Chris Van Hollen

VA will provide ‘covered’ abortions, protect healthcare providers from state laws in new policy

The Department of Veterans Affairs will now provide abortions for veterans in life-threatening situations due to a pregnancy or in cases of rape and incest.

Veterans Affairs

Amelia Brust/Federal News Network

Senate Dems introduce bill to prevent Schedule F from resurfacing

Congress

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2017, file photo, the J. Edgar Hoover FBI building in Washington Lawyers for a former FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty to altering an email during the Trump-Russia investigation

Biden brings back plans to move FBI headquarters to suburbs in 2023 budget request

Facilities/Construction

Sheet metal worker Carey Mercer assembles ductwork at Contractors Sheet Metal on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, in New York. The construction industry is fighting to recruit more women into a sector that faces chronic labor shortages. As spending on infrastructure rises, construction firms will need to hire at least 430,000 new skilled laborers in 2021, according to an analysis of federal data by the Associated Builders and Contractors. Right now, only 4% of construction laborers in the U.S. are women, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)

Contractors have less than two months to create affirmative action programs

Federal Newscast

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

What’s next for Congress now that they’ve kicked the budget stone down the road again

Congress

Congress’ summer break is like a vacation during which you’ve got to keep checking email

Congress

From left, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.,Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-O.R., announce a draft bill that would decriminalize marijuana on a federal level, Wednesday, July 14, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)

COVID safety protocols, infrastructure and insurrection on Congress’ agenda this week

Congress

Contracting community asks Congress for more tech funding — again

Federal Newscast

FILE - In this Oct. 7, 2020, file photo Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig testifies before a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing in Washington. At a Senate hearing Rettig said Tuesday, April 13, 2021, that he expects to meet the July 1 deadline in the new pandemic rescue law for starting a groundbreaking tax program aimed at reducing child poverty. That means new advance monthly payments of as much as $300 per child could begin flowing to lower-income families this summer. (Tasos Katopodis/Pool via AP, File)

IRS plans ‘significant hiring’ to stay ahead of 52K employees expected to leave in coming years

Hiring/Retention

Chris Van Hollen, Debbie Stabenow, Chuck Schumer

Bipartisan bill builds on momentum for greater federal R&D spending

IT Modernization

The Harry S. Truman Building, headquarters for the State Department, is seen in Washington, Monday, March 9, 2009. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

State Dept adds 1,200 to Foreign Service ranks under Democrats’ $12B budget plan

Budget

The Senate has never truly supported IT modernization and here’s what has to change

New chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government and the Homeland Security and Governmental…

Reporter's Notebook

Close up of female hands counting US dollar banknotes at the table in front a laptop computer. Woman accountant with money and notebook.

Omnibus endorses 1% federal pay raise, gives feds more time to repay deferred payroll taxes

A provision in the 2021 omnibus spending package gives federal employees a full 12 months to repay the payroll taxes that have been deferred from their…

Pay & Benefits

Senator Gary Peters, D-Mich., questions Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing to examine Department of Homeland Security personnel deployments to recent protests on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, in Washington. (Toni Sandys/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

Lawmakers ask for GAO’s help to identify ‘burrowing’ over last 4 years

Agency Oversight

A bicameral group of Democrats have asked the Government Accountability Office to help them track instances of burrowing that have occurred during the last four years.