Barbara Mikulski

• Fears rise over little-known cyber bill provision

  Section 209 of the Senate's Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act would give DHS emergency powers during a cyber attack on federal or contractor networks holding federal data. Some say the provision is too vague.

  Cybersecurity

  October 05, 2015
• Senate follows House, White House in pushing for paid family leave for feds

  A new Senate bill could guarantee six weeks of paid leave for federal employees who become parents, and let them choose whether to take those six weeks separately or in one shot.

  Benefits

  September 15, 2015
• OMB warns against more budget belt tightening for OPM, IRS

  The Office of Management and Budget's director urges Congress to reconsider the budget belt-tightening it has in store for the IRS, the Office of Personnel Management and federal IT.

  Budget

  August 07, 2015
• Senate heads to recess with a cyber dud

  Despite overwhelming agreement that cybersecurity legislation is needed, Senate lawmakers couldn’t agree on how such a bill would look. Lawmakers did approve the nomination of Denise Turner Roth to be GSA administrator.

  Congress

  August 06, 2015
• Rep. Hoyer sees path to lifetime protections for OPM breach victims

  UPDATED: Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) joins a growing list of Washington-area lawmakers who are looking at whether Congress could pay for the costs from the OPM breach under emergency appropriations.

  Workforce

  July 24, 2015
• Senators want DHS to have NSA-like defensive cyber powers

  A bipartisan group of six senators introduced the Federal Information Security Management Reform Act of 2015 to give DHS the clout it’s been lacking over the last five years and, in some respects, put it on par with the National Security Agency.

  Congress

  July 23, 2015
• Senate Appropriations OKs 10-year credit monitoring for feds, but not extra OPM IT funding

  UPDATED: A key Senate committee approved an amendment today to give federal employees no less than 10 years of identity and credit-monitoring services and $5 million in liability protection for related damages.

  Workforce

  July 22, 2015
• NTEU looks for allies among freshmen members of Congress

  Now that the final votes have been counted in the 2014 midterm elections, Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said she's hoping that some new members will fight for the interests of government workers.

  Budget

  November 06, 2014
• OPM: FSA participants can rollover $500 in unused funds

  Feds participating in the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program will now be able to rollover up to $500 from one year to the next in unspent funds from their limited expense and health care flexible spending accounts.

  Workforce

  September 04, 2014
• Obama calls for 1 percent pay increase for feds starting Jan. 1

  President Barack Obama called for a 1 percent pay increase for federal employees Friday to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015. Congress still has the ability to block the increase when members return to work Sept. 8.

  Congress

  August 29, 2014
• Erik Wasson, Staff Writer, The Hill Newspaper

  Congress may seem consumed by hot-button issues like the Veterans Affairs scandal, but it is moving forward on the nitty-gritty. The House has passed a few fiscal 2015 budget bills. It's moving forward on others. In the Senate, Senate Appropriations Chair Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) pledges: no more government on auto-pilot. Her committee will approve spending bills too. For an update on all the appropriations, Erik Wasson, a staff writer at The Hill, spoke with Tom and Emily on the Federal Drive.

  Federal Drive

  June 03, 2014
• Len Moodispaw, CEO, KEYW

  Maryland has declared itself the epicenter of cybersecurity. At least Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) has. She helped establish the Maryland Cybersecurity Roundtable. That move was recommended by the Federal Facilities Advisory Board last year. Tom and Emily spoke with Len Moodispaw on the Federal Drive. He's CEO of KEYW Corporation and President of the newly-formed Maryland Cybersecurity Roundtable.

  Federal Drive

  June 02, 2014
• Spending bill grants 1 percent pay raise to blue-collar feds

  The $1 trillion, 1,500-page spending bill unveilved Monday night ends the three-year pay freeze for blue-collar federal employees under the wage-grade system.

  Budget

  January 14, 2014
• Will OPM allow flexible-spending rollovers?

  Under federal "use it or lose it" rules, any unspent money employees set aside last year to pay for out-of-pocket health costs, such as prescriptions or co-pays, is forfeited at the end of the year. But a group of senators from states surrounding the Washington, D.C., area, wants to change that. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) along with Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) wrote to Katherine Archuleta, the head of the Office of Personnel Management, requesting the agency implement new regulations that would allow federal employees to roll over as much as $500 in unused funds from year to year.

  Congress

  December 30, 2013