SES
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The Office of Personnel Management is receiving more applications for the phased retirement program this year than it had during the first full year of its existence, but the numbers are still relatively low, given the large number of federal employees who are or will be eligible by the end of fiscal 2017.
June 28, 2017 -
It's been a busy couple of months for the Veterans Affairs Department. But VA Secretary David Shulkin said he wouldn't have it any other way. He's pushing the VA workforce to embrace risk and begin making bold, fundamental changes to the way it does business. He said he sees the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act as one bold change that will improve the department's employee morale and recruitment efforts.
June 20, 2017 -
The House will pass the VA Accountability First and Whistleblower Protection Act, clearing the way for the President to sign the bill later this week. Some lawmakers and veterans service organizations see the bill's passage as a major win after years of debate over new accountability legislation. But federal employee groups say the bill would do more harm than good.
June 13, 2017 -
Both the Veterans Affairs and Justice departments believe they can easily resolve some concerns with the constitutionality of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. DoJ is concerned, however, that VA will run into the same issues that ultimately rendered a controversial provision on firing senior executives unconstitutional.
May 18, 2017 -
The Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, which senators introduced last week, may have more momentum than previous bills. It now has 12 co-sponsors, including four Democrats and VA Secretary David Shulkin himself. Yet some federal employee groups and experts question whether the new bill has the teeth to truly tackle long entrenched cultural problems at the department.
May 16, 2017 -
Members of the Senate have reached a long awaited agreement on new accountability procedures for senior executives and employees within the Veterans Affairs Department. A bipartisan group of senators introduced the Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act Thursday morning. It would change current disciplinary appeals rights for both SES and rank-and-file employees.
May 11, 2017 -
Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management, said she and subcommittee and Chairman James Lankford (R-Okla) will make civil service reform a major focus this year. She and Lankford are looking for ideas that attack the root causes of some of the most challenging problems facing the federal workforce.
May 11, 2017 -
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld an appeal from Sharon Helman, the former director of the beleaguered Veterans Affairs medical center in Phoenix, Arizona, who was fired in 2014. The court said a key provision that lets VA more quickly fire and discipline senior executives is unconstitutional. The Merit Systems Protection Board will review the original decision an administrative judge made regarding Helman's removal.
May 09, 2017 -
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney sent a memo to agency leaders outlining a series of long and short term actions agencies need to take around reducing the number of employees, improving how they measure employee performance and restructure their mission areas.
April 11, 2017 -
Dr. David Paschane, an organizational architect with Aplin Partners, offers advice for how Senior Executive Service members can prepare for new political appointees.
April 11, 2017 -
Karlease Kelly, the chief learning officer at the Agriculture Department and the chairwoman of the federal Chief Learning Officer’s Council, said applying shared services to agency LMSs could bring some standardization in the services and the cost to the government.
March 20, 2017 -
The senior executive service faces an unprecedented time where criticism is rampant, the environment is fast-paced and the retirement bubble teeters on popping.
March 20, 2017 -
President Donald Trump offered a first look at his upcoming management agenda in the 2018 budget blueprint. The agenda will focus on eliminating agency reporting requirements on IT, acquisition, human capital and real property and letting "managers manage." It also suggests the budget and reorganization executive order initiatives will drive future agency workforce cuts.
March 16, 2017 -
The Office of Personnel Management granted additional exemptions to the President's temporary hiring freeze. OPM and the Office of Management and Budget gave agencies permission to ask for others if they fall outside of the administration's original exemption guidance.
March 13, 2017 -
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' federal workforce subcommittee said it's on a fact-finding mission this year. Subcommittee Chairman James Lankford (R-Okla.) said he wants to hear from federal managers about the existing authorities and processes that make their jobs more difficult.
February 09, 2017