Friday is D-Day, as in Decimation Day, when federal agencies are supposed to unveil and reveal their downsizing plans, which will mean buyouts, early outs and layoffs for some.
Both Henry Kerner, the president's pick to be the U.S. Special Counsel at the Office of Special Counsel, and Claire Grady, the nominee to be the undersecretary for management at the Homeland Security Department, say they both share similar workforce priorities.
Sean Osborne, vice president of product management for Acendre, offers four ways agencies can boost efficiencies, eliminate duplicative and non-essential functions and improve information-sharing.
In a couple of months, managers across government will know how their agencies fared in the latest Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. In the meantime, the Partnership for Public Service had released some advice on getting ready for and making good use of the results. Mallory Barg Bulman, director of research and evaluation at the Partnership, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin with some advice to agencies.
The Homeland Security Department's E-Verify program is supposed to keep illegal aliens from taking jobs in the United States. But the identification system still has many flaws and that fact alone has cost a half million legal workers their jobs. David Bier, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain the major implications of the floundering system.
Some Republicans are joining about 100 House Democrats in voicing their opposition to the president's proposed changes to federal retirement.
The Senate is in a large debate over its health care insurance bill unveiled Friday, June 23. It's an important debate, according to David Hawkings, senior editor at Roll Call. He joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss the upcoming week on the Hill and the likelihood the bill will pass as quickly as majority leader Mitch McConnell wants.
Since 2010, the Improper Payment Elimination Reporting Act has required inspectors general to tell whether their agencies are doing what they're supposed to in order to reduce debt by error. But the Government Accountability Office has found a few flaws in the IG reports. Beryl Davis, director of financial management and assurance at GAO, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to elaborate.
The Veterans Affairs Department faces many challenges with its decision to abandon the Veterans Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) and adopt a commercial, off-the-shelf electronic health record. But with a high dollar amount and big stakes comes as even larger culture change, federal IT experts said.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry said he wouldn't back down from the $640 billion defense top-line in the NDAA unless a multi-year budget deal could be reached. But then he backed down from the $640 billion top-line.
Decline in congressional support agency staff over time leaves legislators with less capacity to make informed decisions.
Alan Thomas became the fourth commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration June 26.
The General Services Administration has a lot of vacancies in its acquisition pantheon. And there's no administrator yet - or even an appointment. In a situation like this, contractors need a strategy. Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to give some tips.
Gary Morton, AFGE's VERA/VSIP lead negotiator, says employees also need to consider what budget cuts could mean for themselves and the agency in 2018.
Former federal CIO Tony Scott and former SSA CIO Rob Klopp are both launched new companies while Mark Schwartz, the outgoing CIO at USCIS, announced he’s heading to Amazon Web Services.