Better policies needed for treatment of government dogs, GAO says

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• The Veterans Affairs Department is cutting down the time it takes to onboard employees for its most critically-needed positions. The VA hired more employees in fiscal 2022 than at any point in recent history. But it needs to hire about 52,000 employees per year just to keep up with the rate of attrition and an increase in veterans entering the VA health care system. VA is holding an “all-hands-on-deck” event in November to fast-track the onboarding process for candidates who have already accepted a job offer. Onboarding in some cases can take 90 to 100 days. VA Undersecretary for Health Shereef Elnahal said that’s too long a wait. “We know that, to some frequency, we lose folks after we’ve made the selection, because of how long that can take,” Elnahal said. (Federal News Network)

• The federal government employs more than 5,000 working dogs across eight departments and three independent agencies. But the Government Accountability Office said agencies don’t always have policies in place to ensure the wellbeing of the animals. GAO found that half of federally managed programs do not address abuse or neglect or set policies for rest and duration of on-duty working time for dogs.

• The Office of Personnel Management is preparing for the anticipated 2023 federal pay raise. Agencies can submit special rate requests to OPM for certain federal positions with heightened recruitment or retention challenges. OPM periodically authorizes the addition, removal or adjustment of pay rates outside the standard General Schedule levels. For 2023, the default special rate adjustment will be 4.1%, in line with the White House’s base pay raise request for feds. Agencies have until November 18 to send OPM materials for any pay adjustment requests. (Federal News Network)

• A nationwide block on the COVID-19 vaccine mandate has lifted, but agencies should still wait to make any changes. The partial lift on the ban comes after an appeals court ruled that a nationwide injunction is too broad. Instead, the ban on the mandate should only apply to states that are actually suing. The Office of Management and Budget plans to soon release guidance to agencies on what the vaccine mandate will look like for future federal contracts.

• The Department of Homeland Security is looking to sort out a growing number of cyber reporting rules. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said DHS is working to streamline cyber incident and data breach requirements with both U.S. agencies and foreign governments. Mayorkas was speaking this week at the Singapore International Cyber Week Summit. Back in Washington, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency heard feedback on new cyber incident reporting regulations at a public meeting this week. CISA still has to write the rules, and industry associations urged the agency to avoid duplication with other reporting requirements.

• The Transportation Security Administration is rolling out a new piece of security technology with help from Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate. The compact baggage screener shows 3D images of objects inside carry-on bags to help reduce the number of manual checks. The system fits inside small airports that cannot accommodate TSA’s larger conventional systems. The technology was developed under the “Screening at Speed” program, which aims to develop tech that can help cut down security wait times at airports.

• A long-time, well respected federal executive is retiring. Mary Davie, who spent most of her career at the General Services Administration running major acquisition and technology programs, is retiring after more than 34 years of government service. Davie, who currently is NASA’s deputy assistant administrator for mission support, will end her federal career on December 31. She said she plans to stay engaged in the federal space doing independent consulting, and spending more time with the business college and students at Virginia Tech, her alma mater, and stay involved with good government groups like ACT-IAC, NAPA and the Partnership for Public Service. FCW first reported Davie’s plans to retire

• The Homeland Security Department shattered previous records for contracting with small businesses in fiscal 2022. Preliminary data shows DHS awarded more than 40% of all eligible prime contracts to small firms. That means small businesses received about $9 billion in 2022, which is $1 billion more than 2021. The agency spends about $20.5 billion dollars on procurement annually. DHS also met all of its small business goals, awarding more than a billion dollars in all socioeconomic categories, including 18% of those awards to small, disadvantage businesses.

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