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Foreign affairs imposed on the Trump administration. Treasury moved to sanction North Koreans believed to have military ties. Trump said the U.S. would take unilateral action in response to Pyonyang threats.
Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) asked that the Government Accountability Office to conduct a full review of President Donald Trump's temporary hiring freeze. Citing GAO's past study of previous hiring freezes, both senators said they're concerned the current freeze isn't saving government more money and is prompting more agency inefficiencies.
Amid reports that the White House is planning budget cuts at the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for the President's border security and immigration policies, some senators are worried the Homeland Security Department will forget the lessons it's learned about risk-based management. They asked Elaine Duke, the nominee to be the DHS deputy secretary, about her approach to future budgetary decisions.
The Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act of 2015 would create a "culture of excellence," promoting wise use of taxpayer dollars.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' federal workforce subcommittee said it's on a fact-finding mission this year. Subcommittee Chairman James Lankford (R-Okla.) said he wants to hear from federal managers about the existing authorities and processes that make their jobs more difficult.
Gen. John Kelly, the President-elect's pick to be the Homeland Security Department's new secretary, said he recognizes DHS' immense challenges and plans to study up on the previous administration's attempts at management reform.
With 31 percent of the federal workforce eligible to retire by September 2019, most agencies acknowledge they're racing against the clock to recruit and hire the next generation of federal employees. But repeat, persistent challenges are preventing them from recruiting new, young talent, agency chief human capital officers say.
In today's Top Federal headlines, a new bill gives agencies more options to hire new talent, and another major IT contract is stalled by protests.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee wants to get a closer look at how many political appointees the Office of Personnel Management has converted to career employees over the past nine months.
The bills aim to improve coordination within and between agencies, further reduce duplicate efforts and improve availability of information on government grants and data.
The Social Security Administration has a backlog of a million disability cases to process, but the leaders of a Senate oversight subcommittee say the agency's plan to reduce the backlog raises too many red flags about due process.
Veterans and agency hiring managers have mixed thoughts on the success of the veterans preference program. But there is some consensus that current regulations are too confusing and complex for both veterans and agencies.
A group of five senators introduced a bill that would add new incentives for agencies to sell or lease empty and under-used federal property. The Federal Property Management Reform Act also sets stricter requirements for keeping track of federal buildings.
Democrats and Republicans both agree the Postal Service needs congressional help to better its budget, but getting there is a tougher problem.