Shutdown Likely To Be Averted – Until New December Deadline
Congress this year has been unable to fulfil its duty to budget and appropriate money to agencies, and the recent controversy over federal funding for women’s health organization Planned Parenthood has been driving the conversation towards a shutdown.
Federal Circuit Holds Administrative Law Judges May be Removed Based on Productivity Statistics
Mark Shapiro began working for the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) as an administrative law judge (“ALJ”) in the New York Hearing Office in 1997. Beginning in 1998, the SSA informed Mr. Shapiro that his performance was lacking.
Supplemental Insurance Benefit Options for Feds
Tune in to FEDtalk September 25th on the eve of Open Season for a discussion on the supplemental insurance plan options available only to federal employees.
Facing Shutdown Threat, Senate Democrats Look To Shield Feds’ Paychecks
The confluence of a lack of progress on annual appropriations and a political battle over federal funding for women’s health organization Planned Parenthood is threatening to shut the government down after September 30 for the second time in two years.
D.C. District Court Vacates VA Secretary Decision on Bargaining for Overtime Procedures
In November 2012, the Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center in Amarillo, Texas mandated overtime for all Title 38 registered nurses after suffering through a staffing shortage that saw the number of registered nurses drop twenty-four percent.
Employee Groups To Congress: Hands Off TSP
As Congress works to determine if and how to fund the government past the conclusion of the fiscal year on September 30, employee groups sent a letter to Capitol Hill leaders warning them to stop discussing changes to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).
Limiting the Use of Paid Leave
One of the federal government’s most criticized methods of dealing with employee discipline issues—paid administrative leave--has become the recent focus of a push by Republicans on Capitol Hill as well as the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Feds Deserve a Probationary Period that Accommodates Training Needs
The probationary period is meant to offer federal employees the time and opportunity to train for a career within the federal government and showcase their abilities to management and supervisors.
OSC Releases Annual Report to Congress
In the Office of Special Counsel’s Annual Report to Congress, submitted to Senate President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner last week, Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner detailed the burgeoning number of complaints and cases received by OSC in fiscal year 2014.
Preview the Ride & Run to Remember, and Examine the Rise of Officer Assaults
Tune in this week to learn about efforts to legally proctect law enforcement officers from ever-increasing assaults and attacks from the national president of Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA). Then, get the inside scoop on the annual Ride and Run to Remember from Craig Floyd at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF).
EPA To Face Congressional Gauntlet Over Toxic Mine Spill
Despite Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy’s acceptance of “full responsibility” for the early-August spill of millions of gallons of toxic wastewater into Colorado’s Animas River, members on Capitol Hill are eager to instill accountability on the agency.
Federal Circuit Reverses MSPB Decision on Forced Reassignment
A National Park Service Superintendent at Sitka National Historical Park was removed from her position after she refused a management-directed reassignment to a different position.
Senators Question Payroll Service Centers On Reporting Tax Information Of Federal Employees
Seeking to shield the government and its employees from identity theft and tax fraud, the leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote a letter last week to the government’s four payroll providers seeking clarification on reporting practices for employees’ wage and tax statements (Form W-2) to the Social Security Administration and state tax agencies
Fifth Circuit: Protection Not Available for Disclosures of Purely Private Wrongdoing
An International Examiner at the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) received a proposed removal on September 2010 and was removed in November 2010. In 2013, the employee filed an individual right of action (“IRA”) appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board (“MSPB”), citing his Office of Special Counsel (“OSC”) complaint claiming that he had been retaliated against after making protected whistleblower disclosures to his supervisor and the Commissioner of the IRS in February 2010 regarding an alleged $500 million tax fraud perpetrated by ExxonMobil.
Management Groups Seek Congressional Investigation Into Union “Hit List”
Two associations representing federal managers and executives have sent a letter to Capitol Hill requesting an investigation “into a troubling development at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that threatens to further destabilize labor-management relations at a department that has faced serious challenges in recent years.”
Refusing Order to Violate Rule or Regulation is Not Protected Whistleblower Activity
Refusing to comply with an order that would require a federal employee to violate an agency rule or regulation is not protected whistleblower activity, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) recently held.
House Committee Monthly Terror Threat Snapshots Track Growing Violent Extremism
“Terror threats to the U.S. homeland have reached unprecedented levels. There have been 116 homegrown jihadist plots in America since 9/11— more than half of those have occurred in just the past three years,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) said in June.
GAO Declines Reconsideration of Disposable Utensil Purchase Ban
In 2013, the Department of Commerce informed the National Weather Service Employee Organization (“NWSEO” or “union”) that it would no longer provide eating utensils to workers due to a lack of funds, despite a September 2009 memorandum of understanding pledging the purchase of said utensils.