Congress | Voter.org

Federal building security agency short-staffed amid rise in threats

October 9, 2022 security, Amid, federal, Agency, threats, rise, Building, shortstaffed0 comment

Federal employees and their office buildings are facing an increase in threats at a time when the agency sworn to protect them is running into challenges to fill law enforcement vacancies. The Federal Protective Service secures 9,500 federal buildings across the country. But FPS Principal Deputy Director Kris Cline said last month that about 21% of its authorized positions remain vacant, and that filling them is a “continued challenge.” Cline said told the oversight subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee that FPS has an authorized end strength of 1,131 law enforcement…

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

October 5, 2022 federal, retirement, pick, Addresses, concerns, hiring, Biden's, deputy, processing, about, director0 comment

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…

Biden signs continuing resolution into law averting government shutdown, FDA furloughs

October 1, 2022 into, government, Signs, Resolution, shutdown, Furloughs, averting, continuing, Biden0 comment

President Joe Biden signed a short-term continuing resolution bill into law on Friday, averting a partial government shutdown. The House passed the bill earlier in the afternoon. The Senate passed the CR on Thursday after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) agreed to drop a provision in an earlier version of the CR that would streamline the permitting process for energy projects. The bill funds the federal government through Dec. 16 and gives Congress more time to work out a comprehensive spending package for the rest of fiscal 2023. The continuing resolution…

Manchin ends pipeline push, easing path for spending bill

September 27, 2022 ends, spending, Push, Bill, Path, pipeline, Manchin, easing0 comment

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin has abandoned, for now, his push to speed up the permitting process for energy projects, easing the Senate’s path toward passing a stopgap spending bill that would keep the federal government running when the fiscal year ends at midnight Friday. A procedural vote Tuesday advancing the funding bill succeeded easily, 72-23, after Democrats announced that the West Virginia senator’s proposal would be stripped from the final legislation. It was clear that, with Manchin’s plan included, Democrats were falling far short of the 60…

Continuing the conversation about continuing resolutions, and other happenings on the Hill

September 19, 2022 about, Hill, Resolutions, conversation, continuing, happenings0 comment

Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Subscribe to Federal Drive’s daily audio interviews on <a href=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/federal-drive-with-tom-temin/id1270799277?mt=2″>Apple Podcasts</a> or <a href=”https://www.podcastone.com/federal-drive-with-tom-temin?pid=1753589″>PodcastOne</a>. The continuing resolution that Congress is debating is sort of like COVID. You know it’s coming, but how bad will it be? CRs can go for days or they can go for months. Last year’s went nearly halfway through the fiscal year. To find out how this one is shaping up, the <a href=”https://federalnewsnetwork.com/category/temin/tom-temin-federal-drive/”>Federal Drive with Tom Temin </a>talked with Loren Duggan, Bloomberg Government deputy news director. Tom Temin: Loren,…

Senate Dems ‘pushing to follow suit’ after House passes bill to block any future Schedule F

September 15, 2022 pushing, Suit, after, schedule, Senate, House, block, Future, Dems, Bill, Passes, Follow0 comment

The Preventing a Patronage System Act cleared the full House in a vote of 225-204, showcasing an effort to prevent the possible return of the Trump-era Schedule F executive order. The bill would prohibit future White House administrations from creating any new federal job classification without congressional approval, but the timing on the Senate’s version of the legislation remains uncertain. Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), introduced a companion bill in August and applauded the passage of the bill in the House on Sept. 15. The lawmakers added…