• The House will vote on a bill next week that would make it easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire employees accused of misconduct. Congress already passed legislation in 2017 to do this. But federal courts and the Merit Systems Protection Board blocked the law from covering much of the VA’s workforce. House VA Committee Chairman Mike Bost said his bill would help the VA remove poor performers in weeks or months rather than years. VA leaders said they already have the tools they need to hold employees accountable.
  (Bills this week - House of Representatives)
• Military suicides went up in 2023, continuing the long-term troubling trend. The Defense Department’s annual report on suicide released Thursday found that the number of active duty service members who died by suicide spiked again last year. The increase in suicide deaths in 2023 was primarily driven by spikes in the Army and Air Force. While the Marine Corps numbers remained the same in 2023, the service has the highest rate of suicide among all service branches. The Pentagon plans to invest $125 million in suicide prevention efforts in 2025.
  (Military suicides increased again in 2023 - Federal News Network)
• Participants in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program have an opportunity to get their questions answered this Open Season. Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly is hosting his annual Open Season workshop this Saturday in Fairfax, Virginia. During the workshop, feds can get information and advice from FEHB experts at the Office of Personnel Management and Consumers' Checkbook. This year's Open Season just got underway and feds have until Dec. 9 to review their insurance options for the 2025 plan year.
  (2024 Open Season Workshop - Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.))
• The Pentagon is taking another big step toward embracing 5G wireless technologies on military bases. A new private 5G deployment strategy, signed in October and made public this week, lays out a basic framework for how the department will use wireless services for secure high-speed connectivity on its installations. Detailed implementation guidance is yet to come, but the calls for technology deployments that are tailored to each base's mission, an “accelerated” deployment schedule for 5G technologies, and encouraging the development of non-proprietary Open Radio Access Network approaches.
  (Pentagon embracing 5G on military bases - Department of Defense)

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• The Army Software Factory will bring military and government personnel together to develop technology solutions for rapid response scenarios in a hands-on hackathon. Winners will be declared in three categories, including mobile development, dashboard development, and data analytics. The hackathon will focus on solving challenges related to the Defense Department mission set, but personnel from other government agencies can participate upon obtaining approval from their supervisors. The event will be held from Dec. 10 to Dec. 12 at Austin Community College.
  (Army Software Factory to hold hands-on hackathon - Army Software Factory)
• DoD appears to be keeping its promise to move quickly with its new Replicator initiative. That's the department's project to field autonomous systems in mass quantities. This week, the Pentagon announced its second tranche of Replicator contracts: the publicly-announced portions include small unmanned aerial systems made by Anduril Industries and Performance Drone Works, but other components of this round of acquisition are classified.
  (DoD moving quickly on new Replicator initiative - Department of Defense)
• Federal Executive Boards are looking to expand their reach to even more employees using a network of local federal leaders, Federal Executive Boards run job fairs and training sessions, hold charitable donation drives and host info sessions on federal health benefits. Over the past year, FEB’s programs reached about 15,000 feds and reduced training costs for agencies by nearly $7.8 million, OPM reported. Looking ahead, FEB leaders said they plan to extend their reach using a new regional model. The FEB program plans more than double the number of feds who can access their programs and services across the country.
  (FEB annual report - Office of Personnel Management)
• The Postal Service is reporting a deeper financial loss than it’s seen in recent years. USPS saw a $9.5 billion net loss for fiscal 2024. That’s despite year-over-year growth in revenue and a reduction in its controllable expenses. The agency expects to end this fiscal year with a nearly $7 billion net loss which is far from the break-even goal in its 10 year-reform plan. USPS in 2025 is planning to reduce trips between post offices and mail processing plants to collect mail and packages in more rural areas. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said this effort will save USPS billions of dollars each year.
  (USPS sees $9.5B net loss in FY 2024, does not expect to hit ‘break even’ goal next year - Federal News Network )

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