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• The Congressional Budget Office assessed a bill which would give the Trump administration expedited authority to reorganize the federal government. The administration would need to report regularly to the Congress on the status, costs, and savings of any such reorganization and CBO would still need to prepare a financial analysis of any plan submitted to Congress under the bill. (Congressional Budget Office)
• Employee engagement is up slightly across the federal workforce in 2018. It rose a percentage point, to 68 points this year. The latest results of the governmentwide Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey from the Office of Personnel Management also show just 26 percent of federal employees said their raises are tied to their performance. (Federal News Network)

• The IRS’ Office of Appeals has lost 40 percent of its staff since 2010. The Government Accountability Office said the appeals office anticipates a continued risk of losing subject matter experts. About one-third of its workforce was eligible for retirement at the end of last fiscal year. (Government Accountability Office)

• Picket signs and disgruntled employees were the scene outside the Department of Health and Human Services yesterday. The National Treasury Employees Union is demanding HHS leaders come back to the bargaining table for a new contract. HHS declared an impasse after it suggested removing contract articles allowing the union to negotiate over telework, alternative work schedules and leave policy. (Federal News Network)

• The Foreign Service Institute gained a new director with Ambassador Dan Smith taking over the State Department’s training bureau. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Smith impeccably qualified for the role. Smith has been assistant secretary of State for intelligence and research since 2014. He was ambassador to Greece earlier in the Obama administration. At the Foreign Service Institute, Smith will oversee four schools that teach everything from 70 foreign languages to applied information technology.

• Another agency CIO is on the move. Rod Turk, the acting chief information officer and chief information security officer at the Commerce Department, is retiring. Sources confirmed to Federal News Network that Turk let Commerce leadership know his plans to leave federal service on Jan. 19. He is retiring after 16 years as a civilian employee and 26 years in the Navy. Turk has been acting CIO since January 2017 and CISO since September 2015. It’s unclear who will replace Turk. He will become the fourth agency CIO to leave their position in the last six months. (Federal News Network)

• Some 132 general and flag officer positions should be downgraded or eliminated. That’s according to a Rand Corporation study commissioned by Congress, which has already charged the Defense Department with cutting 110 of them over the next five years. (Federal News Network)

• The Navy is expanding its fleet, but the cost may be more than the service first expected. It will cost the Navy about $27 billion a year to buy the new ships the service wants over the next 30 years. That’s according to a new Congressional Budget Office report. The Navy wants to expand from 285 to 355 ships, which will cost about $800 billion, CBO said. That’s $130 billion more than the Navy quoted. But CBO also said if the Navy continues retiring ships and building new ones at its current pace it will not reach 355 ships by 2048. That means the Navy may have to reconsider its 2019 fleet plan. (Congressional Budget Office)

• The Defense Information Systems Agency moves the long-awaited Defense Enterprise Office Solutions contract under IT schedule 70. DISA, along with the General Services Administration, announces the move in a request for information. Industry has been expecting a final request for proposal on the $9 billion contract since June. Responses are due by Nov. 9. (FedBizOpps)

• With 10 packages containing explosive devices being sent to critics of the Trump administration, the Postal Inspection Service finds itself in the spotlight. The agency said it’s working with the FBI, Secret Service and ATF on the recent incidents. It reminds everyone to keep an eye out for suspicious packages and activity. (Twitter)

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