Randy Erwin

Returning to the office will not solve the backlogs lawmakers are worried about

The IRS, SSA, State Department and other agencies face backlogs around citizen services, but returning to the office is not the best solution as some lawmakers…

Federal Report

(Getty Images/iStockphoto/AmmentorpDK)

USDA joins SSA in telling employees about reentry plans

Workforce

(U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service photo by Lisa Cox)

Practice makes perfect: firefighter Nick Vallardo trains with an engine crew as they prepare for the coming wildfire season. (Lisa Cox, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

Interior, USDA to implement pay raises for federal firefighters later this month

Pay

In this May 14, 2021, photo provided by the High Desert Museum, U.S. Forest Service firefighters carry out a prescribed burn on the grounds of the High Desert Museum, near Bend, Oregon. The prescribed burn is part of a massive effort in wildlands across the West to prepare for a fire season that follows the worst one on record. (Kyle Kosma/High Desert Museum via AP)

Biden expands pay, hiring for federal firefighters, but union warns it’s not enough

Workforce

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The bronze Statue of Freedom, by Thomas Crawford, is the crowning feature of the dome of the U.S. Capitol, shown ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

TSP changes, retirement help for former seasonal feds and other bills to watch

Congress

New Year, New President, New Administration

FEDtalk

(Getty Images/iStockphoto/fotostok_pdv)

Close up of female hands counting US dollar banknotes at the table in front a laptop computer. Woman accountant with money and notebook.

Trump aiming for late-September launch of payroll tax deferral for federal employees

Pay

Agencies should ensure employees are ‘telework ready’ amid coronavirus concerns, OPM says

Workforce

Lawmakers unveil details of ‘historic’ federal paid parental leave benefits

Workforce

No new recommendations for additional locality pay areas, at least not yet

Pay

Company representatives invited to the White House, walk towards President Donald Trump as he signs an executive order during a Made in America showcase on the South Lawn White House in Washington, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Court reverses decision on Trump’s workforce executive orders, defying unions’ legal challenge

Unions

FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2019 file photo, construction crews install new border wall sections seen from Tijuana, Mexico. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., says the Pentagon is planning to tap $1 billion in leftover funds from military pay and pensions accounts to help President Donald Trump pay for his long-sought border wall. Durbin told The Associated Press, “it’s coming out of military pay and pensions, $1 billion, that’s the plan.”(AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

DoD authorizes up to $1 billion for wall at U.S. southern border

In today’s Federal Newscast, up to $1 billion from DoD is now available to help support the Homeland Security Department’s drug enforcement efforts at…

Federal Newscast

Unions sue VA over decision to cut official time for some employees

Federal unions have filed a joint lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the same venue where the organizations saw success with…

Unions

Recent court ruling on Trump EOs may set up further debate over federal collective bargaining

Unions

With the federal district court’s late-Friday ruling, unions are declaring victory and asking agencies to immediately return to the status quo before the president issued his three executive orders. But change may be a long time coming.