Eleanor Holmes Norton

Federal employees, members of Congress and good government governments remember the late House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman, Elijah Cummings, as a champion for the federal workforce and a staunch and vocal supporter of whistleblowers.

In today’s Federal Newscast, the General Services Administration and Defense Logistics Agency are conducting the first comprehensive Federal Supply Class review in almost 50 years.

In today’s Federal Newscast, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduces a bill to give federal employees short-term disability insurance, even if it means they’ll have to pay for it.

D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Virginia Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton are trying to block the Bureau of Land Management relocation with new legislation. They have introduced a bill that would require the BLM headquarters to remain in the national capital region.

The Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management have implemented a hiring freeze to leave positions open for the employees who might decline BLM relocation to Colorado or several other western states.

The legal opinion from the Agriculture Department’s Office of General Counsel could serve as an example for other agencies looking to reorganize or relocate employees.

Lawmakers have asked Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to allow employees impacted by the upcoming USDA relocation to use telework and other flexibilities to alleviate the burdens of the move to Kansas City. USDA and the American Federation of Government Employees are expected to continue bargaining negotiations over those flexibilities this week.

In today’s Federal Newscast, the Bureau of Land Management is setting up new headquarters out west.

In a letter to acting OPM Director Margaret Weichert, Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) questioned why the administration didn’t warn Congress earlier about the agency’s coming financial challenges.

New guidance from OMB this week prioritizes the optimization of existing data centers over further consolidation.