The White House’s lead regulatory office is staying focused on the Biden administration’s rulemaking agenda in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Chevron decision, while also highlighting how agencies have reduced complicated paperwork and other barriers to accessing government programs.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) released its 2024 “burden reduction” report earlier this month. It highlights dozens of initiatives from federal agencies to streamline public programs and reduce paperwork burdens.

The report’s release comes shortly after the Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling overturned the “Chevron” deference that gave agencies more latitude in crafting regulations. The high court’s decision on Chevron and two other cases could redefine the extent to which agencies can interpret laws passed by Congress.

OIRA, meanwhile, serves as the focal point of executive branch rulemaking. Sitting within the Office of Management and Budget, OIRA maintains the semiannual regulatory agenda. It also reviews drafts of proposed and final regulations before agencies can implement them.

“We’re laser focused on making sure that we have the strongest rules possible to move forward with the administration’s priorities,” OIRA Associate Administrator Sam Berger said an interview late last week. “That they are fully grounded in law, existing authority, and that they also are designed to be as effective and efficient as possible. And so from that standpoint, we’re going to keep doing our work.”

Former agency and legal experts say agencies could soon see an uptick in legal challenges in a post-Chevron world. GOP lawmakers are also exploring ways to challenge the administrative state.

“To the extent that there are legal requirements that change, we obviously take that into account,” Berger said. “But what we need to be doing is making sure that we have the strongest regulations, that we’re doing the most that we can to be helping the American people, helping the economy continue to grow up, helping to keep people safe, helping keep our air water clean. And that’s where our focus is on. And that’s what we’re going to keep doing.”

Cutting the ‘time tax’

OIRA’s 2024 burden reduction report highlights 49 initiatives across 18 agencies aimed at reducing what it calls the “time tax” on the public. OIRA says those burdens include “needlessly complicated forms, requests for redundant detailed information, or confusing application processes.”

The report details, for instance, how the Department of Health and Human Services collaborated with the U.S. Digital Service and state agencies to streamline renewals for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

It also points to how the IRS recently redesigned and simplified 31 taxpayer forms ahead of the 2024 filing season. By next year, the IRS plans to have redesigned 200 forms representing 90% of notices sent to taxpayers.

Berger said OIRA uses its responsibilities under the Paperwork Reduction Act to make sure government form is “as minimally burdensome as possible.” And the office can further engage with agencies on their programs through the rulemaking process.

“Sometimes there might be changes that could significantly reduce administrative burden while still accomplishing the goal of agencies,” Berger said.

OIRA is also pushing agencies to better engage the people who need to fill out forms or go through agency-mandated processes to access a program or service.

“Engaging with people, engaging with stakeholders, the folks that are on the ground using it,” Berger said. “The information about where these pain points are lies with them. And ultimately, what you need to understand is, when folks are going through your program, what are the issues that they encountered? What are things that maybe you didn’t expect? What are things that seems simple or clear to you, as you wrote it, that aren’t to them?”

‘Demystifying’ OIRA

OIRA’s report highlights the importance of agencies partnering with states that administer many public programs. Similarly, OIRA is also prioritizing efforts to align eligibility criteria across multiple programs. The report highlights as an example the Social Security Administration’s efforts to simplify its reporting requirements for supplemental security income recipients.

“From the state standpoint, if they’re administering a whole set of programs that they view as hitting the same target population, but it’s four different [federal] agencies that they’re dealing with, they have to get four different agencies in the room,” Berger said.

He highlighted his office’s “convening power” in bringing different federal and state agencies together, in addition to ORIA’s ability to review the “nitty gritty” details of proposed rules.

Meanwhile, Berger said leaders also want to “demystify” OIRA, known as a wonky, cloistered office where major agency initiatives are put to the test through the rulemaking process. He said OIRA recently held training sessions on its regulatory review process. It plans to hold another set of sessions on how to provide effective public comments.

“We really want to make sure that folks have a better understanding of what OIRA is, and what it is that we do,” Berger said. “And how they can get involved in every stage of the regulatory process, including with OIRA, but perhaps even more importantly, early engagement with agencies when they’re making critical decisions on priorities around how they’re going to shape the regulations.

The post Post-Chevron, White House’s OIRA ‘laser focused’ on strong rulemaking first appeared on Federal News Network.

After making some governmentwide changes, OPM is now calling on agencies that manage their own independent pay systems to review their policies, and make adjustments where they find pay inequities. The goal, OPM said, is to help address the current 5.6% pay gap between men and women in the federal workforce.

In a memo last week, OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver tasked agencies with other, smaller pay systems to conduct a review process similar to OPM’s recent reviews of the General Schedule, Federal Wage System and Senior Executive Service pay systems.

“Our work is not finished, and we need to do more,” Shriver wrote in a July 18 memo to agency leaders.

Specifically, Shriver told agencies to identify any areas where pay gaps exist in their policies, figure out the reasons behind the disparities, create a plan for reducing those gaps and then keep track of how the disparities change over time.

To try to help agencies through the required pay review process, OPM also published further guidance on how agencies should conduct their data analyses over the next couple months.

“In some cases, agency data analysis may need to probe deeper than the analysis conducted by OPM to fully understand the factors behind a gender or racial/ethnic pay disparity,” OPM wrote in the guidance. “For example, an agency may generate data for major occupations that show gender pay gaps by age groupings within each occupation.”

The new instructions from OPM stem from a 2021 executive order on advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) in the federal workforce. Part of the sweeping DEIA initiative tasked agencies with identifying strategies and eliminating barriers to equity in federal pay and compensation policies.

Agencies have until mid-October to complete their reviews and report back to OPM.

Federal workforce pay gap over time

The federal government is already a step ahead of the private sector when it comes to pay equity. The national gender pay gap is 16%, while the federal pay gap is 5.6%, according to 2022 workforce data. In other words, in the federal workforce, women make about 94 cents for every dollar men make.

The federal gender pay gap has also improved over time. The current 5.6% disparity is much smaller than the 24.5% pay gap that existed back in 1992.

But at the same time, pay inequity in the federal workforce continues to disproportionately affect women of color. Minority women in the federal workforce, on average, earn less in overall salary.

In numbers, some minority groups of women have better representation in the federal sector than in the private sector. But many minority demographic groups are still behind in pay and representation in leadership, according to several 2023 reports from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Currently, white federal employees make up a larger portion of the workforce from the GS-7 level, up through the Senior Executive Service. By contrast, people of color hold a higher portion entry-level positions between GS-2 and GS-6, according to a July 2024 workforce report from the Partnership for Public Service.

In its memo last week, OPM asked agencies to focus particularly where there are wider gaps in pay among federal employees.

“When we compare average salary of women and men in various racial-ethnic groups to the average salary of white males in the government, we find larger pay gaps that need to be addressed,” OPM wrote in a July 18 press release.

OPM’s ban on salary history in hiring

The new review requirements for agencies also come after OPM finalized regulations in January 2024, prohibiting agencies from using a federal job candidate’s previous salary history when setting pay in a job offer.

OPM has said its goal with the salary history ban is to address the federal pay gap by removing potential biases that can stem from a federal job candidate’s previous pay rates. In practice, considering past pay rates has often led to higher salaries for men than for women.

OPM’s regulation changes on salary history are expected to take effect for agencies by this October.

“The regulation further positions the federal government as a model employer that prioritizes fairness and opportunity. By helping to close gender and racial pay gaps, the rule is one more step to attract and retain a qualified, effective workforce drawn from the full diversity of America,” the Biden administration wrote in a February 2024 President’s Management Agenda update.

The Department of Justice Gender Equality Network (DOJ GEN), a federal employee organization, has been a long-time advocate of fully banning agencies’ use of salary history in the federal hiring process.

“DOJ GEN applauds OPM for delivering on its commitment to pay equity in the federal sector — first by issuing a robust regulation that bans the consideration of salary history in federal hiring, and now by pushing agencies to go even further,” DOJ GEN President Stacey Young wrote in an email to Federal News Network. “We urge agencies not only to conduct pay audits, but also to meaningfully address any inequities they reveal.”

The post ‘We need to do more’ to close gender-based pay gap, OPM says first appeared on Federal News Network.

But even at these robust hiring rates, which the department expects to rein in due to recent budget cuts, top leaders say it’ll take years to get to a healthy level of staffing.

The Foreign Service brought in one of its largest classes of new Foreign Service officers this month, but expects its class in September will be about half as large.

The State Department, like the rest of the federal government, may be on the downturn of a feast-or-famine budget cycle — especially if lawmakers follow through on budget caps agreed to as part of debt ceiling negotiations last year.

But Marcia Bernicat, director general of the Foreign Service and director of the Bureau of Global Talent Management told Federal News Network in May that the department plans to keep hiring above attrition.

“If you look at our hiring history, just over the past 40 years, it looks like a sine curve,” Bernicat said.

The Foreign Service has a very low attrition rate, and entry-level hires have a clear career trajectory for about the next 20 years. About a third of new hires will become members of the Senior Foreign Service, which allows them to serve for another 14 years. The Foreign Service has a mandatory retirement age of 65.

“That makes workforce planning easy, right? Except for the fact that we do not get adequate funding consistently,” Bernicat said. “So when we get funding like we had the last couple of years, we hire extensively.”

The Foreign Service is currently hiring about 1,000 new employees — its highest level of hiring since 2011.

If the State Department keeps hiring at these rates, it will take until at least fiscal 2026 or 2027 to close its current staffing deficit.

“At our current rates, hiring above attrition, I won’t close the staffing deficit that we have.

Congress cut the State Department’s overall budget by about 3% overall — but those cuts disproportionately hit the Foreign Service Institute, which provides training, the department’s HR office, the Bureau of Global Talent Management and its salaries account.

“That will require us to slow hiring a bit, so that we don’t hire more people than we can pay,” Bernicat said. “The goal is to continue to hire above attrition until we can close those gaps”

The State Department’s current hiring spree is part of ongoing efforts to reverse the effects of a 16-month hiring freeze that began in 2017 under the Trump administration.

“It doesn’t take much to have a big impact,” Bernicat said about the freeze’s lasting impact.

The department is looking at bringing in more mid-career experts through its Lateral Entry Pilot Project. But the State Department needs to keep hiring more employees just to stay on top of its consular workload.

“It is, by volume, the biggest work we do,” Bernicat said. “It’s very important to both protect Americans overseas and protect the American borders through the visa programs. And we need a steady number of people coming in to do that work.”

The State Department’s lack of staff to process visas, she added, would have been more noticeable at the start of the Biden administration, had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People stopped traveling. And so that meant the demand for visas and American Citizen Services dropped off precipitously, otherwise we would not have had enough people to meet those very critical needs,” she said.

‘We recruit widely’

As part of its hiring efforts, the State Department is also casting a wider net for talent, in an effort to shake its “pale, male and Yale” reputation.

“I hear debates and opinions that say that taking into account diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in recruitment and hiring practices is weakening national security or weakening the Department of State. And I really want your listeners to understand that our greatest strength as a country is our diversity,” Bernicat said.

“How do we not make sure that we’re taking advantage of that comparative advantage in our foreign affairs workforce, specifically in the people that we’re deploying overseas — to understand the world, interpret the world and make sure the world understands what we need?” she added.

The department’s hires from the past four years studied at more than 500 different colleges and universities, and come from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Those recent hires were more likely to have come from Colorado or Montana than New York City.

About 75% of that recent cohort, Bernicat added, was mostly likely to have attended a military service academy than attend elite universities like Harvard, Princeton or Yale. About 25% of the State Department workforce are veterans, and about 18% of them have a disability.

“We recruit widely. The idea is to spread the net as far as possible to make sure that we’re getting as diverse a set of recruits as possible, but we only hire on merit,” Bernicat said. “The idea is not to give people exceptions or carve-outs. It’s been shown that the wider you cast your net, inevitably, the more diverse your results will be.”

Rebooting training disrupted by pandemic

Large portions of the State Department’s workforce are relatively new on the job and didn’t get the traditional onboarding experience. About 20 percent of the Foreign Service and 30 percent of its civil service employees were hired since March 2020.

Many of them started the job remotely and missed out on core on-the-job training because of the pandemic. Now the State Department is taking a closer look at those training gaps and helping its workforce brush up on emerging fields like AI.

“For about two years, anyone who came in from March of 2020, through the summer of 2022, would not have had anywhere close to a traditional start to their career,” Bernicat said. “They probably worked completely remotely.”

Entry-level Foreign Service officers must do at least one tour of consular work.

“But with no one traveling, there wasn’t much work to be done in terms of issuing visas, or protecting Americans, or, for that matter more broadly, managing all the official travel that comes overseas,” Bernicat said. “These are core lessons to learn in your first couple of years in the Foreign Service. But for all of our workforce, they missed a normal start to their career.”

In the last two years, the State Department has added 250 training float positions for the Foreign Service and added about 140 training float positions for our civil service employees.

“Secretary Blinken recognized, as quickly as the world is changing now, that we need to develop more of a culture for learning that rewards people for learning that gives them time out of their day.

Foreign Service Institute has also added about two dozen courses that reflect new areas of expertise for diplomatic work. Those courses are meant to support the work the department’s newest bureaus on global health security and cybersecurity.

“Most people won’t have artificial intelligence as their central work requirements. But everyone in today’s world needs to be at least minimally conversant in AI, to understand how AI could help enhance the work they do,” Bernicat said. “So, we want everyone to be able to get at least minimal training in AI, we then would want some people to get more complex learning opportunities.”

The post State of the State Department: Hiring above attrition, training a new generation of diplomats first appeared on Federal News Network.

• NARA: Lisa Haralampus, director of federal records management policy and outreach
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The post Agencies dispense with paper records (mostly) first appeared on Federal News Network.

• The Defense Department generally escaped the effects of Friday’s global internet problems. That’s according to Gen. C.Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He told an audience at the Aspen Security Forum that the botched Crowdstrike update didn’t impact DoD operations, but that it’s a reminder that the department needs to be ready to respond to cyber incidents.
  (Aspen Security Forum - YouTube)
• A worldwide IT outage on Friday struck multiple government agencies. The Social Security Administration plans to reopen field offices on Monday after a global IT outage forced SSA to close all local operations Friday. The outage is linked to a faulty software update from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services also warned some callers to expect long wait times due to the outage. The White House is convening agencies to better understand the impacts of the incident across government.
  (Crowdstrike outage: SSA shutters offices, other agency impacts - Federal News Network)
• The governmentwide Technology Modernization Fund is awarding more money to agency AI projects. The TMF is giving $10 million to the National Institute of Standards and Technology to support the growth of its recently launched AI Safety Institute. The TMF board also granted nearly $4 million to the Energy Department to modernize its critical nuclear emergency response infrastructure.
  (Technology Modernization Fund announces investments in nuclear safety and AI governance - General Services Administration)
• The Army’s new memo on generative artificial intelligence provides guidance for developers, system owners, users, and commands on how to use GenAI tools. The document instructs system owners and developers to ensure that users can easily determine if their systems rely on GenAI and have the option of accepting or rejecting Gen AI-generated outputs. The guidance encourages the commands to use Gen AI tools and puts the onus on them to identify their GenAI developers, system owners and users to mitigate risk when introducing AI tools into their workflows. The guidance is effective immediately. The Pentagon’s chief information officer office will review this guidance annually.
  (Army’s memo on GenAI setting guardrails around technology - Army Publishing Directorate (APD))
• Higher pay rates could be coming soon for some blue-collar federal employees. A proposal to reform the Federal Wage System is entering the early stages of the government’s rulemaking process. The pay system was first created to improve pay rates of nearly 200,000 blue-collar feds. But now decades after its creation, three-quarters of the pay system’s localities have fallen out of step with the private sector. Proposed regulations to fix the issue by re-mapping the Federal Wage System are expected to be published to the Federal Register this October.
  (Blue-collar federal pay reform heading toward rulemaking process - Federal News Network)
• Federal employees can now donate their unused annual leave to feds impacted by Hurricane Beryl. The Office of Personnel Management program lets feds offer any leave hours that they haven’t used, to those who may need additional time off during emergencies. Launching the program for Hurricane Beryl is the most recent instance, but OPM’s use of the emergency leave transfer program has grown in recent years. In 2023, there were seven emergencies that led to OPM initiating a new leave transfer opportunity.
  (Emergency leave transfer for feds affected by Hurricane Beryl - Office of Personnel Management)
• The Defense Innovation Board said the Pentagon continues to overclassify information. The advisory board wants the Pentagon to revisit the issue of classification when working with allies and partners. Board members said the Pentagon defaults to no foreign dissemination protocols. The Defense Department even failed to develop processes for communicating controlled unclassified information in an environment where information sharing is important from the earliest stages of projects.
  (Defense Innovation Board wants DoD to address overclassification - Defense Department)
• A longtime intelligence official is taking the reins at the National Counterterrorism Center. Brett Holmgren has been named acting director of the NCTC. He replaces Christine Abizaid, who had served as NCTC director for the past three years. Holmgren previously served at the State Department as assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research. He spearheaded a new digital modernization strategy at the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Holmgren started out his career as an analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
  (DNI Haines thanks NCTC Director Christy Abizaid, welcomes acting Director Brett Holmgren - Office of the Director of National Intelligence)

The post Though the Defense Department managed to go unscathed through the Crowdstrike outage, it remains on the alert first appeared on Federal News Network.

This isn’t the first time the federal government has focused its attention on this ongoing challenge.

Following the cyberattack on the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, the federal government has renewed its focus on ensuring the security of the water and wastewater (WWS) sector of the country’s critical infrastructure, and recently issued a warning to water system operators regarding an uptick in attacks against those systems by pro-Russia hacktivists. The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released new guidance on the actions that WWS entities should take to improve the resilience of their networks to cyberattacks as well as an incident response guide for the sector. Further proving the government’s renewed focus, in February 2024, the White House also issued an executive order to bolster the maritime sector further and upgrade security requirements for the nation’s ports.

Recent studies show that the vulnerabilities that permitted the Aliquippa attack are far from unique. In fact, Censys identified vulnerable and exposed Unitronics programmable logic controllers (the type of devices targeted in the Aliquippa attack) associated with water, wastewater and energy systems in the U.S. and found a total of 149 internet-exposed devices and services.

Unfortunately, there is a plethora of these vulnerable systems nationally, with the entire infrastructure lacking security controls. More often than not, the operators of these systems are focused on operational technology (OT) and lack the necessary cybersecurity skills to address the challenges that today’s bad actors present. Although the federal government offers limited oversight and grants to help, water authority organizations reside in municipal governments where funding for cybersecurity resources can be a major issue.

CISA’s recent guidance presents a significant step in the right direction, with common-sense recommendations that can help water authorities protect themselves. And while many of the recommendations might sound relatively simple, they address extremely complex problems that will be difficult to surmount.

For example, take the first recommendation in the CISA guidance: Reduce exposure to the public-facing internet.

CISA rightfully notes that the controllers and remote terminal units deployed in waterworks make easy targets when connected to the internet. It may sound like an easy fix to remove such devices from internet access, but the vulnerability may be due to compromised external systems that are connected to the water authority. For example, these systems may be associated with water towers or even gas stations and car washes that interact with the water authority via the internet. Consequently, all these connections must be managed and monitored – an extremely complex and arduous task.

Adding to the difficulty of this endeavor, municipal water authorities often lack the resources and staff to enact the recommendations in the EPA’s alert. Many are underfunded and have not traditionally prioritized cybersecurity as a critical aspect of their mission.

Consequently, we need a “whole of government” approach in which a federal agency like CISA can play an essential role. CISA and the Environmental Protection Agency – the agency designated by the White House to ensure that the water sector is prepared for any hazard, including cyber risks – are well positioned to lead a systematic process to support critical infrastructure organizations and operators that don’t have the funding, technical skill sets or acumen and guide them down the path as a partner to help solve these problems. Such an approach should begin with a few basic steps on the part of the federal government and water authorities:

• Conduct an internal asset inventory. CISA and EPA can help leaders at municipal water authorities determine what systems, devices and data exist in their environment, both internally and externally. However, this should extend beyond a simple inventory. It must also include an understanding of the criticality of each of those systems relative to the organization’s ability to achieve its mission. The EPA’s Water Sector Cybersecurity Technical Assistance Provider Program trains state and regional water sector technical assistance providers who can assist with this assessment. The EPA also offers a Cybersecurity Incident Action Checklist specifically geared to helping water utilities prepare for, respond to and recover from cyberattacks.
• Identify and monitor assets external to the organization’s domains. This includes looking at supply chains to understand potential vulnerabilities related to business partners, a step almost as important as understanding the inventory of the organization’s own assets. Most organizations have a good understanding of their internal assets but often don’t have a good handle on risks associated with external assets that the organization reacts with – which is how adversaries usually get into the environment. An unclear understanding of those external assets – especially internet-connected IT and OT systems – makes it extremely easy for the bad guys.
• Continue to provide funding and grants to municipalities working to address critical infrastructure security issues. Congress and DHS should continue to provide funding that will help these organizations train their IT and OT workforce in cybersecurity, hire people with the skill sets they need and generally help these organizations to modernize their infrastructure. This funding should be contingent on supporting policies that will help facilitate training, modernization and closing the pay and skills gaps within municipalities that are specific to the water and wastewater issue.

On the other side of the equation, water systems operators should not hesitate to request help. CISA and EPA offer assistance to organizations upon request, so operators should take the initiative to proactively contact the EPA or their organization’s regional cybersecurity advisor at CISA.

There have been recent signs of progress. Reps. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) and John Duarte (R-Calif.) are promoting a bill to create a government office to develop cybersecurity rules for water systems, with the EPA acting as an enforcer, as they already are the sector risk management agency. Also, EPA and White House officials in March asked a group of governors to develop plans for dealing with major cybersecurity risks facing their state’s water and wastewater systems, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Finally, we need to view addressing this issue as a marathon, not a sprint, to beat the hackers. Our adversaries are continuously looking to poke holes in our defense, and it is mandatory that we do the same in order to keep them out – now and in the future. We must not lose sight of the stakes involved; our country’s national security may depend on it.

Todd Helfrich is the vice president of federal for Censys.

The post How federal funding, guidance can protect the water supply first appeared on Federal News Network.

It’s been a major policy initiative of the Biden administration to get more Americans and agencies utilizing electric vehicles. Well, how about the agency that probably has the largest number of vehicles in its garage? The Postal Service is in the process of electrifying its fleet. To do that though, there needs to be the infrastructure to support them once they do get out there. To get an update on where things currently stand, Federal News Network Executive producer Eric White spoke to Amanda Stafford, Deputy Assistant Inspector General for the USPS’ IG office, on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin.  

Interview Transcript: 

Eric White  Absolutely. So, let’s just start with the goals here that USPS set for itself. What is it exactly trying to do? I imagine electrifying the whole fleet would be ideal, but that’s going to be a huge undertaking. What’s the timeline that they gave you?

Amanda Stafford  Well, as part of the delivering for America 10-year plan, the Postal Service plans to transform and modernize their network to improve sustainability, with a goal of not only driving revenue growth, but also reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40%. In some key areas by 2030. So, a part of achieving this goal includes replacing a large portion of its delivery fleet of approximately 225,000 vehicles with the purchase and deployment of over 66,000 electric ones. And this Fleet Modernization plan, bases investment is approaching 9.6 billion. So, I think their goal is go through 2030. But they’re trying to move things along quickly.

Eric White  All right. And so that’s a pretty massive undertaking, what is required as part of the infrastructure needed to support electric vehicles, you got to have places to charge them and got to make sure that have the proper repair units in place to actually maintain the fleet. What has the Postal Service been able to accomplish so far?

Amanda Stafford  Well, in terms of achievement, some of our previous work has noted the successes they’ve had related to the acquisition of charging station infrastructure. We also had a report related to the vehicle maintenance facilities and their preparedness for this effort. Our most recent engagement highlighted that the Postal Service expects to complete the charging station related to construction and deployment at 130 sites by the end of 2024. But as of March 26, the Postal Service confirmed that completed six sites. And by mid-June that just passed, construction was underway at 50 locations, A-2 had also related construction schedule. So, they’re moving things along kind of first, all those planning processes doing the acquisition, and then to your point, kind of making sure they have that charging station infrastructure in place. So that’s all that’s needed prior to rolling out those vehicles.

Eric White  As with any major government project, there’s going to be speed bumps along the way pun intended, what sort of delays and challenges has the agency withstood to try and get this thing off the ground?

Amanda Stafford  Well, we acknowledge that the Postal Service’s electrification efforts are unprecedented their progress is truly significant. We did find that the first 29 sites that were slated for deployment of the charging station equipment were delayed by an average of 219 days compared to its original schedule. So, it’s a huge undertaking, but they’ve had, as you said, a few bumps in the road to get started.

Eric White  And what were the reasons behind those delays? Was it just a personnel issue or were costs problems coming into play because this is probably a lot of moving parts, including a lot of moving dollars.

Amanda Stafford  Right. And the charging station construction delays, the Postal Service noted several challenges such as weather site specific conditions like sinkholes, utility specific regulations, and coordination. And while we recognize that a lot of those conditions truly were outside of its control, we found that the Postal Service did not establish realistic completion dates that should have factored in many of these foreseeable issues while planning schedule. So, for example, the construction in the Terre Haute SMDC, which is one of the facilities it’s located in Indiana, was originally supposed to be completed on December 28. Well construction was delayed due to foreseeable weather conditions, that area has predicted temperatures of 28 degrees or lower by the end of October, which makes construction difficult and paving the parking lots where the charging stations are basically impossible. So really in addition, the Postal Service did not really follow schedule management best practices entirely. They really to establish an informed baseline that reflected these conditions and constraints. And really, their schedule was driven by you know, an extremely aggressive business objectives. And then lastly, they didn’t use an overarching project management system that tracked real time updates and the cause of delays. They acknowledged though, that they need to replace that you know, spreadsheet that they were using in the process of not only acquiring but deploying a project management system.

Eric White  We’re speaking with Amanda Stafford, she’s Deputy Assistant Inspector General with the US Postal Service IG o Office. And so, what can be done to help them better prepare and execute these vehicle deployment plans, I know you laid out some of the problems that they had as far as planning goes. But you know, when they do incur these delays, what can be done to help speed things up a little bit.

Amanda Stafford  To set up the vehicle deployment plans for success, it really is essential to get all that related charging infrastructure in place. So, we had a few recommendations coming out of that specific audit, one to really support the Postal Service preparedness, we recommend that they use best practices to inform a baseline schedule for the future sites. So yes, we’re learning as we go. But as we go forward, can we take those best practices forward. Two, replace their spreadsheet with a project management system, which has dynamic updates and centralizes, all that information and as analytics, and as I mentioned, they’re in the process of addressing that already. And then lastly, to adopt these best practices, we recommended that the Postal Service could explore obtaining outside consultative support, that money could be well spent and fake to help them quickly. Evaluate lessons learned and, and pivot. So as early delays could really jeopardize the ability to use the vehicles which you know, and really achieve these aggressive, aggressive business objectives. So that was our last recommendation in that space.

Eric White  Yeah, and I guess the one ray of hope here, I mean, it’s not too dreary. But a hopeful observation would be that these are all very fixable problems. I mean, we’ve interviewed you all before. And there have been, you know, insurmountable issues of, you know, like you said, cost overruns, and things like that. But it seems as if it’s just more organization is needed.

Amanda Stafford  Yeah, I don’t think these are insurmountable. Just as you said, the Postal Service is resilient. And I think they can pivot, you know, they were very open and receptive to our recommendations and discussion. And they, you know, during the course of the audit, recognize that they had opportunity. So, I agree with you, I think that this is, it’s a bump in the road, and the deployment is ongoing. And so now they can, they’re in the place to quickly pivot.

Eric White  And the Postal Service also has a sort of different approach to this with these incentive programs to actually get this thing moving. How effective has that been? And are people actually utilizing it?  Great question. So, for the utility incentive program participation, and in our audit, we identified 13 programs that were currently available, and seven programs that have since expired, and these programs can really allow the Postal Service to save money along the way by partnering with different entities. So, we found that they could potentially have achieved cost savings, around 8 million approximately, for the first 29 sites. Management have previously done some analysis and reviews around the incentive space, but at the time, has decided not to pursue the incentive programs, but rather focus on the implementation of the certain delivery centers. So really, the network modernization to prepare to drive revenue strategies, which is obviously a huge facet of their 10-year plan. You know, we cited some opportunities, I think the Postal Service is going to revisit this space. And I think, you know, we do see that there could be a chance to drive cost savings, which is always an important thing to do. And especially important for the Postal Service itself. Do you foresee that they are happy with this structure that they have set up and are actually seeing positive results from it, they just need a little bit better job executing it would be the way to simple way of simplifying it.

Amanda Stafford  I would say that the Postal Service at this juncture and you know, that during the beginning of the audit, and through the course, did not was playing not to pursue this Avenue at that time. There are limitations, which we cited in our report that, you know, there could be required to subcontractors by the program owner, there could be easements and other terms and conditions. But we really asserted that, you know, the continued evaluation could bear fruit, as the postal service may be able to negotiate eligibility terms with program administrators and take advantage of these opportunities. For example, the Postal Service Management say they were not eligible to participate in some of the programs, one that comes to mind, we directly communicated with that representative from the program. And they said, well, actually federal fleet such as the Postal Service, are eligible to register and participate. So, I think it requires a lot of digging additional work. So, we had some recommendations in that space that that they’re pursuing and looking at now based on what we’ve described. So, I think that this could be a facet of their plan, but they’re also balancing that with the need to go very quickly. And there are other priorities related to the 10-year plan. So, we understand kind of the balance that they’re trying to continue to have.

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Been a hectic week on the political side of government. The 2024 election is in full swing as one party hosts its convention, and with an attempt on a candidate’s life, you know members of Congress are going have questions for the agencies in charge of protection. Meanwhile, there’s other legislation that could have an impact on other federal activities. To help break it all down for the Federal Drive with Tom Temin, Federal News Network Executive producer Eric White welcomes Deputy News Director Loren Duggan.

Interview Transcript: 

Eric White  Of course. So yeah, let’s start with the big news. We’ve seen some inquiries come in already, regarding Congressional investigations into just what happened on the security breakdown front, with the attempt on presidential candidate, well former President Donald Trump, what’s the latest? And what are members of Congress saying?

Loren Duggan  Well, they’re hitting the ground running on this one that they haven’t been in session since the assassination attempt. But tonight, Monday night is going to be the first hearing on this and it’s a committee that called the Secret Service Director to come and provide answers. Members got briefings wherever they were last week, whether they were at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee or back home for the Democrats. Both sides got at least some briefing from the administration. But now we’re going to see this hearing stage start, where she’s going to have to answer questions in an open forum and provide information there. So, it’s the first of several hearings, we will see Christopher Wray, the FBI Director up later this week, probably asking questions about what the agency may have known about the shooter. And then there’s also been invitations for the DHS Secretary who oversees the Secret Service as part of his job. So, lots of questions coming from lawmakers about what happened, what the breakdown in security was, and probably what lessons can be learned. And we’ll probably hear, I think, maybe some calls for resignations, or for some sort of consequence here over the course of the week.

Eric White  Yeah, we’ve already seen them come through for Kimberly Cheatle, she’s the director of the US Secret Service. And she’s held steadfast that she’s not going to step down. And really, she’s kind of putting Congress on notice saying, Hey, we’ve been stretched thin for a while. And we’ve been telling you this, and this is the kind of thing that’s going to happen. If you don’t give us what we need is that kind of what we’re probably going to hear from her.

Loren Duggan  We may hear some of that, you know, I’m sure she’ll try to explain what the posture was going into that event and, and what she knows, and probably what their relationship was with other law enforcement on the ground there in Pennsylvania. So, we’ll probably hear a lot about that. I’m sure money will come up. And there might be a monetary question to deal with here. At some point, normally, in an election year, they step up protection, because they have whoever the sitting president is, and then whoever the president, potential candidates might be. So, I’m sure we’ll get some questions around that and some discussion, too.

Eric White  All righty. So back to policy matters, something a little bit less dreary. Members of Congress and agencies are still kind of trying to figure out what exactly the Supreme Court’s ruling on the chevron doctrine and which virtually made it powerless. And what that means for agency activities going forward. We’ve seen members of Congress trying to inquire with agencies on whether or not it will affect their agendas. What are the latest stances from members of Congress who are either celebrating it or not happy with it?

Loren Duggan  Well, a hearing this week that I think is interesting is Congress asking, What does this mean for Congress, the House Administration Committee, which oversees the operations of the House of Representatives is having a hearing looking for what this means for lawmaking going forward? How specific do you need to be what does it mean, because the idea of Chevron was, if there’s a law, that somewhat ambiguous course would give deference to agencies? Well, if you’ve gotten rid of that changes the dynamic maybe you have to be more prescriptive in your rulemaking or in your lawmaking, so that the rulemaking will be on solid footing. So that’s the question Congress is confronting right away. And I think this has a long tail as agencies get back to Congress on how they’re going to approach it and what approach they’re going to take to writing rules and defending them in court. Because those are really the different fronts here. This ruling has effects on all three branches of government in very different ways.

Eric White  Yeah. Could mean some longer hours and longer bills written by those staffers, right. Absolutely.

Loren Duggan  And perhaps getting more staff or tapping expertise and other places to get there. So yeah, a lot to figure out how this is really going to work going forward. Right? Well, the two chambers are working on their different bills in the House Committee has done all 12 At this point, set them all to the floor. And they’re going to take up four of them this week, including I know your listeners care about the financial services general government bill because that has some of the matters that touch more broadly on the federal workforce. So that’s one of the four that will come up. And in general, the House appropriators are looking for places to cut to keep spending down. And on the Senate side, there’s a little bit more openness to spending more. So, as we see the Senate Appropriations Committee continue to work. They’re scheduled to do I think it’s four bills on Thursday, keep this progress going, perhaps by the August recess, which is only a couple of weeks away, we’ll have an idea what the House and Senate positions are. And then that will lead to the real discussions on these things later in the year when they figure out and have to come to an agreement on how much to spend in total, then what to give to the agencies. But we are seeing a lot of flashpoints, especially in the house on agencies they want to cut or officials whose salaries they want to reduce to $1 as a punishment for, you know, what their policies have been or their approach to policy matters. So, a lot to walk through and get through in these bills. But this isn’t the final word on this subject.

Eric White  We’re speaking with Bloomberg government’s Loren Duggan. So other funding matters that are on the House floor and the Senate is discussing them as well. Why don’t we just go through some of the major spending bills that are being debated currently and what they mean for potential agency funding matters.

Loren Duggan  Let’s zero in on probably the, well, no, probably it is the largest spending bill every year. And that’s the NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act, there’s always a couple of issues that stick out when this debate happens. What are the sticking points this time around? Is it going to be you know, providing reproductive services again? Or is it going to be the use of drones over in the Middle East? What’s, what’s the goings on right now with that? all that might come into play and the bill, the house has already passed its bill, it started out very bipartisan, but all the social writers, the kind of things you talked about were tacked on to that bill and eroded the Democratic support pretty significantly on the House version, the Senate version has come out of committee and could come up maybe before the August recess or later in the year, they’re trying to figure that out. I think a challenge there might be more than 840 amendments have been filed to it on things that don’t directly affect defense. But because defense is so far-reaching things like AI policy and other matters, they might want to tack on to that the Water Resources Development Act. That could be the real challenge, getting it through the Senate. It’s just how do you deal with all these amendments moving forward. And the other issue is going to be the top line on the defense bill. The Senate side did authorize more money in their bill. But the chairman who wrote the bill, Jack Reed actually voted against it in committee because he didn’t like that spending level. So, a lot to work through here on the spending picture on both the authorization and appropriation side. But that’s one of the core things Congress does every year. And this year is no different in the level of interest in work being put in.

Eric White  There’s also a few bills that will have a direct effect on federal workers themselves. One regarding telework and the other one regarding An act that maybe some federal workers have neglected to take part in because of the rules surrounding the substance that is in question. What can you tell me about the two bills that you know that I’m nodding towards here?

Loren Duggan  Well, the Senate Homeland Security Committee, which also does a lot of work on government efficiency and matters like that is doing one is the telework Transparency Act. And that’s just trying to get agencies to be more upfront about what their policies are and how they monitor employee use of telework. So, kind of wading into that debate that has been going on obviously, for a long time now. The other bill you mentioned is what’s known as the Doobie Act, which some staffer worked hard to come up with an acronym that would be D O B I E. But the idea there is that if you have past marijuana use, it shouldn’t be an obstacle to you passing a security clearance or getting a job. Now, if you have other issues, then those issues can come to bear. But that can’t be the sole reason you’re denied federal employment and the chair of the committee, Gary Peters is pushing forward that legislation along with a lot of other bills at this markup this week.

Eric White  Yeah. And for those of you who live outside the Beltway, that’s kind of a big deal. Because Maryland recreational is already legal, DC semi recreational is legal. And Virginia is on its way as well. So that’s going to be a big deal for potential federal workers of the future.

Loren Duggan  Absolutely. And with a push to you know, change the scheduling of cannabis and marijuana that’s also going to feed into this as well. So, a lot leading to that bill, which some are going to refer to as common sense legislation at this point.

The post Congress tackles spending, policy and candidate protections on the road to the August recess first appeared on Federal News Network.

A proposal to reform the Federal Wage System (FWS) has moved into the early stages of the government’s rulemaking process, the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC) announced during a public meeting Thursday morning.

The proposal, if finalized, would amend the federal pay system for blue-collar government workers, more closely aligning it with the locality pay areas for the General Schedule (GS). An estimated 15,000 blue-collar feds would see their pay rates increase.

After FPRAC, a council that advises on pay for blue-collar feds, approved the proposal last December, the changes were sent to the Office of Personnel Management for review. OPM then handed off the proposal to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, an arm of the Office of Management and Budget, to begin the rulemaking process.

Edward George, an American Federation of Government Employees official working at Tobyhanna Army Depot, expressed both gratitude and residual frustration around the proposal’s advancement.

“We are having a hiring problem, we do have skills gaps because of what’s going on with the way that our wages are calculated,” George said during Thursday’s FPRAC meeting. “I appreciate you taking this up once again. It’s very frustrating for our employees … It just seems like it’s [a never-ending] process. We would really like to see this fairly and equitably adjusted across the country as soon as possible.”

The proposed regulations are expected to be published to the Federal Register this October. Once published, OPM will accept comments on the regulations before making any potential revisions and finalizing the rule on FWS.

In total, FWS covers about 192,000 federal blue-collar employees working in trade, craft and laborer jobs. The federal pay system was established decades ago to try to keep federal wages aligned with “prevailing,” or market rates in localized areas.

But since fiscal 1979, many blue-collar feds have seen limits on their annual federal pay raises. And as a result, wages in 75% of FWS localities no longer align with local pay rates for similar jobs.

The idea to align the pay maps for the FWS and GS systems first came up more than 15 years ago, to try to reverse the growing disparity. FPRAC’s current proposal, though, comes from more recent calls from Congress in 2022, asking OPM to consider ways to reform the FWS locality pay map.

If implemented in its current form, FPRAC’s proposal would move about 10% of FWS employees from one wage area to another. Rearranging the FWS locality mapping would, in many cases, impact local pay rates for blue-collar feds working across the country. While about 15,000 employees would get pay increases, another 2,000 or so employees would be covered by “pay retention,” which would maintain pay rates of employees who would otherwise see a decrease to their pay.

But there is still opportunity to make adjustments to the current proposal. Once the proposed regulations are available in the Federal Register, likely later this year, stakeholders will be able to share any feedback they might have about the planned changes to FWS.

And already, there has been plenty of discussion on how to work out the details of the coming changes. When advancing the draft proposal in December 2023, most FPRAC members agreed that some type of FWS reform was necessary, but a couple members expressed disagreements over what those reforms should actually look like.

For instance, some FPRAC members raised concerns about costs and potential complications of implementing FWS map changes. Some members also said they were worried about agencies having to work within their current budgets to implement the pay adjustments, rather than receiving additional funding for them. One suggested alternative was to consider pay changes on a regional basis, rather than amending the entire pay system.

During Thursday’s FPRAC meeting, many attendees also indicated plans to write public comments on the proposed regulations coming this fall.

The public comments, AFGE’s George said, will be “more than they’ve ever seen.”

The post Blue-collar federal pay reform heading toward rulemaking process first appeared on Federal News Network.

The National Association of Postal Supervisors, in a recent post on its website, raised the alarm about a “crisis in leadership retention.”

NAPS National President Ivan Butts wrote earlier this month that a “significant number of EAS employees are leaving the USPS for other federal agencies, enticed by better pay and less-demanding working conditions.”

“That’s work objectives they’re trying to achieve,” Butts said in a recent interview. “And then they’re being viewed by the leadership in these other agencies as superstars, just because of how they were so overburdened. Working at this agency, I guess, made them tend to go at it harder at what they do.”

Butts, speaking last year at a summit on labor issues hosted by the USPS Office of Inspector General, said USPS is losing candidates to private-sector businesses that can offer better starting pay and better hours, at a time when unemployment rates are historically low.

The Postal Service disputes NAPS’ claims. USPS spokesman David Walton told Federal News Network that the agency has a retention rate of more than 96% for management employees.

“Historically, we develop and promote from within the organization and have an excellent retention rate when it comes to our management employees, particularly our front-line supervisors and managers,” Walton said.

Edmund Carley, national president of United Postmasters and Managers of America (UPMA), said he’s seen some colleagues leave USPS to take jobs at other agencies, such as the Social Security Administration. However, he said USPS isn’t seeing problems retaining management-level employees.

“They take a little bit less money, but it’s steady hours, no weekend work, a lot less stress,” he said about managers at other federal agencies. “It’s not easy being an entry-level manager in the [Postal] Service. It never has been. The difference now, especially if you’re in D.C., there’s other opportunities to go into federal employment.”

Among its concerns, NAPS said USPS is promoting newly hired employees to EAS roles with little to no knowledge of USPS operations, and that supervisors are rapidly promoted into mid-level and senior leadership positions with little-to-no knowledge of agency operations.

Butts said new supervisors may get an initial two or three weeks of training before running operations.

“After that, they’re on their own. They need them on the floor to run their operations. They’re short-handed already,” Butts said. “As some of these people are coming in, they’re getting no training at all, and the first time they make a mistake, they’re being fired with no recourse.”

Carley, however, said nearly all USPS managers started off as craft employees — letter carriers, mail handlers and postal clerks — and understand the agency’s frontline work.

“Nobody walked in off the street,” Carley said, adding that supervisor skills are “something you have to learn on the job.”

“You can’t teach somebody. I don’t know how long a training course would have to be to qualify somebody to be a delivery supervisor. You’ve got to learn on the job. You’ve got to have some rudimentary knowledge of how carriers operate and how the routes are set up. And then you’ve just got to do it, and you have to learn by doing,” he added.

USPS supervisor vacancies shrinking

The USPS inspector general’s office, in a report released Friday, said the Postal Service saw a 7% vacancy rate nationwide in fiscal 2023, its lowest point in recent years.

The watchdog report states USPS is close to meeting its goal of hitting a 5% nationwide vacancy rate for frontline supervisors, but said vacancies can vary widely by region.

“Although the nationwide vacancy rate is relatively low, some locations are experiencing vacancy rates three times as high as the goal,” the report states.

USPS, for example, is seeing a 17 to 18% vacancy rate for supervisors who oversee processing operations in the Great Lakes, and a 15% vacancy for retail and delivery supervisors in northern Illinois.

USPS ended fiscal 2023 with more than 22,000 supervisors. About 88% of them oversaw customer services, distribution operations, maintenance operations and logistics.

The agency also hosted four virtual frontline supervisor job fairs and 55 career conferences for current employees to learn about frontline supervisor positions last year.

USPS added about 2,300 new relief supervisor positions in June 2023. Eligible facilities can receive a relief supervisor for every full-time supervisor authorized.

Relief supervisors are meant to cover for regular supervisors during their scheduled days off and annual leave and are meant to reduce USPS reliance on acting supervisors.

“Relief supervisors work a non-standard, flexible schedule to cover tours and facilities within a designated commuting distance, all with potential minimal advance notice,” USPS OIG wrote.

Carley said new supervisors often feel pressure to perform early in their positions, and that higher-ups now have more real-time data on how any USPS facility is performing.

“What technology has wrought is the ability for my boss, my boss’s boss, my boss’s boss’s boss and his boss too up in headquarters to get on a spreadsheet, click twice, and now they’re looking to my office and want to know why that carrier was sitting at that gas station for 22 minutes, when they should only have been 20 — and I need to know an answer right now, he said.

“The pressure is heightened. Now that’s a good thing, too, because now you can create efficiencies with your workforce, because they know they’re being supervised at all times,” he added. “The art is, how do you disseminate that information, without threatening people’s jobs — which they do way more often than they should, or making somebody feel less than.”

NAPS is requesting access to “exit forms” EAS employees are required to submit before they leave USPS — to see how many supervisors the agency is losing to retirement, terminations or leaving for another federal agency — but Butts wrote that the group has been “thwarted in our attempts to validate this trend.”

“Those two kinds of narratives really point to a bigger problem,” Butts said. “One that leadership has the staff to do the job, and one that EAS leaders have in being felt like they’re valued in all aspects of their job.”

USPS management faces Reduction in Force

Butts said postal supervisors are also dealing with a Reduction in Force (RIF) that’s eliminating some positions.

Federal News Network first reported in May 2021 that USPS started sending layoff notices to non-bargaining unit employees after sending voluntary early retirement offers to its eligible management employees.

Management-level employees who receive a RIF notice, however, are able to apply for similar positions to avoid leaving the agency altogether.

“There are so many vacancies in the ranks of EAS and managers that there should be landing spots as we move forward,” Butts said.

The RIFs, he added, may affect about 70 to 80 supervisor positions. However, Butts said the association isn’t clear on the full extent of the RIFs, especially after USPS announced it would pause some network modernization changes until at least January 2025.

“They issued these RIF letters to these employees and disrupted their whole life. Then a week later, they issued rescinding letters to some of them, because their methodology was wrong. Now they say their methodology was right,” Butts said.

Walton said USPS “has a strong track record of finding job opportunities for RIF-impacted employees through RIF avoidance processes and we believe that will be the case with the current RIF process.

“As infrastructure and operating plans are made there is a need for staffing changes. We implement the changes in accordance with the federal Reduction-in-Force (RIF) regulations,” he added. “With the latest operational changes, there have been adjustments to the allocation of management employees in certain designated postal operations.”

Butts linked supervisor retention challenges to recent problems with on-time mail delivery in areas where USPS is modernizing its network modernization plans.

However, lawmakers representing regions that saw the worst of these delays — such as Atlanta and Richmond, Virginia — say on-time performance is improving.

“We’re not hearing much of anything like we were in the past, because we’re at the lowest volume period of the year,” Butts said.  “But my prediction is that when the fall mailing season comes in, all those issues that we had will rear their heads again, because the leadership of this agency has still continuously failed to address its staffing problem.”

The post USPS supervisors fear ‘exodus’ among their ranks, but data shows high retention first appeared on Federal News Network.

The chief information officer’s office also failed to conduct annual reviews of the strategy in 2020 and 2021 due to leadership and personnel turnover and deciding whether to update or issue a new version of the strategy.

The DoD CIO developed the digital modernization strategy in 2019 to satisfy the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requirements to develop a strategic plan for managing information resources. The policy requires federal agencies to outline their information resource goals, align them with organizational priorities, ensure those goals are “specific, verifiable and measurable” and conduct annual review of their plans.

“Our goal of the audit was to determine whether the DoD developed and maintained its [digital modernization strategy] in accordance with those OMB requirements,” Drew Pullion, DoD OIG program director, told Federal News Network.

DoD technology leaders identified four strategic goals to improve the department’s modernization efforts — innovating for competitive advantage, reforming cybersecurity policies and practices, adopting industry best practices and cultivating IT talent. The goals have corresponding objectives and tasks known as “strategy elements.”

While 77 strategy elements complied with OMB requirements, the Pentagon’s IG office found that 54 strategy elements lacked specificity and couldn’t be measured.

“These elements included language such as ‘modernize or strengthen’ various technologies or ‘enforce compliance’ with various policies. These are vague terms that do not provide much clarity or precision,” said Pullion.

One element of the strategy focuses on investing in and maintaining the infrastructure needed to ensure that DoD data is visible, accessible, trusted and interoperable. While the CIO office provided strategic-level documents to prove that they had addressed the strategy element, the documents showed a commitment to making data accessible rather than proving that the strategy element was completed.

“The strategy is not specific because the terms’ invest in’ and ‘maintain’ are not clear. They’re not precise. It lacks a quantifiable measure,” Pullion said.

“The second example I’ll give is the department’s plan to strengthen data center security. Again, the strategy element is not specific, ‘strengthen’ is not a clear or precise term and is not measurable in the sense that these are ongoing efforts.”

The IG office recommended that the CIO designate an official to oversee updates to the strategy — the CIO office addressed the recommendation even before the IG issued its final report by appointing the deputy chief experience officer to ensure the strategy meets OMB requirements.

The IG also wants the CIO office to develop a document outlining how it will address OMB requirements, including conducting an annual review of the strategy and addressing the performance gaps.

“CIO personnel agreed and stated that they plan to have that document completed by the end of August. I believe they plan to have all recommendations addressed by the end of this year,” Pullion said.

“During the audit we met with Leslie Beavers, the current acting CIO, and she was very supportive of our results and committed to improving the [digital modernization strategy]. We made 10 recommendations in the report that aim to improve the DMS but also our hope is that it creates an opportunity for the DoD to improve other strategic level documents and other business areas and OCIO personnel concurred or agreed with all 10 of our recommendations.”

The post Parts of DoD’s modernization strategy are vague, lack metrics first appeared on Federal News Network.

ADA requirements and in-office work

The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, including mental health conditions. Keith Sonderling, commissioner at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, told me about the importance of understanding these legal protections.

“Employers must engage in an interactive process with employees who request accommodations for mental health conditions,” said Sonderling. “If an employee is diagnosed with a mental health issue, the employer is obligated to consider accommodations, which could include remote work.”

During the pandemic, many government employees experienced the benefits of working from home, including increased productivity and better work-life balance. As Sonderling points out, there is no inherent legal right to remote work. However, the EEOC has issued recent guidance about how the right to work remotely becomes protected under the ADA when it is a reasonable accommodation for a disability.

Brandalyn Bickner, spokesperson for the EEOC, underscored in the fall of 2023 that under the ADA, the mandate for “reasonable accommodation” encompasses “modifying workplace policies.” This could entail employers waiving certain eligibility criteria or adjusting telework programs to facilitate remote work for employees with disabilities.

And the EEOC is showing its teeth. In a landmark legal settlement, ISS Facility Services, Inc. agreed to a $47,500 payment to resolve an EEOC complaint alleging ADA violations. The case centered on the company’s refusal to permit a disabled employee to continue part-time remote work. In another example, the EEOC filed a complaint against a Georgia company for terminating a marketing manager who had sought to work remotely three days a week to manage her anxiety.

Awareness of ADA can shift RTO dynamics dramatically

Despite the clear legal framework, few government employees are aware of their rights under the ADA. This lack of awareness means that many may not realize they can request remote work as an accommodation for mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression or PTSD. If more employees were informed, the current RTO dynamics could shift dramatically.

To successfully claim a WFH accommodation, government employees need a formal diagnosis from a licensed mental health professional. This diagnosis must indicate that remote work is necessary for managing their condition.

“The ADA protects employees with mental health conditions, but it requires a legitimate diagnosis and a documented need for the accommodation,” Sonderling said.

Once an employee provides documentation, employers must engage in an interactive process to determine a reasonable accommodation, which might include full or part-time remote work.

Sonderling emphasized the importance of training for managers and HR professionals to handle these requests properly.

“It’s crucial for employers to understand that they can’t dismiss mental health accommodation requests out of hand,” he said. “Failure to engage in the interactive process can lead to significant legal repercussions.”

The implications of widespread awareness about these rights are significant. If government employees begin to leverage mental health claims to secure remote work, it could lead to a substantial increase in accommodation requests. This scenario poses a challenge for government agencies who may need to adjust their RTO policies and processes.

For example, imagine a government agency where employees have been working remotely since 2020. If several employees request remote work accommodations for mental health reasons, the agency must assess each request individually. This could create disparities and tensions among employees, particularly if some are granted remote work while others are not.

“The ADA requires individualized assessments, and what works for one employee might not work for another,” Sonderling said. “Employers need to navigate these requests carefully to avoid discrimination and ensure compliance with the law.”

For agencies, the key to managing this complex issue lies in a balanced approach. While in-person collaboration offers undeniable benefits, such as enhanced communication and team cohesion, accommodating employees’ mental health needs is key to avoiding legal liability.

Agencies should develop clear, consistent policies for handling accommodation requests. This includes providing training for managers to recognize legitimate mental health issues and understand the legal requirements. Additionally, agencies can explore creative solutions to balance remote work with in-office expectations. This might include hybrid work schedules, flexible hours or designated quiet spaces in the office for employees with anxiety.

As the workplace continues to evolve, the interplay between mental health accommodations and remote work will remain a critical issue. Agencies have a legal obligation to inform their staff of their rights under the ADA, and agencies must be prepared to accommodate legitimate mental health needs while maintaining operational efficiency.

For leaders, the challenge is to create an inclusive work environment that supports mental health without sacrificing the benefits of in-person collaboration. By navigating this complex landscape thoughtfully and legally, agencies can foster a workplace that respects employees’ mental health needs and drives business success.

Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is the CEO of the future-of-work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts and author of the best-seller called Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams.

The post If they only knew: How ADA awareness can block RTO for government staff first appeared on Federal News Network.

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service recently had its first in-person national conference since before the pandemic. Which got us thinking … what is it like on the ground in the world of labor relations in the United States. For an update, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke to the FMCS deputy director Javier Ramirez.

Interview Transcript: 

Tom Temin  And just briefly, so in case there’s a few people out there that may not know exactly what the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service does.

Javier Ramirez  So, we were created in 1947, primarily to help with the large number of strikes that were happening after World War II. So, we were created primarily for the private sector. But as the Congress saw the work that we do in dispute resolution, they gradually started to expand our authority. And so, in 76, under the Civil Service Reform Act, is when we started to federal sector collective bargaining, then we then in the 90s, under the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act, we started to do additional work for other federal agencies through interagency agreements. So basically, dispute resolution, give us a call, if we can help you out, we’ll point you in the right direction.

Tom Temin  And so how do you interact visa vie with the FLRA, the Federal Labor Relations authority.

Javier Ramirez  So, the NLRA, you know, they’re separate. And so, what happens is they have a number of arms, they’re the in the FRA but we work really nicely with them, if we specifically work with Khandro,

Tom Temin  The Collaboration and Alternative Dispute Resolution Office.

Javier Ramirez  That they handle negotiability claims, so when folks are negotiating their collective bargaining agreement, and they’re not sure if this is a permissive subject of bargaining, they usually go before CADRO. And then they will help them either mediate that and or resolve that issue. And so, we work really closely with them. They’ll do training programs to help with federal sector folks. And we sometimes partner with them to do to do those. And interestingly enough, before cases go to the federal services impasse panel, which is part of the Federal Labor Relations authority, they have to go through mediation, so although they’re not required to use our services, they could use a private mediator, our price is kind of hard to beat right. So, we don’t charge federal agencies. So, the majority do come through us.

Tom Temin  But you still do commercial industrial private sector mediation, also?

Javier Ramirez  that is the bulk of our work. And if I’m being candid with this federal crowd, we could have done better in servicing the federal sector workforce. And we learn that when we send somebody over to that federal services didn’t Impasse panel to work with them for six months, they came back and gave us a report out on stuff that they saw that we could be doing better. And we implemented those changes, and so on, when we implemented those changes in matter of three months, we went from resolving disputes about half of them, these cases that came to us from 50% to 80%. Resolution rates, and the number of issues that move forward to the federal services impasse panel went from dozens to two or three. So dramatic changes, in the federal sector there.

Tom Temin  and what does the workload of the Conciliation Service look like? Do you do 1000s of cases a year hundreds, dozens? What’s the order of magnitude?

Javier Ramirez  Yeah, so 10s of 1000s. And I say that as a whole, right, because there’s a number of type of cases that we handle, but federal sector collective bargaining, we’re in the range of about 200, plus or minus 50, that we handle in a given year before they go to the panel. But we get in the private sector, we get about 15,000 notices a year of contracts that are expiring, and that that including grievance mediations, public sector, when we do teachers, police fire, we just help out on those as well. So, our volume is pretty high.

Tom Temin  Yeah. And so mainly, then the work is when a contract is expiring, or has expired, negotiations aren’t finished, and they seem to be going nowhere. And people are on the verge of possibly a strike. That’s when you tend to come in.

Javier Ramirez  Yeah, you know what, the Labor Management Cooperation Act was an amendment to the National Labor relations act. And that act asks us to start trying to do stuff before that situation occurs. Right. So we will go in there and during midterm bargaining, we will or the middle the negotiations, rather, we will come in and do training programs to help them communicate more effectively resolve disputes more effectively, and to establish their management committees and just good communication processes so they could avoid the battle when it comes to negotiations.

Tom Temin  Right. Trust is kind of a big factor in having these things go well, isn’t it?

Javier Ramirez  You know, I tell people, you don’t necessarily have to trust each other, but trust the process. And sometimes we help them honor the process. So, they can trust the process and use that to reach agreement even though there may be some trust issues within the relationship.

Tom Temin  We’re speaking with Javier Ramirez, Deputy Director for field operations at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and in the federal disputes that you take care of. Are there any themes and trends? I mean, what happens to cause an impasse the most often have you seen?

Javier Ramirez  Yeah, you know, as far as in the federal space, the number one issue that we’re seeing right now is returned to office and I’m very careful with that term, right? It’s not returned to work. The federal sector has proven that we can be very effective working from home. But we understand that depending on the type of role that they’re doing, that there is a need for a return to Office situations. So, it’s that battle back and forth of what’s the appropriate amount of office time versus working from home time. And that seems to be the number one issue that we’re seeing in the federal space at the moment.

Tom Temin  Well, does it have to have been something in a contract or a labor agreement clause in order to come before the Commission? Because otherwise, it’s simply agency management discretion, correct?

Javier Ramirez  Sure. Yeah. Unless there is a collective bargaining agreement. Right? And if like the barring agreement, then then yeah, that would be something that they have to negotiate with their union.

Tom Temin  And what do you find that the somewhere is cutting the baby in the middle? That is to say, some people might want to telework all the time, the agency just to make an extreme, the agency may want people to come in five days a week plus Saturday morning. So, you have to find some way in the middle of that.

Javier Ramirez  Yeah, each case is very unique. Because in some cases, we’ve found that a lot of federal agencies have actually given back-office space because of budget restraints. And so sometimes there’s just isn’t a sufficient infrastructure to support everybody coming back, then it also you have to look at the work that they’re doing security levels, you know, some folks during pandemic had to either come in or not do any work, because there’s security issues. So, it really depends on the work that you’re doing and the resources available, but they’re all over the place. We don’t we’re not seeing a standard resolution for this issue.

Tom Temin  Sure. And let’s talk about the FMCS itself for a minute. How many people do you have that are actually in the mediation business, and what kinds of skills to those people need to have?

Javier Ramirez  On the whole the number of mediators that we have, we have about 120 – 130, mediators. They all do work within the federal sector. In regard to training, implement mediation cases, some of that work like that. When it comes to the collective bargaining mediation, that was one of the changes that we made after we had our detailed with the federal services impasse panel, where we’ve reduced the number of mediators that handle collective bargaining in the federal space and gave him specialized training so that we they could better service the federal space when it comes to collective bargaining. So, we have about 120 130 mediators in total that handle it. However, the skills and one of the things that we did, and it was primarily because of the work in the federal sector was we realized that we had to move from an instinctual practice to an intentional practice, right move, our mediators come in, and they help resolve a dispute. And you’ll ask them, so what did you do? What techniques did you use to help the parties reach that resolution, and we refined them, many of them were like, you know, I’m not sure I just, I just did it right. And so we want to, we want to move from that instinctual practice to intentional where they may be able to see the dynamic, put a name to it, and understand that when we see this behavior, these are some skills or techniques that we could apply when we see that we’re calling that our conflict management professionals program. And we implemented that a couple of years ago, and we’re training up all our mediators on these conflict management professional skills, you see that going into the private sector, also.

Tom Temin  Because often they don’t have a legal reference. That is to say, the cases aren’t the same as in nature as what might become, you know, before the Merit Systems Protection Board, for example, where there’s a legal kind of true north that they’re measuring against statutory language. In this case, it’s what’s really the right here for the situation.

Javier Ramirez  Yeah, exactly what’s right, and what the party is willing to accept. And unless we see something that we know, is glaringly, you know, illegal, where we would say, Hey, you may want to check with your counsel, before you sign off on this thing, right? Because we don’t get legal advice. We’re not an enforcement. We’re non regulatory, we’re there truly, to just help the parties resolve disputes. It’s a matter of fact, one of the things I tell our folks is that your job is to try to put us out of business, right? Unfortunately, we’re in a growth industry, there’s no shortage of conflict. Wouldn’t it be nice if we have never putting ourselves out of business, right? It’s not going to happen. But that’s the mindset put us out of business.

Tom Temin  And if people don’t accept the mediation, then they can always go to court. How often does that happen?

Javier Ramirez  So with collective bargaining, you know, it’s a little different, because you have the federal services impasse panel that they would go to in the private sector, you go, you have strikes, there are occasions where they can do arbitration, but in other disputes, like employment mediation cases, then yeah, they could go to the next steps, whether it be with the EEOC or some other agency, depending on what the issue is where they would do that. But our resolution rates and I would need to check on this to be sure, but it’s in that 80% ballpark range.

Tom Temin  All right. And just briefly, how did you come to this work? Tell us a little bit about yourself?

Javier Ramirez  Yeah. you know what, our mediators in general, we get them from one to four sources. We get some that come from other federal agencies like the national relations board, or maybe they’re doing Some ADR work in their in their agency, we get a few that come from there. We get another small percentage that come directly out of school. We’ll bring them in as developmental mediators, and they have a longer runway to develop as well just generically called journeyman mediators. But the bulk of our mediators come out of either having management or labor backgrounds where they spent years negotiating contracts. They’ve been at the bargaining table for years. And so, my background is on the labor side. I come out of a labor union. I spent 14 years negotiating contracts there before I came to the agency, and now I’ve been with the agency for 19 years.

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• House Democrats say a top official at the Federal Communications Commission helped write a policy blueprint for a new Trump administration. Now they’re calling on government ethics officials to investigate. Lawmakers say FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr a Trump appointee wrote an entire chapter of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 calling for major changes to his own agency. Lawmakers said Carr contributed to Project 2025 in his official capacity as an agency executive. They’re calling on FCC’s inspector general the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of Government Ethics to look into the matter.
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The post Congressional regulators want to know why a top official at the FCC was able to support what appears to be a Trump campaign initiative first appeared on Federal News Network.

One measure of a career is the financial remuneration and whether your money and health needs are taken care of. One federal retiree analyzed the question of whether he was right to switch from the private sector to federal. Joining the Federal Drive with Tom Temin with the details, Abe Grungold, owner of AG Financial Services.

Interview transcript:

Tom Temin  One measure of a career is the financial renumeration and whether your money and health needs are taken care of. My next guest, a federal retiree analyzed the question of whether he was right to switch from the private sector to federal. Here with what he found, Abe Grungold, owner of AG Financial Services. You took a long look back at a long career, Abe. Just give us what you are doing here.

Abe Grungold  Tom, this was a question that has always plagued me my entire federal career. Did I make the right choice from leaving my senior position at a hospital and transitioning to the government? Because I took a $12,000 pay cut, which was about 35% of my previous salary, to work for the government. And I always wondered, did I make the right choice?

Tom Temin  Well, let me ask you this, though, what was the motivation in the first place to go to the government?

Abe Grungold  Well, the hospital was going through a lot of financial problems. They had merged with another hospital and I saw the beginning of the decline of this hospital, and I didn’t see a future with the hospital. I was afraid I was going to get laid off one day.

Tom Temin  Sure.

Abe Grungold  So, that’s why I sought something else a little bit more secure. And, it’s funny. In 1985, I started with the government, and a very close friend of mine also started at the hospital in 1985. I recently had dinner with her, and we discussed our salary, our benefits, and her future retirement. She’s going to retire in three years. And it was just wonderful, comparing my federal salary and benefits and retirement, comparing to hers, and I learned quite a bit.

Tom Temin  Now, we know from previous interviews that you are a multimillionaire in the TSP. And you are not three years from retirement, but about three years into retirement, enjoying the pickleball life and so on. So, tell us about what some of the findings were, compared to your friend.

Abe Grungold  Yes, so we hit upon five major areas: salary, health insurance, the TSP or her 401K, the retirement monthly annuity, and life insurance. So, what I found out from salary is that in the hospital, they did not provide very many COLAs. Over the past 40 years. I remember receiving a COLA once in the seven years that I was there. Now, with the government, I basically received a COLA every year with the government. I think during my last 40 years, there were two or maybe three occasions where the government did not provide a COLA. So even though I started my federal career at a lower hourly rate, I accelerated through promotions, and my salary was much higher than my friend’s present salary, who was also a manager, but I think that was largely due to the COLAs.

Tom Temin  The cost of living adjustments, by the way, for those that don’t yet know what a COLA is. So, you ended up ahead in the long run on salary, then.

Abe Grungold  Yes, yes. I ended up with a $75 per hour last salary that I had three years ago, and her present salary is $55, with a maximum she can achieve of $65 per hour. And I was already at the maximum when I retired with the government. But I think that difference in salary was certainly due to all the COLAs that I had received during my federal career. And, with respect to health insurance, the government provides a large variety of health insurance plans to pick from. The hospital where my friend works, they basically only have two or three choices. And variety is really the spice of life and health insurance. You want to pick a health insurance plan that really tailors to your needs, and that is very important. But the most critical part of the health insurance benefit is, I carry my health insurance into retirement. My friend will not have that opportunity to take their health insurance into retirement. That is a big, big benefit that I received.

Tom Temin  Yes, in some ways, it’s one of the biggest ones. And it’s really pretty much that situation for the rest of the private sector as well as your friend. We’re speaking with Abe Grungold, retired federal employee, and now owner of AG Financial Services. And then there’s the TSP, and the ability to save in a 401K, in which the government and private are a little bit more equal in most circumstances.

Abe Grungold  Yes, my friend had a variety of different deferred compensation plans to pick from: a 401K, a Roth IRA, and a 403B. And I remember participating in the 403B when I was at the hospital. But with the government and the TSP, I have always received a 5% matching to my TSP every year of federal service. My friend has never received any matching from her employer to her tax deferred plan. And that is probably the most important benefit that a federal employee can obtain, in addition to their health insurance. So, that is where I really grew tremendously with my 401K. I certainly didn’t ask my friend what her balance was, but the key is that she never received any match.

Tom Temin  There’s so many variables, such as your tolerance for aggressive investing for much of those years. And you had a pretty good tolerance for that.

Abe Grungold  Yes. I mean, I was a roller coaster rider, and I was always aggressive with my TSP and the merry-go-round riders are the ones who are solely in the G fund. There’s nothing wrong with those investors, but if you want to be a TSP millionaire, you’ve got to ride the roller coaster. And that was a big difference I found in our discussion was the employer matching.

Tom Temin  And then the other factor is, if you had a steadily higher increase in pay, then the more you contribute to social security, which means that at the end of a career, your social security benefit is greater.

Abe Grungold  Yes. I mean, certainly my social security benefit would be higher. I didn’t even ask my friend about that, because I knew that was already going to be true. So, we didn’t even hit upon that question. But what I did ask her was about her retirement annuity that she would receive from the hospital after 39 years, or she’ll have over 40 years when she retires. Now, I didn’t have her formula for her retirement annuity. But we did discuss what the amount is, and mine was more than twice what she would be receiving. She’s going to receive $1,800 per month, and I received at retirement $4,500 per month as my annuity. Now, that is probably also largely due that I have a higher salary. And I also received COLAs for my retirement annuity. She did not know if she’s going to receive any COLAs and I don’t think she will, because they usually buy those from an insurance company.

Tom Temin  You’re a FERS.

Abe Grungold  I was always a FERS employee. And certainly, your retirement annuity is very important. It’s one of the three-legged parts to your stool, and your three-legged stool is your annuity, your TSP and also your FEHB plan that you can take into into retirement. And the last thing that we discussed was life insurance. Life insurance is something that she was always able to obtain at the hospital and I could obtain it through the government. But the key difference is that she cannot take her life insurance into retirement. That benefit will end when she ends her employment. With the government, you could take your life insurance into retirement, and the government provides a basic $10,000 free portion to your life insurance, I believe when you hit age 65. But you could still carry any amount of life insurance into retirement as a federal employee. That is also a significant benefit.

Tom Temin  Well, it certainly helps your spouse take you to your eternal reward in style\, should that need arise.

Abe Grungold  Actually, Tom, I terminated all my life insurance when I left federal service. I just didn’t see a point of needing any, and that was just a personal decision. Every employee needs to evaluate their life insurance needs. And for us, we terminated ours. But, basically, what I learned, Tom, is that overall, I absolutely made the right decision with my federal career in all five of these categories. My federal career excelled in all these categories with salary, benefits, retirement, and certainly social security as well. And there were many other little benefits that we talked about. But certainly these were the five most important.

Tom Temin  All right, so the federal slot machine comes up with a row of cherries, but I have to ask you one existential question. Did you like the work? Was it good to work for the government and you didn’t go crazy waiting until the end?

Abe Grungold  I loved all four federal agencies that I worked for. It provided me with a feeling that I was doing good. Each position was a little bit different. But I was always sort of in the investigative side of government and trying to, you know, correct problems, and catching criminals, etc. And I found that work to be very fulfilling. I mean, I certainly enjoyed working at the hospital. But my federal career far exceeded my needs, in that self actualization on the Maslow hierarchy of needs. Yes, it certainly fulfilled that. All right, Abe ‘Moneybags’ Grungold is a federal retiree and owner of AG Financial Services. Thank you for that detailed analysis.  Thank you, Tom. It really was important to be finding out and now I’m so happy that I did.

Tom Temin  That’s right. Well, you know, living well is the best revenge, they say. We’ll post this interview at federalnewsnetwork.com/federaldrive. Hear the Federal Drive on your schedule, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

The post One way to figure if you made the right federal career choice first appeared on Federal News Network.