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• An appeals court has cracked the door open a bit for a return to the COVID vaccine mandate for federal contractors. The contractor vaccine mandate has been on hold since last December, when a federal judge in Georgia issued an injunction blocking it nationwide. But the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 on Friday that the nationwide ban went too far, and the injunction can only apply to the plaintiffs who sued. In this case, that’s the members of the Associated Builders and Contractors, and state agencies from seven states. Several other federal courts have also blocked the mandate on a more local basis, and the Biden Administration has not yet said how it will respond to Friday’s ruling. (Federal News Network)

• The Transportation Department has landed a new chief information security officer. Jay Ribeiro is taking over as the Transportation Department’s new head of cybersecurity and associate chief information officer. Ribeiro comes to DoT from the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as the CISO. He was with ATF since 2018. Prior to that, Ribeiro worked at the Federal Election Commission and the State Department in senior IT roles. He takes over for Andrew Orndorff, who had been DOT’s CISO and associate CIO for strategic portfolio management for the last two years.

• The SBA is reinvigorating its women-owned small business contracting initiative called, “The ChallengeHER program,” a free, national effort designed to bring more women-owned firms into the federal government’s supply chain, using matchmaking opportunities, as well as training on how to navigate the federal acquisition sector.

• Officials at Ft. Bragg have relocated the first 100 of about 1100 soldiers, as the base addresses mold in its barracks. An assessment found that 10 of 12 barracks built in the 1970s do not meet current ventilation standards. The base is urging any soldiers with adverse health symptoms to seek medical attention.

• The National Archives is making it easier to access its digital records resources. The National Archives and Records Administration is making its Digital Preservation Framework available as a linked open data set. NARA said the move will help share its digital preservation research with agencies and digital preservation professionals across the world. The framework describes best practices for the preservation of 684 file formats. NARA said the linked data set will help ensure digital records created today will remain accessible for decades to come.

• Employees of the legislative branch will get more workplace protections if a new bill introduced by D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton becomes law. Among other things, the Congress Leads By Example Act would provide general whistleblower protections and anti-retaliation measures for those working for Congress. Norton said it would provide protection for congressional employees more in line with protections for other federal workers.

• A new committee formed by the Defense Department is tasked with studying ways to prevent sexual misconduct in the military. The Pentagon just released the names of those who will serve on the board. Longtime military human resources official Gina Grosso will lead the Defense Advisory Committee for the Prevention of Sexual Misconduct. Grosso served as a lieutenant general in the Air Force. Her last position was the deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services. She will be joined by 13 other members, including Dorothy Edwards, president of Alteristic, a nonprofit that focuses on sexual violence. Stephanie Gattas, the founder of Pink Berets, an organization honing in on military sexual trauma, will also serve on the board.

• The Social Security Administration has plans to repair a few parts of its national union agreement. After months of ongoing discussions, SSA and the American Federation of Government Employees reached an agreement to restore previous levels of official time. That’s paid time that employees can use for union activity. The agreement also restores the union’s use of SSA facilities to levels that existed in an earlier iteration of the national contract. The changes will take effect on September 23. (Federal News Network)

• The IRS might not get quite the return on investment it expected from recent funding increases. The Inflation Reduction Act, passed earlier this month, gives the IRS $80 billion over the next 10 years. A new estimate from the Congressional Budget Office said the funding increase will allow IRS to collect slightly more than $180 billion over the next 10 years. The original estimate, in July, was about $23 billion higher. CBO said late changes to the bill in the Senate, including cutting expedited hiring and critical pay authority, are responsible for the decrease.

• Federal contractors and contracting officers now have an online portal to provide required notices of federal construction contracts and subcontract awards. Launched by the Labor Department on Friday, this portal facilitates the submission of notices required by the department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. It will also reduce the need to submit contract awards notifications by mail or email.

• The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is looking for contractors who can support its research portfolio. NGA released a notice this month seeking feedback from companies on the agency’s future technology endeavors. That includes developing new ways to observe activities happening around the world, as well as advanced analytics and software work. The deadline for responses to NGA is September 23.

• The Federal Salary Council will soon have three new members. President Biden announced his intention to appoint Everett Kelley, David Holway and Patrick Yoes to the council. Kelley is president of the American Federation of Government Employees, Holway is president of the National Association of Government Employees and Yoes is president of the Fraternal Order of Police. The nine-member board submits locality pay recommendations for approval to the President’s pay agent, an authority combining heads of Labor, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management. The council recently recommended pay increases in areas across the country to keep federal employees’ pay more in line with the communities in which they work.

• The Veterans Affairs Department is trying to find ways to boost workforce satisfaction. A new employee engagement council is collaborating with VA leaders to brainstorm ways to better support employees’ satisfaction at work. Some of the council’s changes include adding whole-health training to its employee onboarding program, and creating relaxation rooms for medical center staff. Gina Grosso, a VA human resources leader, said the agency wants to create a more holistic view of employee wellness.

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