GSA’s commercial platforms gaining steam, but data, other concerns persist

Three years into the Commercial Platforms Initiative, the vision Congress had for the initiative isn’t necessarily coming to fruition. But new data and analysis shows that doesn’t mean it’s a failure by any means. The number of agencies using the platform more than quadrupled between 2020 and 2022 to 27 and the spending, while far below initial estimates of $ 6 billion have increased to $ 40 million last fiscal year. And beyond the raw numbers, agencies told the Government Accountability Office in a new report that it is saving them…

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Public School Fires Substitute Teacher for Raising Concerns Over Book Depicting Same-Sex Couples

Lindsey Barr was fired from her substitute teaching job after expressing concern over the content of a book in the school library.   Barr is a mother of three boys. All her children attend public school in Bryan County, Georgia, about 30 miles southwest of Savannah, where she also works as a substitute teacher.   In August, Barr learned that McAllister Elementary School, where her first- and third-grade sons attend and where she sometimes works, planned to have the book “All Are Welcome” read during a “read aloud” story time in the…

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Biden’s pick for OPM deputy director addresses concerns about federal hiring, retirement processing

President Joe Biden’s nominee for second-in-command at the Office of Personnel Management, Rob Shriver, shared his priorities for the federal workforce with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. During a Sept. 29 nomination hearing, the committee raised concerns about the future of telework, the federal hiring process and delays in retirement processing — all of which are involved in OPM’s mission. Telework was a prominent issue for a few of the committee members. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) asked Shriver about the governmentwide telework policy for agencies, saying that…

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Lawmakers raise concerns about EEOC return to office plans

As some agencies start to reenter office spaces, lawmakers are raising concerns about return-to-office plans for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-Va.), ranking member on the Committee on Education and Labor, and James Comer (R-Ky.), ranking member on the Committee on Oversight and Reform, said the lag on reentry would delay the commission’s ability to efficiently review and resolve discrimination charges. “We are unaware of any plan for the commission to return the remainder of its workforce of approximately 2,000 employees to in-person service,” the authors said…

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