- Republicans are trying, once again, to eliminate the use of “official time” by federal employees. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) is the latest lawmaker to introduce a bill that would prohibit federal employees from getting paid for doing union-related activities during work hours. The Utah Republican’s No Union Time on the Taxpayer’s Dime Act is the latest in a number of bills that lawmakers have introduced since at least 2013 to get rid of official time. All the previous House and Senate bills have not advanced far to come close to becoming law. OPM hasn’t published a new report on official time since 2019. In that report, it says the amount of official time decreased by 28% as compared to 2016.
(Sen. Lee Introduces the ‘No Union Time on the Taxpayer’s Dime Act’ – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah))
- The Supreme Court recently overturned a 40-year-old precedent at the core of how federal agencies issue regulations. Now a Senate Democrat is looking to reverse the impact. A bill from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) would restore Chevron deference. That means a federal judge would rely on an agency’s rulemaking expertise, when federal regulations are challenged in court. The bill would also require courts to consider congressional intent, when determining whether an agency made a reasonable interpretation of the law, when creating regulations.
(Wyden bill would restore congressional authority – Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.))
- Senate appropriators want more transparency around Other Transaction Authority contracts. Most OTAs go to consortia, which consist of non-traditional companies, defense contractors or academic groups, but there is little transparency about those OTAs and who receives them. Senate appropriators want the Defense Department to provide a detailed breakdown of how much money was awarded to each individual vendor that is part of a consortium. Meanwhile, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) introduced a bill last week to establish a pilot program for tracking awards made through OTA.
(Senate Approps want more transparency on defense OTAs – Federal News Network)
- A bipartisan bill allowing agencies to lease office space they don’t need clears the Senate. The Saving Money and Accelerating Repairs Through, or SMART, Leasing Act would create a pilot program that allows agencies to sublease underutilized real estate to any person or organization at fair market value. That includes other federal, state, or local government agencies. The bill allows agencies to use rent payments to help fund capital projects and facilities maintenance. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and members James Lankford (R-Okla.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) introduced the bill.
(Senate passes Peters, Lankford, Sinema & Hawley bipartisan bill to create leasing program for underutilized space held by federal agencies – Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee)
- EEOC employees are facing a one-day furlough by the end of the month. Employees at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will have a one-day furlough on August 30 unless the agency can figure out how to close its budget gap of about $1.3 million. EEOC leadership gave AFGE a 30-day notice in July that it needed to shutdown the agency for a day. An EEOC spokesman tells Federal News Network that the agency remains hopeful it can avoid a furlough or limit it to only a few hours by finding new cost savings or efficiencies. The spokesman says a flat budget for 2024 coupled with a 5 point 2 percent pay raise and increased operational costs resulted in a funding shortfall.
(EEOC email – EEOC employees face one-day furlough)
- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has an action plan to address an August 1st report from the agency’s Inspector General, describing their anti-harassment program as insufficient. The FDIC says its plan covers 34 specific initiatives to assist employees affected by sexual harassment in the workplace, including using a new case tracking system by the end of September. The IG highlighted several issues, including a lack of leadership commitment and inadequate training, resources and tracking. The FDIC’s plan comes four years after an OIG evaluation brought up many of the same concerns and provided recommendations they say the FDIC did not sustain.
(FDIC plans to fix insufficient sexual harassment program – Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General)
- Federal employees have more time to take advantage of the FedRooms website to book hotel rooms for work and vacation travel. GSA has extended the website’s life through the end of December. It announced in March that it planned to shut down the website as of September 30. The reason for the extension of the FedRooms website is unknown. GSA says in calendar year 2023, there were an estimated 400,000 room nights booked via the https://www.fedrooms.com/home.html.
(FedRooms website to remain available through December – Fedrooms.gov)
- A Federal Aviation Administration union snags a $5,000 bonus for members in a tentative labor deal. Members of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists would receive the bonus as a lump sum, after members ratify the contract. The tentative contract would also allow PASS members to sell back accrued sick leave for 40% of its value upon retirement. The union is planning to hold town halls with employees and expects to complete the ratification process by Labor Day. Union president Dave Spero says the contract also includes additional protections for telework. “While we cannot guarantee a specific number of telework day for anyone, we feel the language is more detailed on what the agency needs to show, if it intends to deny a requested telework agreement.”
(FAA union gets $5K bonus, telework protections for members in tentative labor deal – Federal News Network )
- Major General Ryan Janovic officially assumes command of the Army Cyber Center of Excellence. Janovic takes over for Major General Paul Stanton who is set to become the next director of the Defense Information Systems Agency. In his new role, Janovic will focus on further shaping guidelines and training for cyberspace operations, communications and electronic warfare across the service. In his previous role, Janovic served as the director of operations at the U.S. Cyber Command.
(Army Cyber Center of Excellence gets new commander – DVIDS)
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