Category: Congress

House Democrats want to create another TSP investment option

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The General Services Administration is trying to assure lawmakers that it is fixing the culture problems that led to the problems with login.gov. Sonny Hashmi, the commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, was on the hot seat yesterday answering House lawmakers’ questions about the agency’s false assertions about the Login.gov platform. Hashmi told lawmakers GSA is applying tougher internal controls to ensure these problems don’t happen again. This includes his office and team reviewing all contracts managed by the Technology Transformation Service. “With this independent review, we want to make…

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OPM expects busy Open Season standing up USPS health insurance marketplace in 2024

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The Office of Personnel Management expects to receive a much higher volume of calls during next year’s Open Season. That’s because a Postal Service reform bill signed into law in 2022 is moving postal employees and retirees into a different health insurance marketplace from the rest of the federal workforce, starting in January 2025. OPM Director Kiran Ahuja told members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee earlier this month that the agency is on track to create a standalone Postal Service Health Benefits Program. “It’s a huge effort, it’s…

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Why federal employees are watching the political landscape more than ever

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If you wonder why federal employees worry, along with everyone else, consider: mini financial crises, a stubbornly bear stock market, no breakthroughs on Social Security solvency, and the debt-ceiling debate dragging out. For one point of view, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin talked with John Hatton, vice president for Policy at the National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE). Interview transcript: Tom Temin People are concerned. I actually had a reader write to me asking, well, our TSP funds insured? Unfortunately, no. And nobody’s investments are insured yet,…

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Ahuja plans to fix OPM programs under the microscope of the House Oversight Committee

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The House Oversight and Accountability Committee zeroed in on examining several federal programs with long-standing challenges, housed under the Office of Personnel Management. Among heated questions about federal telework, committee members pressed OPM Director Kiran Ahuja on how she plans to improve challenges in other departments at the agency, including in retirement services and the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, as well as the federal hiring process. Retirement services backlog Challenges in retirement services at OPM were a common concern among both Democrats and Republicans on the committee —…

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Federal IT spending in 2024 request up by 13% in part thanks to cyber, CX plans

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The White House plans to ask Congress for $ 74 billion in federal technology spending for civilian agencies in fiscal 2024. What is significant about that number isn’t the fact it’s a 13% increase over the 2023 request, rather it’s the specific detail the Office of Management and Budget lays out for what that increase will go toward. The most obvious breakdown is in cybersecurity spending. The Biden administration wants to increase spending to secure federal networks, applications and data to $ 12.7 billion, a 13% increase over the prior…

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VA makes ‘full court press’ on recruiting, retaining staff with new workforce incentives

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The Department of Veterans Affairs, facing an increased workload as more veterans seek VA health care and benefits,  is prepared to significantly staff up under the Biden administration’s fiscal 2024 budget request. The VA in its fiscal 2024 budget request is looking to grow its workforce to 453,834 employees — a more than 4.5% increase from current staffing levels. Since 2019, the VA has added the equivalent of more than 78,000 full-time employees. The Biden administration is proposing a $ 351.1 billion total budget for VA in 2024 —  more…

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