• President Joe Biden is recognizing 236 federal employees across 30 agencies for their exceptional leadership and accomplishments. The Office of Personnel Management announced the winners of the 2024 Presidential Rank Awards Thursday. A Presidential Rank Award is widely considered the most prestigious honor for career civil servants. Each year, just about 5% of career federal executives receive a Meritorious Rank Award. Only 1% earn a Distinguished Rank Award. Honorees receive a cash salary bonus for winning a PRA.
  (2024 Presidential Rank Awards - Office of Personnel Management)
• Federal employees and contractors beware, scammers are once again targeting you with fake emails that include fraudulent request for quotes. The General Services Administration’s inspector general is warning both feds and vendors to be on the lookout for emailed RFQs for electronic equipment such as cell phones, laptops, tablets and other electronic devices. These “spoofed” emails appear to originate from government email domains, including “.gov” or “.mil,” but have non-government domain extensions such as “.net,” “.org” or “.com.” The IG said if you have been either solicited or victimized by one of these procurement scams, report the incident immediately to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
  (Fraud alert of fake government requests for quotes - GSA Inspector General’s Office)
• Some Postal insurance members are running into enrollment difficulties this Open Season. Some participants in the new Postal Service Health Benefits program are struggling to review and make changes to their health care options during Open Season. It’s unclear how widespread the technical difficulties are, but some say they’re running into system errors when trying to enter the Postal enrollment platform using Login.gov. There are also reports of hours-long wait times for those who are trying to call customer service. The Office of Personnel Management, which runs the PSHB program, said there have been zero system outages and thousands of successful enrollments since the program’s launch. OPM added that it’s working to shorten wait times on the customer service line.
  (Postal union calls for Open Season extension after members see enrollment issues - Federal News Network)
• The National Archives and Records Administration’s CIO is on the move. Sheena Burrell is leaving NARA after more than two years as the agency’s lead technology executive and is heading to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Burrell, whose last day was yesterday, will be the FDIC’s new chief innovation officer. Gulam Shakir, who currently is NARA’s chief technology officer, will taking over as the CIO. Burrell has worked at NARA for almost six years. She has also worked at NASA and the Social Security Administration. Shakir has been with NARA since 2016 and also has served as the agency’s chief data officer.
  (NARA CIO moving to FDIC - Email to Federal News Network)

        Get tips on how your agency should tackle the data pillar of zero trust in our latest Executive Briefing, sponsored by Varonis.

• Federal agencies trying to get public feedback on their forms, websites and services now have an easier way to do that. New guidance from the Office of Management and Budget said agencies can conduct usability testing without going through a lengthy clearance process under the Paperwork Reduction Act. OMB’s guidance also instructs agencies how to quickly make changes after discovering problems through usability testing.
  (Ensuring effective and timely usability research - White House)
• The Space Development Agency’s program called Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated Low Earth will allow the agency to expand the pool of non-traditional vendors. The program will accelerate the development and deployment of satellite technologies in low Earth orbit. HALO is an Other Transaction Agreement-based consortium. It allows companies to build one or two satellites to demonstrate new technologies in orbit. Smaller, innovative companies that have successful Halo demonstrations gain credibility and can bid on larger contracts.
  (SDA’s HALO Program allows small companies to demonstrate innovative technologies - Mitchell Institute)
• President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign promise to easily fire federal employees may have an outsized impact on employees at the Environmental Protection. Trump is promising to bring back Schedule F, a policy that would strip civil service protections from tens of thousands of federal employees in policymaking positions. Former EPA officials said employees doing the agency’s regulatory work would be particularly susceptible to Schedule F. Jeremy Symons a former climate policy advisor for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation said federal scientists at the EPA would also likely fall under Schedule F.
  (EPA workforce ‘particularly susceptible’ to Trump’s Schedule F plans - Federal News Network)
• The Defense Department’s Resilient and Healthy Defense Communities Implementation Plan details the steps the department will take to create healthy, safe, functional and resilient spaces on defense installations that improve the quality of life of service members and their families. The implementation plan, which builds on the strategy Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks released in February, focuses on three key efforts; making sure infrastructure decisions prioritize the needs and wellbeing of service members; adopting a more strategic and sustainable approach to managing installations and infrastructure; and transforming portfolio management practices.
  (DoD releases Resilient and Healthy Defense Communities - Department of Defense)

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.