• FEMA employees who worked in 2021 during a disaster and were eligible for premium pay, but didn't receive it, may finally be getting that extra compensation. The agency's Payroll and Compensation Branch tells FEMA's inspector general that it will complete all premium pay reconciliations for 2021 by January 31. These and other changes come after FEMA's auditors found it underpaid some employees for premium work by almost $600,000 in 2021 and 2022. FEMA completed its 2022 reconciliations earlier this year. At the same time, FEMA also may be collecting premium pay overpayments from other employees. The IG found FEMA awarded almost $400,000 too much in premium pay in 2021 and 2022, requiring the agency to correct its payroll errors.
  (FEMA needs to take additional action to comply with premium pay laws and regulations - FEMA IG)
• Agency leaders are pushing for big changes to the government’s cumbersome federal hiring process. In the final President’s Management Agenda update from the Biden administration, the Office of Management and Budget pointed to its recent federal hiring experience memo, which it released in partnership with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) earlier this year. The memo tells agencies to prioritize improvements for hiring managers, HR staff and federal job applicants to reform the federal recruitment process long term. To help agencies implement the memo, OPM is offering training to HR specialists and hiring managers on available tools and technology.
  (PMA update on federal hiring - performance.gov)
• The FAR Council is fixing a 2018 rule about the timing of vendor registration in the SAM.gov platform. Two recent protest decisions at the Government Accountability Office and the Court of Federal Claims are triggering an update to the Federal Acquisition Regulations. The FAR Council issued an interim rule today clarifying that a vendor must be registered in SAM.gov at the time of submission of a proposal and at the time of award. But if that registration lapses between the bid and award, the FAR Council says a contractor shouldn't be penalized as long as they have reupped their registration before an agency makes the award. In both protests, two different contractors lost because of a lapse in registration. The council is accepting comments on the interim rule through mid January.
  (FAR: Clarification of System for Award Management pre-award registration requirements - Federal Register)
• The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has had a busy political season. OSC last week filed a Hatch Act complaint against White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden. The complaint alleges Tanden broke the law by soliciting political contributions on social media. And OSC is also set to review the case of an Federal Emergency Management Agency employee who told survivor assistance teams not to visit homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Donald Trump. FEMA has fired the employee in question.
  (OSC files Hatch Act complaint against senior White House official for soliciting political contributions - U.S. Office of Special Counsel)

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• The door has officially opened for federal employees, annuitants and their family members to consider making changes to their health benefits for plan year 2025. Over the next month, enrollees in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program and the new Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) program will be able to make changes to their health insurance options. The Office of Personnel Management encourages all feds to at the very least review their current benefits during the government’s annual Open Season. Typically, just 5% of feds make changes to their selections each year. This year’s Open Season began yesterday and will run until December 9.
  (Open season is here and runs through Dec. 9 - Federal News Network)
• The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) is charting a new path forward on a critical but troubled IT program. Pentagon leaders have approved DCSA’s new plan for the National Background Investigation Services, or NBIS, program. The streamlined personnel vetting system is years behind schedule and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. But DCSA says its new roadmap includes rigorous acquisition planning, modern software development practices, and key cybersecurity benchmarks. DCSA plans to transition NBIS to the cloud and accelerate the retirement of legacy background systems.
  (NBIS modernization reaches acquisition milestone - DCSA)
• The number of veterans experiencing homelessness has dropped to its lowest point since 2009. Data published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development shows more than 32,000 veterans are experiencing some form of homelessness. That’s about a 7% drop compared to last year. Veteran homelessness is down more than 55% compared to levels in 2010. The Department of Veterans Affairs helped nearly 48,000 veterans find permanent housing this year and spent more than $800 million dollars on grants to combat veteran homelessness.
  (Under Biden-Harris administration, veteran homelessness drops to lowest on record - Department of Housing and Urban Development)

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