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Congress investigating whether companies are profiting off veterans disability claims backlog

July 17, 2022 backlog, Congress, Companies, Claims, veterans, disability, whether, Investigating, profiting0 comment

Members of Congress are investigating whether third-party records companies are profiting from a pandemic-induced backlog of veterans disability claims. The National Archives and Records Administration has been trying to speed up records requests to process the claims but to no avail, impeding veterans’ access to essential services like health care and housing. Today, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.) and member Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) sent letters to veteran records retrieval companies including DD214 Direct, Aardvark Research Group and Angels Research. The letters state the committee…

Members of Congress want FDA to develop guidance avoiding animal testing

July 9, 2022 Guidance, Congress, want, members, Animal, Testing, develop, Avoiding0 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>. Members of Congress continue their interest in seeing the curtailment of animal testing for drugs and cosmetics. Now some members are urging the Food and Drug Administration to develop guidance for industry on how to avoid animal testing for products requiring FDA approval. For more, Nevada Rep. Dina Titus (D) joined the <a href=”https://federalnewsnetwork.com/category/temin/tom-temin-federal-drive/”>Federal Drive with Tom Temin</a>. Interview transcript: <blockquote>Tom Temin: Congresswoman Titus, good to have you back. Dina Titus:…

New obstacles emerge to any hope of Congress getting a budget in time for fiscal 2023

July 5, 2022 obstacles, Emerge, 2023, Congress, budget, fiscal, Getting, Time, Hope0 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>. China can’t do anything to prevent Congress from passing a budget on time for 2023. But the China competitiveness bill could do just that. With the year-end just three months away now, legislative arguments over the bill threaten budget talks. For how, the <a href=”https://federalnewsnetwork.com/category/temin/tom-temin-federal-drive/”>Federal Drive with Tom Temin</a> turns to WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller. Interview transcript: <blockquote>Tom Temin: Mitchell, what is going on with the China bill and the…

This legislation would turn Veterans Affairs whistleblower policy into law

July 1, 2022 Legislation, turn, Affairs, 'whistleblower', Policy, would, into, This, veterans0 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>. In an agency as large as Veterans Affairs, with a third of a million employees, there is no shortage of things to go wrong. Often it’s whistleblowers that point them out, often to the Office of Inspector General. Now a bipartisan bill that passed the House would ensure continuance of a policy that every VA employee received training by the OIG to learn how to report alleged wrongdoing. For more…

What the House appropriations bill means for a federal pay raise

June 27, 2022 federal, Bill, Means, Appropriations, raise, House0 comment

House appropriators have aligned with President Joe Biden’s proposed 4.6% federal pay raise. The fiscal 2023 financial services and general government bill, which the House Appropriations Committee advanced on June 24 in a vote of 31 to 22, makes no mention of the pay raise proposal for federal employees. Similar to their silence last year, House appropriators’ lack of comment on the federal pay raise essentially endorses the White House’s 4.6% proposal from March’s budget request. In 2022, federal employees received a pay raise of 2.7% on average. Military service…

Three things to watch in the House 2023 NDAA

June 23, 2022 things, House, three, Watch, NDAA, 20230 comment

The House Armed Services Committee is largely sticking with the Biden vision for the Defense Department next year, however, the 2023 Defense authorization bill still has a long way to go before it makes its way to the president’s desk. The committee will markup the bill on Wednesday in its usual marathon fashion, bringing the full panel together for hours of debate and dozens of amendments. Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said Monday that he has faith in the bipartisan nature of the bill, which has eventually make it…