This bipartisan bill would give the GSA new cybersecurity responsibility

A bill before the House would create a new cadre of people to help the government in case of a serious cyber attack. The National Digital Reserve Corps would be managed by the General Services Administration. To learn more about the Corps, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales. Interview transcript: Tony Gonzales First off, I am a retired Navy Master Chief. I spent 20 years and in the Navy as a naval cryptologist, with a top secret SCI clearance. I spent five years in…

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Iowans Knew This Day Would Come

My father was a registered independent for most of my childhood because he resented having to choose. But choosing was not hard for my mother. She was an MSNBC devotee, a liberal Pennsylvania transplant who took her adopted role as an Iowa Democrat seriously. She wanted me to take politics seriously, too. Which is why, on a freezing January night in 2000, Mom zipped up our coats, buckled 7-year-old me into our white Toyota Previa, and drove us along five miles of gravel to the nearest town: Danville, population 919.…

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Defense officials say a year-long continuing resolution would be ‘The Bad Place’

With no solid prospects for passage of the 2023 federal budget, the Department of Defense wants lawmakers to know just how bad life will be if they have to function for a full year on a continuing resolution (CR) instead of a real budget. “DoD has never lived with a year-long CR. So there’s probably some levels of badness we haven’t fully explored because we haven’t had to live it yet,” said Mike McCord, DoD undersecretary of defense and comptroller at the Professional Services Council Federal Market Forecast Conference on…

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Win for Website Designer at Supreme Court Would Be Win for Free Speech for All

Imagine you’re an artist who creates custom websites. A new client asks you to create one that will promote a pro-life rally and celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Dobbs decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Unbeknownst to the client, you disagree with the June 24 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision and in fact are an abortion activist in your free time away from your business. Would you create the pro-life message as requested? One artist might conclude that, while they disagree with the message, they’re still comfortable…

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Bill Would Block Taxpayer Funding of Teachers Unions

U.S. taxpayers’ money would not help finance teachers unions if the House passes a bill introduced this week by Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas.  “Corrupt teachers unions sold out our kids when they lined Democrat politicians’ pockets with campaign contributions to keep students out of the classroom, and later to force masking, despite clear evidence that these decisions were harmful to kids’ educational and developmental growth,” Jackson said in a prepared statement.   Teachers unions have “pushed a radical and inappropriate curriculum which seeks to indoctrinate our students with a woke,…

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New bill would abolish MSPB, create ‘at-will’ federal employees

Republican lawmakers are once again making a push that would allow the government to fire bureaucrats more easily. For the third time since 2016, members of the House introduced a bill to make all federal employees “at-will” workers. That means agencies would be able to more quickly remove employees for underperforming or behaving in a manner that goes against federal rules. “My bill would make all federal bureaucrats at-will employees — just like private sector workers — and claw back the inordinate protections some federal employees grossly abuse while helping…

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