• In the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastation, a top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee is asking questions about the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s advanced forecasting models. New York Congressman Anthony D’Esposito, chairman of the emergency management subcommittee, said many communities caught in the path of Hurricane Helene weren’t aware of the potential for destructive flooding. D’Esposito is asking FEMA to provide data on its advanced forecasting models and prepositioning of resources. He’s also asking FEMA whether the agency has adjusted its rainfall modeling after Hurricane Helene.
  ( Subcommittee Chairman D’Esposito probes FEMA’s storm modeling, forecasting accuracy - House Homeland Security Committee )
• The largest federal employee union is endorsing a bill to prevent suicide among federal corrections officers. The Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act would expand access to mental health care services for law enforcement officers working at the Bureau of Prisons. The American Federation of Government Employees supports the bill. AFGE said many federal correctional officers are veterans who are already at a higher suicide risk than the general population.
  (AFGE endorses bill to prevent suicide among federal correctional officers - American Federation of Government Employees)
• As Hurricane Milton is approaching the Florida coastline, there are military bases securing equipment, relocating personnel and preparing for possible disaster response efforts. Officials at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa ordered widespread evacuations on Monday. The Navy is also relocating its assets ahead of the storm. Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon's top spokesperson, said the Defense Department is tracking the storm’s path and thinking through the potential contingencies. On Tuesday, the National Guard Bureau mobilized about 500 Guardsmen to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency later in the week.
  (Military bases bracing for Hurricane Milton - Department of Defense)
• The Office of Personnel Management retirement backlog saw a decline in claims received and processed in September. OPM received more than 5,600 claims and processed just over 6,300 claims in last month. That is over 1,400 less than in August. The inventory backlog dropped to just under 15,000 cases, but that's not enough to meet the steady state goal of 13,000 cases. OPM says September cases completed in less than 60 days on average took 41 days to process, while cases that took more than 60 days on average took 115 days to fully process.
  (September OPM retirement numbers - Office of Personnel Management)

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• House lawmakers want to know how the National Institute of Standards and Technology is approaching the thorny issue of facial recognition. Leaders on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee want to know how NIST’s updated digital identity guidelines address longstanding concerns about facial recognition. In a letter to NIST Director Laura Locasio this week, lawmakers asked NIST to share the findings of its digital identity and face recognition technology work. NIST published the updated digital identity guidelines last month. They serve as standards for how federal agencies use digital identity technologies, including facial recognition.
  (Science Committee leaders request more information on NIST’s digital identity guidelines - House Science, Space and Technology Committee )
• Cyber operators across the federal government can take a range of new courses from DC3 Cyber Training Academy'. In its schedule for November, DC3 is offering classes around cryptocurrency activities, cybersecurity analyst, log analysis and Linux essentials. The academy has also released its 2025 course catalog — it will offer courses for entry-level, intermediate and advanced-level professionals. Courses are taught on-site at the DC3 Cyber Training Academy in Maryland, in residence at off-site locations and online. Students interested in enrolling can request additional information through the cyber training academy registrar.
  (DC3 Cyber Training Academy to offer new courses - DoD cyber crime center)
• The Biden administration is giving agencies more capacity to oversee more infrastructure projects. The Federal Permitting Council is investing $15 million in a new contracting tool to help agencies deal with a surge in environmental reviews and other permitting work under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Permitting Council Executive Director Eric Beightel said, “We are developing a contract solution to enable agencies to quickly leverage surge support to enable reviews and other permitting work to be completed effectively and on schedule.”
  (Permitting council invests $15M in ‘surge capacity’ for agencies to manage infrastructure boom - Federal News Network)
• The Partnership for Public Service is urging both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump to use resources from the General Services Administration and kickstart presidential transition planning. Getting transition plans underway now is critical, Partnership officials said, regardless of who wins the November election. But so far, both presidential campaigns are still behind on their transition planning efforts. The Harris campaign signed an initial agreement with GSA to access transition resources, like office space and connections with agencies. But less than a month out from Election Day, the Trump campaign has yet to do the same.
  (Presidential transition planning efforts - Partnership for Public Service)
• The Social Security Administration is turning the ship around on employee engagement. For the first time in years, SSA is seeing positive trends in employees’ feedback on engagement, satisfaction and agency leadership. That’s according to SSA’ results in the 2024 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. The positive trends in the 2024 FEVS come after years of declining scores for the agency. But SSA leaders said there’s still more work ahead to continue the upward trajectory — most notably by addressing what many employees say are unreasonable workloads.
  (For SSA workforce, 2024 FEVS results show promising signs - Federal News Network)

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