The U.S. Senate last week voted unanimously – 96-0 – to tell the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that it does not have a right to block the VA Inspector General’s efforts to investigate “records related to VA’s new Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection, which the department has refused to provide,” according to Government Executive.

Senators Jon Tester (D-MT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) have sent a letter to the Inspector General at the Department of Veterans Affairs, asking that the IG look into how the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act has been implemented, according to an exclusive written by Nicole Ogrysko of Federal News Radio.

With five states holding elections today, the U.S. House of Representatives could look a bit different by the day’s end.

Roll Call’s Simone Pathe highlighted an “unusual move” by the right-leaning organization Americans for Prosperity (AFP), which late last week launched a series of digital ads in support of Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, who faces a re-election challenge from Republican state representative Kevin Cramer.

In recent weeks, Congress has increasingly begun asking questions about the use of official time within federal agencies, as noted by Federal News Radio’s Nicole Ogrysko.

Late last week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee  (OGR) held a hearing on federal workforce issues entitled, Workforce for the 21st Century: Analyzing the President’s Management Agenda.

Republicans and Democrats in Congress sent a letter late last week to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan regarding the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) proposal to cut federal employee retirement benefits.

The Trump Administration reportedly has plans to send to Congress a $15 billion “rescissions” request, which the administration outlined on Monday, according to Jennifer Shutt and Lindsey McPherson at Roll Call.

This week, Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) sent a letter to GSA Administrator Emily Murphy and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin regarding a recent change to the tax code made pursuant to the recently tax reform overhaul passed by Congress.

The U.S. Senate announced this week that it had placed on indefinite hold a previously scheduled confirmation hearing for President Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson.

Congressman Charlie Dent, a Republican from Pennsylvania well-known in D.C. for being a reliably moderate voice within Congressional Republican ranks, announced today that he would be resigning in “coming weeks,” following an earlier announcement that he would retire at the end of his term.

The recent passage by Congress of a sweeping tax reform effort is having “potentially ruinous” unintended consequences for some federal employees who have had to relocate for work.

According to Roll Call, House Republicans may employ “lesser-used provisions of the 1974 budget law to roll back spending by impounding some of the appropriated funds” contained within the 2018 omnibus spending bill.

According to Congressman Mark Amodei (R-NV), there is a “rumor” that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan might soon announce his resignation. Rep. Amodei made the statement in an interview with a local news station.

Last Thursday, the Trump administration announced the imposition of sanctions against Russia in response to what it deemed an organized effort to hack elements critical to American infrastructure, including aviation systems and the U.S. energy grid.

Late last week, the U.S. Senate confirmed by voice vote Jeff Pon, President Trump’s choice to serve as the new director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the agency tasked with overseeing the administrative and human resources needs of the federal workforce.

Conservative groups and several GOP lawmakers are pushing for more oversight of IRS rules as the agency works to carry out President Trump’s new tax law.

This week, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released to Congress its annual cost-benefit analysis of federal agency rules and regulations.