Category: Congress

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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Revived bills would alter feds’ payment obligations during shutdowns, federal first responders’ pensions

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Lawmakers revived a host of bills this week that would impact the federal workforce, through changes to payments, retirement benefits and more. The Federal Employee Civil Relief Act, for one, would let federal employees and contractors postpone certain types of payments during government shutdowns, or if the government defaults on its debt. Specifically, feds would get a 30-day cushion, after a government shutdown ends, before they would have to make payments on loans and other types of financial obligations. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), who reintroduced the…

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White House $1.6B COVID fraud plan gives federal watchdogs increased staffing

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The Biden administration is asking Congress to give federal watchdogs and prosecutors more funding — and more time — to go after billions of dollars in COVID-19 spending lost to fraudsters. The White House is seeking $ 1.6 billion to help federal law enforcement and agency inspectors general handle a growing caseload of pandemic-related fraud claims. The spending request issued Thursday previews some of what the Biden administration will include in its fiscal 2024 budget proposal, which it expects to release next week. It also includes many of the recommendations…

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Sen. Markey calls for ‘glitchy asylum app’ to be shutdown at the border

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Another military services CIO is on the move. The Air Force has made it a trifecta of military service chief information officers heading out the door. Lauren Knausenberger joined her counterparts at the Army and the Department of the Navy in deciding now was the right time to leave. The Air Force confirmed Knausenberger will be departing in June after more than two years on the job. The Air Force hopes to have a new CIO in place before she leaves. Knausenberger’s decision comes just days after Navy CIO Aaron…

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This group says the federal government, for all the auctions, is still a spectrum hog

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A technology trade association is urging Congress to update the law that lets the [Federal Communications Commission (FCC)] auction off radio spectrum held by the government. In fact, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation basically said the government continues to hog much spectrum that could be more efficiently used by industry. For details,  Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with Joe Kane, ITIF’s Director of broadband and spectrum policy, Joe Kane. Interview transcript: Tom Temin It seems like we’ve been talking about spectrum for 25 years now. Joe Kane Yeah,…

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VBA sees automation tools as ‘game-changer’ to keep up with record workload

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The Department of Veterans Affairs broke a productivity record for processing benefits claims last year. But that’s just the start of what it needs to do. The VA needs to keep breaking new records for claims processed, if it hopes to keep pace with a workload surge under the burn-pit toxic exposure legislation signed into law last summer. The Veterans Benefits Administration completed a record high of 1.7 million total claims in fiscal 2022. VBA processed over 390,000 total claims for benefits in fiscal 2023 so far, about a 13%…

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