The Office of Personnel Management has finalized new rules covering relocation, retention and recruitment. That means you’ve got to establish residence in a new geographic area before you can get a relocation benefits check. And it means managers will find it a little harder to hand out retention bonuses. First they’ll have to prove a job it actually hard to fill. John Palguta is the Vice President for Policy at the Partnership for Public Service. He joined Tom and Emily with his take on the new rules.

BP has gone to court to win back the chance to nab federal contracts. The Houston Chronicle reported last week that the energy company had filed a lawsuit against the government. It came after BP failed to persuade the Environmental Protection Agency that it had reformed its ways following the 2010 explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. EPA has debarred the company. For analysis, we turn to procurement attorney Joe Petrillo in our weekly Legal Loop segment.

The Obama administration has emphasized the protection of intellectual property as a linch-pin economic growth. The president backed an overhaul of the patent and trademark system to better protect IP. Four years ago, he appointed the first intellectual property enforcement coordinator as part of his White House staff. Victoria Espinel left earlier this month. For an assessment of her tenure, we turn to Sherwin Ciy, vice president of legal affairs for the non-profit Public Knowledge.

Congress has asked the National Capital Planning Commission to imagine a taller skyline for the District of Columbia. What would repealing the Height Act of 1910 mean for federal agencies, national security and public access? The Commission has just completed a series of town hall meetings on several scenarios. Chairman Preston Bryant joined Tom and Emily with an update

When golfing during his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard last week, President Obama couldn’t hear the riots in Egypt or the whining from members of Congress. But he couldn’t ignore them either. Now the president is back in town, all suited up. For a couple of weeks, he’s got the place to himself because Congress doesn’t return until Sept. 9. So what’s on the agenda? Ben Goad covers these things for The Hill Newspaper.