Passport Services

FILE - This May 25, 2021, file photo shows a U.S. Passport cover in Washington. Americans hoping to travel abroad this summer may have to delay their plans if they need new or renewed passports. Would-be travelers are overwhelming federal offices as the lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions unleashes a pent-up demand for passports. Wait times for new passports and renewals are now up to 18 weeks and those seeking expedited appointments can take up to 12 weeks. (AP Photo/Eileen Putman, File)

Senator hopes to speed up passport process before summer ends

In today’s Federal Newscast, one Senator says he’s working on legislation that would give the State Department more ways to handle its backlog of passport…

Federal Newscast

In this May 9, 2017 photo, U.S. passports lie on a table in Dallas, Texas. The U.S. State Department is in the middle of a record year for processing passport applications, with 20.5 million renewals and applications for new passports expected. Adult U.S. passports must be renewed every 10 years, and the 2017 surge comes a decade after a law went into effect requiring passports for U.S. citizens traveling to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. (AP Photo/Benny Snyder)

State Dept surges hiring amid ‘historically high’ demand for passports to drive down wait times

Hiring/Retention

(Getty Images/iStockphoto/RandyHarris)

Drop in international travel during pandemic jeopardized State Dept passport revenue

Management

Scotland national Paul Mcque wears Hamilton socks in the entrance plaza of the Santurce Fine Arts Center moments before the premiere of the award-winning Broadway musical, Hamilton, starring its creator, New York native of Puerto Rican descent Lin-Manuel Miranda, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Friday Jan. 11, 2019. The musical is set to run for two weeks and will raise money for local arts programs. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

All dressed up and somewhere to go: back to the office

Federal Report

Gary Somerset

What GPO has in common with Vera Bradley, Briggs and Stratton

People

(Amelia Brust/Federal News Network)

This State Department IT project started in 2009 and it’s nowhere near finished

Agency Oversight

(AP Photo/Eileen Putman)

FILE - This May 25, 2021 file photo shows a U.S. Passport cover in Washington. The United States has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation, a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who don't identify as male or female. (AP Photo/Eileen Putman)

State Dept expects long-awaited online passport renewal system to launch by fall 2022

IT Modernization

President Joe Biden speaks at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del., Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

New executive order aims to improve federal customer service

Federal Newscast

FILE - This Aug. 10, 2006, file photo shows the sign used as the backdrop for press briefings at the U.S. Department of State in Washington. More of the first volunteers are starting to trickle back to their desks at federal agencies in the coronavirus lockdown. In the third month after Americans began sheltering in place and worksites began closing, the Energy Department says the first voluntary returns of a small number of headquarters workers began Monday. The State Department and Agriculture Department also have some workers returning to job places this month. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak. File)

IG links State Dept. staffing issues to delays in decade-long IT modernization project

IT Modernization

State Dept. says it’s back to sending passports out at pre-pandemic levels

Federal Newscast

FILE - In this June 7, 2021, file photo, demonstrators at Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital in Baytown, Texas, wave at cars that honk at them to support their protest against a policy that says hospital employees must get vaccinated against COVID-19 or lose their jobs. A federal judge dismissed their lawsuit, saying if workers don’t like the rule, they can go find another job. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Civilian defense employees find out just what will happen if they refuse COVID-19 vaccine

Federal Newscast

State Dept. IT modernization delays leave passport services staff unable to telework

The State Department’s limited progress with an IT modernization effort that began more than a decade ago left most passport services employees unable…

IT Modernization

Passport services union presses State Dept. for more leave flexibility amid COVID-19 outbreaks

The National Federation of Federal Employees warns rising cases of the COVID-19 delta variant has led to “alarming outbreaks” at passport agencies…

Workforce

USPS sees steep decline in revenue due to lack of passport applications during pandemic

Federal Newscast

In today’s Federal Newscast, the Postal Service saw a more than 30% decrease in passport applications last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.