National & World Headlines

• Having elected House speaker, Republicans try governing

  Kevin McCarthy has passed his first tests as House speaker as Republican lawmakers approved their rules package governing House operations. It was approved 220-213, a party-line vote with one Republican opposed.

  Congress

  January 09, 2023
• Edge computing enables NOAA to push workloads closer to public consumers, not just field researchers

  Frank Indiviglio, NOAA’s deputy director for High Performance Computing & Communications (HPCC), said conversations are happening about how NOAA can containerize its climate models in order to push the models themselves out to the public to understand, build upon and tweak.

  Big Data

  January 05, 2023
• How does locality pay actually work, and where did it come from?

  Explaining the history of locality pay and how it affects federal employees on the General Schedule.

  Pay

  January 05, 2023
• What Thrift Savings Plan participants can look forward to this year

  No one is looking back fondly on last year when it comes to the Thrift Savings Plan. The markets had a terrible year across the board.

  TSP

  January 05, 2023
• How federal financial people keep their skills up to date

  You might think chief financial officers count beans and leaf through spreadsheets. But their profession needs training, skills development, and innovation as much as anyone else. A project at the Office of Personnel Management sought to ensure financial people stay up to date.

  Technology

  January 04, 2023
• Biden signs $1.7 trillion bill funding government operations

  President Joe Biden has signed a $1.7 trillion bill funding government operations through September 2023, the end of the federal budget year.

  Budget

  December 29, 2022
• Legislation orders Bureau of Prisons to upgrade its security hardware

  In today's Federal Newscast, the Federal Bureau of Prisons will have to overhaul its outdated security systems under legislation the president signed yesterday.

  Federal Newscast

  December 28, 2022
• Former soldier tasked with getting Navy builder in shipshape

  The new leader of Navy shipbuilder Bath Iron Works said he's been rejuvenated by a shift from his former aerospace job to building ships.

  Navy

  December 27, 2022
• GOP Senators urge defense secretary to reinstate military members, issue backpay for vaccine-related discharges

  In today's Federal Newscast: Republican Senators urge Defense Secretary Austin to reinstate military members and to issue backpay for vaccine-related discharges. The personal information of more than 250,000 people possibly exposed in data breach. And L3Harris Technologies is buying Aerojet Rocketdyne for almost $5 billion.

  Federal Newscast

  December 20, 2022
• Biden signs bill to keep government open through Dec. 23

  President Joe Biden has signed legislation to fund the government for an additional week as lawmakers race to finish work on a full-year spending package before they head home for the holidays and a new Congress is sworn in. Congress in September passed a bill to keep the government running through midnight Friday. The latest extension funds federal agencies through Dec. 23. That will give lawmakers more time to fashion a roughly $1.7 trillion package currently being negotiated that would finance the day-to-day operations of government agencies for the full fiscal year.

  Government Shutdown

  December 16, 2022
• Biden urges veterans to seek health benefits under new law

  President Joe Biden has visited a National Guard facility in Delaware to talk about expanded veterans benefits for exposure to toxins under legislation that he signed in August. The National Guard facility is named after his late son, Beau Biden, who served as a major in Iraq and later died of brain cancer. The president has said he believes his son's fatal illness stemmed from his exposure to “burn pits” in Iraq. The new law, known as the PACT Act, helps veterans get screened and treated for toxins that could include Agent Orange, which was used for deforestation during the Vietnam War, or burn pits, where trash was destroyed on military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  Veterans Affairs

  December 16, 2022
• Lawmakers announce ‘framework’ on bill to keep gov’t open

  Lawmakers leading the negotiations on a bill to fund the federal government for the current fiscal year say they’ve reached agreement on a “framework” that should allow them to complete work on the bill over the next week and avoid a government shutdown.

  Government Shutdown

  December 14, 2022
• Congress eyes one week of funding to avoid government shutdown

  Congress will likely have to fund the government for one week to avoid a partial government shutdown. That's according to Sen. Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who said Monday there are “positive and productive" conversations happening about a longer-term spending package. Congress faces a midnight Friday deadline to fund the government and prevent a partial stoppage. A vote to extend that deadline by one week gives negotiators more time, but also pushes back the deadline to Dec. 23, closer to the holidays. Lawmakers are hoping to attach an array of other priorities to the final spending bill, including $37 billion in Ukraine aid.

  Congress

  December 12, 2022
• Congress set to rescind COVID-19 vaccine mandate for troops

  The COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military would be rescinded under the annual defense bill heading for a vote this week in Congress. If the measure passes, it will end a policy that helped ensure the vast majority of troops were vaccinated but also raised concerns that it harmed recruitment and retention.

  Defense

  December 06, 2022