Senators delay federal telework bill to consider adding work-from-home supervision

A few senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee are digging in their heels on a federal telework bill, calling for more “accountability” of teleworking employees governmentwide. On a list of bills HSGAC considered for advancement Wednesday morning, the Telework Transparency Act aims to paint a clearer picture of telework across agencies. But during the committee’s consideration of the legislation, more questions than answers came up among members. There appeared to be at least some agreement among committee members on the intent of the legislation, but pushback from several…

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Biden’s Weakness With Young Voters Isn’t About Gaza

Sign up for The Decision, a newsletter featuring our 2024 election coverage. America’s young voters are fired up about the war in Gaza—aren’t they? Campus protests and the controversies around them have dominated media attention for weeks. So has the possibility that youth anger about the war will cost President Joe Biden the election. “Joe Biden Is Losing Young Voters Over Israel,” a USA Today headline declared last month. The New York Times columnist Thomas B. Edsall recently argued that nothing would help Biden more with young voters than negotiating…

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How I Rediscovered My Love of Acting on the Set of ‘Reagan’

When I was offered the role of Ronald Reagan’s longtime confidant Edwin Meese in the upcoming film “Reagan,” playing opposite Dennis Quaid as the 40th president, I was excited. I asked our producer, Mark Joseph, if it would be all right if I reached out to Meese and he replied, “We can set that up.” I was pleasantly surprised and immediately started to prepare my questions for the interview. The outcome was that Reagan’s former counselor and U.S. attorney general spent an hour with me on a Zoom session. His insights were helpful and as I…

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MoveOn Statement On Kennedy Jr. Not Qualifying for the Debate Stage

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s attempts to make his way onto the presidential debate stage despite having no path to 270 electoral votes, MoveOn Political Action Chief Communications Officer Joel Payne released the following statement:  “Presidential debates are reserved for candidates who actually have a chance to win, not candidates who have no path to 270 Electoral College votes. Kennedy Jr. will just have to find another venue to spew his conspiracy theories and outline his latest extreme anti-abortion position.” As CNN’s debate qualifying standards…

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Senate bill would require feds to increase the amount of time they spend in the office

A pair of senators is looking to get feds back to the office even more. If enacted, the Back to Work Act would require federal employees to spend 60% of their work hours in the office. It would mean a slight increase from the current in-person policy at many agencies, right now at about 50% in-the-office. Lawmakers say the bill is a way to address federal office space concerns, while still allowing for *some telework flexibility. Under the legislation, agencies would also have to monitor teleworking employees. They’d also have…

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