Chris Van Hollen

The seven-week continuing resolution gives lawmakers through Nov. 21 to complete spending bills for the rest of 2020. Notably, the CR includes additional funding for the Office of Personnel Management, which faces a budget shortfall at the start of the new fiscal year.

In today’s Federal Newscast, the Office of Personnel Management asked the Federal Labor Relations Authority how agencies can deduct union dues in light of the 2018 decision, which found local and state government workers can’t be forced to pay union dues.

Though the agreement doesn’t make any guarantees, the deal the Agriculture Department and the American Federation of Government Employees reached late last week gives employees impacted by the Kansas City relocation a path to request more time to make the move and other flexibilities.

Roughly 57% of employees given relocation notices at the Economic Research Service and 67% of such employees at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture have rejected USDA’s reassignment to Kansas City.

Federal employee unions, democrats refocus their attention on getting the Senate to agree on provisions in FY 2020 bills to block rollbacks on collective bargaining, official time for feds.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the USDA relocation will save government $300 million over 15 years. About 100 employees are expected to move out of the national capital region by Aug. 1.

As employees at the Agriculture Department await word of a final site decision, more members of Congress are taking steps to try to block the proposed USDA relocation.

The Trump administration will face tough questions Tuesday as the House Oversight and Reform Government Operations Subcommittee reviews the proposed merger of the Office of Personnel with the General Services Administration.

In today’s Federal Newscast, a version of the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act is introduced into the Senate.

The White House proposed a 31.2 percent cut from the EPA’s 2020 budget, including reductions in research and development funding by 45.8 percent.