With the nominees to restore a quorum at the Merit Systems Protection Board still sitting quietly in the Senate, disagreement has begun over who's to blame for the historic absences at the board. In an exclusive report, Federal News Network explored different sides of the debate.
The Agriculture Department has asked the Federal Labor Relations Authority to clarify how agency heads should handle collective bargaining agreements that have expired or rolled over -- but haven't yet been renegotiated.
With little time to spare before the deadline, President Donald Trump signed two shutdown-averting spending bills into law and a 3.1% federal pay raise. He also signed the annual defense authorization bill, which includes a new paid parental leave program for most federal employees.
The House has sent "minibus" spending bills, which include a 3.1% federal pay raise, to the Senate for its consideration. Congress must pass and the president must sign both bills into law by Friday to avoid a second government shutdown this year.
Federal employees will have up to 12 weeks of paid leave for the birth, adoption or foster of a new child starting in October 2020, if Congress passes and the president signs the annual defense policy bill into law.
Amid pressure from lawmakers and a bad-faith ruling from the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the American Federation of Government Employees and Environmental Protection Agency have agreed to return to the bargaining table.
Federal employee unions have until Jan. 10 to inform the Department of Veterans Affairs whether they would stay and pay rent or leave their currently occupied, government-owned VA office space. The president's 2018 workforce executive orders require unions to pay rent in order to continue using agency property.
In today's Federal Newscast, a long series of repairs and upgrades, the Japan-based destroyer now undergoing a series of at-sea tests and training.
J. David Cox, the national president of the largest federal employee union, will take a leave of absence amid sexual harassment allegations. The American Federation of Government Employees will launch an investigation into the matter, and Cox has denied the allegations.