NTEU

President Donald Trump signed the 2019 spending bill into law, securing a 1.9 percent pay raise for federal employees that will be retroactive to Jan. 1.

The IRS is still reeling from the effects of the 35-day shutdown that ended last month, according to the agency’s taxpayer watchdog office.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) have reintroduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act, which give federal employees a 3.6 percent pay raise in 2020.

The IRS processed “several million” tax returns on Monday in the opening hours of the tax filing season, but the effects of a 35-day partial government shutdown that ended Friday still leaves open questions about the agency’s readiness. 

In today’s Federal Newscast, President Donald Trump hints that another government shutdown is likely after funding runs out again in three weeks.

The IRS recalled more than half of its total workforce to work without pay and help issue tax refunds during the partial government shutdown, but some financially hard-pressed employees remain at home, due to a clause in their union’s contract.

In today’s Federal Newscast, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates there were about $2.3 billion in government contracts that would have been issued to small firms over the past month, but weren’t because of the government shutdown.

The National Treasury Employees Union has added a third count to its lawsuit against the Trump administration and questioned the legality of the decision to recall some IRS employees during the government shutdown.

In today’s Federal Newscast, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is asking the Office of Personnel Management how it’s making sure federal employees furloughed due to the government shutdown are still receiving healthcare coverage.

A federal district judge refused to compel the executive branch to find an immediate end to the government shutdown’s impacts on excepted federal employees working without pay. The judge’s decision maintains the status quo. Other lawsuits challenging the shutdown’s legitimacy are still pending.