Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

40 lawmakers call for 5% increase in Defense budget

In today’s Federal Newscast: Lawmakers call for more money in the defense budget. An effort is underway to reform and modernize the State Department.

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Federal Newscast

New bill would mandate legacy IT inventories, modernization plans

Congress

‘Long-overdue’ USPS reform bill set to save agency $50B over decade passes House

Agency Oversight

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

FILE - Border Patrol agents hold a news conference prior to a media tour of a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection temporary facility near the Donna International Bridge in Donna, Texas, May 2, 2019. A special Customs and Border Protection unit used sensitive government databases intended to track terrorists to investigate as many as 20 U.S.-based journalists, including a Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press reporter, according to a federal watchdog. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Senators warn USPS, CBP fall short on legislation to stop opioids in the mail

Agency Oversight

(Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)

FILE - In this May 13, 2021, file photo, Rob Portman, R-Ohio, speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on unaccompanied minors at the southern border, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Portman announced earlier this year that he would not run again. The Senate primary in Ohio is still a year away, but Republican contenders already are working furiously to cast themselves as Trump's favorite in the open race. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP, File)

Senators see room in FedRAMP bill to address supply chain security threats

Cloud Computing

(Getty Images/Wavebreak Media/Wavebreakmedia Ltd)

FLRA nominees pledge expeditious action on backlog of unfair labor practice complaints

Workforce Rights/Governance

Chairman Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., speaks during a Senate Governmental Affairs Committee hybrid nominations hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 22, 2021, to consider the nominees for Postal Service Governors Anton Hajjar, Amber McReynolds, and Ronald Stroman, along with Kiran Ahuja, the nominee to be Office of Personnel Management Director. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Exclusive

After years of historic absences, Biden’s MSPB nominees face their first test

Workforce

United States Merit Systems Protection Board

Biden taps MSPB acting executive as final nominee to fill the board

Workforce Rights/Governance

FILE- In this June 19, 2017, file photo, a person types on a laptop keyboard in North Andover, Mass. A new report by a global media consortium that expands the known target list of the Israeli hacker-for-hire firm NSO Group’s military-grade spyware provoked alarm Monday, July 19, 2021, among human rights and press freedom activists. They decried the near-complete absence of regulation of commercial surveillance tools. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

When it come to defending against Chinese cyber espionage, agencies are a step behind

Cybersecurity

Female doctor holding a piggy bank: health insurance, medical expenses and tax concept

Postal reform bill could raise health premiums for federal workers, employee group warns

Benefits

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., listens during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing to examine an update from Federal officials on efforts to combat COVID-19 on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, on Capitol Hill, in Washington. (Greg Nash/Pool via AP)

Congress makes government overlap, duplication problems worse, senator says

Agency Oversight

Anton Hajjar, Amber McReynolds, Ronald Stroman, Kiran Ahuja

Senate committee advances Ahuja’s nomination for OPM director

No Republicans voted to advance the nomination of Kiran Ahuja, the president’s choice to lead the Office of Personnel Management, to the full Senate.

People

Kiran Ahuja, the nominee to be Office of Personnel Management Director, appears before a Senate Governmental Affairs Committee hybrid nominations hearing on Capitol Hill, Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Ahuja vows to bring stable leadership to OPM after years of turnover at the top

Kiran Ahuja, the president’s nominee to lead the Office of Personnel Management, said the agency isn’t making progress on its biggest challenges, in large…

Workforce

FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2021, file photo, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. In an interview with The Associated Press, Sen. Thune, the chamber's No. 2 Republican, likened Trump's insults of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to

Senate bill calls for enhancing AI expertise in the federal workforce

Federal Newscast

In today’s Federal Newscast, Senators Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) introduced bipartisan legislation to help the government remain competitive in employing artificial intelligence talent.