Federal contractors have new hiring goals for employees with disabilities. Final rules from the Labor Department set the hiring bar at seven percent of a company’s workforce. Scott Morrow is an associate at Arnold and Porter.

Congress has only six days to reach a budget deal to avoid a government shutdown. It’s a familiar scenario with possibly familiar results.

You’ll probably pay more for health insurance in 2014. The Office of Personnel Management says premiums will go up next year an average of just under 4 percent. The good news is that’s a lot lower increase than the private sector will see.

Private sector mentors are helping small businesses develop new technologies for the Navy. The Navy’s linking them together through its Energy Excelerator program and so far business is good. Dr. Richard Carlin is the head of the Sea Warfare and Weapons Department at the Office of Naval Research. He tells Federal News Radio’s Sean McCalley in the latest edition of Agency of the Month how the Energy Excelerator program started.

Five winners are celebrating their selection as this year’s Causey Award winners from Federal News Radio. Those winners demonstrated excellence in human resources. Frank McDonough is chief human capital officer of the Food and Nutrition Service at the Agriculture Department. His selection stems from his success in HR reform.

Congress still has six days to pass a continuing resolution to fund your agency for fiscal 2014. But the Thrift Savings Plan doesn’t have that problem. Their budget is ready to go for next fiscal year. Kim Weaver, director of external affairs at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, says participants can thank the TSP board.

A more transparent federal procurement process is getting closer to the finish line. But first the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act needs to survive some debate between Congress and the IT community.

An Army request to spend $175 million to completely restructure the way the service secures its computer networks in the U.S. and in the Middle East is a go. Key congressional committees approve the move. As Federal News Radio’s Jared Serbu reports, it’s an early step on the path to completing DoD’s Joint Information Environment.