• The Department of the Air Force is on track to meet its recruitment goals for fiscal 2024 across all components. Reinstating the Enlisted College Loan Repayment Program, revising the tattoo policy and adjusting the legal permanent resident requirement are some of the factors that are helping the service overcome its recruitment slump this year. The service plans to bump up its enlisted recruiting goal in 2025, which will require more than 370 additional recruiters to meet the higher target.
  (Air Force on track to meet its recruitment goals across all components - AFA Conference)
• The Energy Department is saving the government and the private sector billions of dollars while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The department says state and local governments and Fortune 100 companies saved nearly 22 billion dollars through energy-efficiency upgrades on their buildings since 2011. Those upgrades also eliminated more greenhouse gasses than what 29 million homes produce in a year. The department is pushing these upgrades through its Better Buildings Initiative to reduce carbon emissions.
  (U.S. Department of Energy announces Better Buildings Initiative progress report - Energy Department)
• A discharge petition aiming to secure a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act has gained 172 signatures, just one week after Louisiana Congressman Garret Graves filed it. The legislation aims to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), two provisions that reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for CSRS annuitants and other public sector workers. If the petition manages to get another 46 signatures, it’ll be forced to a House floor vote. On the Senate side, the bill has 62 bipartisan cosponsors, but has not yet seen any action indicating a potential vote.
  (Discharge petition aiming to secure a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act has 172 signatures - Federal News Network)
• The General Services Administration’s pilot of coworking offices could be part of the solution to reduce the federal footprint. But some agencies will get more use out of shared office space than others. For instance, coworking spaces would lend themselves well to agencies with buildings under construction, and those who have teleworking employees. Agencies like FEMA could also take up shared office space when deploying to locations across the country in response to a disaster. On the other hand, agencies with a lot of classified work may be less likely to find value in GSA’s project.
  (GSA pilots coworking spaces to reduce federal footprint - Federal News Network)

        Learn how DLA, GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service and the State Department are modernizing their contract and acquisition processes to make procurement an all-around better experience for everyone involved.

• Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says USPS is delivering mail on average in 2.7 days, and that election mail usually outperforms all other types of mail. USPS delivered about 97% to 98% of all election and political mail on time during the primary election season. State election officials, members of Congress and former President Donald Trump have raised concerns about the Postal Service’s ability to deliver mail-in ballots on-time in November. Postal worker unions are also stepping up to defend USPS preparations for Election Day.
  (Amid USPS scrutiny, postmaster general says agency is prepared for election mail - Federal News Network )
• The Department of the Air Force stands up the integrated development office. The new command-level office is tasked with building execution-ready acquisition programs. Air Force Materiel Command Commander Gen. Duke Z. Richardson was assigned to lead the office. The Air Force also stood up a provisional version of the Integrated Capabilities Command. The ICC, in partnership with the IDO, will prioritize modernization efforts and streamline the acquisition of warfighting capabilities.
  (Air Force stands up integrated development office - AFA Conference )
• The top two lawmakers on the Senate Military Personnel Subcommittee want answers from DoD on how the department plans to fix staffing shortages at military childcare centers. A letter Senators Elizabeth Warren and Rick Scott sent to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin late last week points out nearly 12,000 military children are on waiting lists for military child development centers. A recent DoD study found childcare workers are at the bottom of the civilian pay scale. Among other things, the senators want specific plans on how the department plans to raise caregivers’ pay and increase retention.
  (Lawmakers press DoD officials on staffing shortages at military childcare centers - Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA))
• The Pentagon is preparing to roll out the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program as soon as next year. DoD program managers will have discretion to put CMMC requirements into contracts when the program kicks off. But first, they’ll need to make sure they properly mark their controlled unclassified information or CUI. Stacey Bostjanick is chief of DoD’s industrial base cybersecurity. “They've got to understand how it lays in, how to disaggregate it and pass it down the supply chain, and we've got to be prepped and ready to do that,” Bostjanick said at a Sept. 12 event. DoD officials say they’re developing training and tools to help program offices identify and mark CUI ahead of CMMC’s rollout.
  (Ahead of CMMC rollout, Pentagon preps CUI training, tools - Federal News Network )
• The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency has awarded 10 companies a spot on the agency’s new commercial data and analytics contract. NGA announced the winners of the “Luno A” contract late last week. NGA’s goal is to provide its customers with more access to commercial GEOINT analysis. The agency says it wants to tap into private industry’s use of computer vision and artificial intelligence to help track global events. The Luno A contract has a five-year ordering period with a ceiling of $290 million.
  (Luno A contract notice - SAM.gov)

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