Members of the Democratic leadership in the Senate are urging Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to carefully consider what will be included in the essential government funding bill that must pass next month, warning that they would shut down the government if any “poison pills” – such as funding for the proposed border wall – are included.

Following reports that several military bases have had to shut down childcare programs due to the hiring freeze, two Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (OGR) sent a letter requesting an exemption from the freeze.

With the prospective $54 billion increase in the budget for the Department of Defense, the Trump administration is expected to offset those costs through cuts to non-Defense agencies.

Several single line bills have been introduced to terminate federal departments and agencies, including H.R. 861, which would eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and H.R. 899, which would do away with the Department of Education.

Lacking the fireworks that have become a staple of many congressional hearings on federal workforce issues in recent years, last week a bipartisan cadre of Senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hosted a conversation between lawmakers and representatives of federal executive, management, and labor-level employees.

Members on both sides of the aisle are seeking clarity from the new administration on how recent directives may impact federal employees and their perceptions of whistleblower rights.

In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) took on a popular phrase from President Trump, outlining that “the greatest threat to America’s people, economy, and Constitution” is the federal bureaucracy.

One day after signing an across the board hiring freeze, with limited exemptions for military personnel and national security purposes, President Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was met with a sharp line of questioning from Democratic Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.

Last week, Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to agency heads, stating the anticipated hiring freeze did not entitle them to accelerate the hiring process to fill current openings.

This week, Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, spoke out about his intent to reform federal employees’ retirement benefits and job security.

Committees overseeing the Department of Veterans Affairs and related issues will come under new leadership in the 115th Congress.

In a report released by the Senate Finance Committee, Republicans touted the need for Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees to better follow federal guidelines and per diem rates.

Before heading home for the holidays, Congress finished out the year by passing a number of measures, including the necessary Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government up and running.

Last week, members of Congress held a hearing to further discuss the massive premium hikes for federal long-term care insurance enrollees, but little more was uncovered.

In his second annual “wastebook,“ entitled Federal Fumbles: 100 Ways the Government Dropped the Ball, Senator James Lankford (R-OK) outlines what he refers to as a “small fraction of the wasteful and duplicative spending from our government over the last few years.”

Congress has returned to Washington to finish out the lame-duck session, with the deadline for lawmakers’ top priority fast approaching.

The Professional Services Council, an Arlington, Virginia-based trade association that represents hundreds of tech companies, sent a letter last week to Senators on both sides of the aisle, urging the Senate to take up the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act of 2016.

Chairman of the Freedom Caucus, Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH), criticized FBI Director James Comey’s decision to inform Congress of new information found in the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.