be the only ones suffering heat-related illnesses (HRI) from rising temps around the nation, but the Veterans Affairs Department nonetheless wants to make sure it addresses the increasing number of HRI cases its seeing at its facilities. Federal Drive Executive Producer Eric White spoke to Thomas Osborne, the director of VA’s National Center for Collaborative Healthcare Innovation.

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Defense News

Army plans major changes to recruiting after falling short of 2023 goals

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Spy agency leaders aim to change workforce perceptions about well-being, mental health

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Pay & Benefits

scam

How servicemembers can get the most out of their pay

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TSP

TSP funds see mostly negative returns in September

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National Science Foundation to make salary cuts after law shows some feds have been ‘overpaid’ since 2017

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Technology

A national lab wants to make complex chemistry problems a little more solvable

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‘Continuous vetting’ procedures will soon apply to more feds governmentwide

Read more

Workforce

A new interagency council aims to improve financial assistance programs

Read more

Army plans major changes to recruiting after falling short of 2023 goals

Read more

‘Continuous vetting’ procedures will soon apply to more feds governmentwide

Read more

Spy agency leaders aim to change workforce perceptions about well-being, mental health

Read more

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