Congress continues to work on what amounts to an agenda for the lame duck session

Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Subscribe to Federal Drive’s daily audio interviews on Apple Podcasts or PodcastOne. The remaining days of the 117th Congress leave both chambers with a bit of an agenda. Perhaps topping the list for the Senate is keeping its record of passing Defense authorization bills by the end of the calendar year. To get an update on all this, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with Bloomberg Government deputy news director Loren Duggan. Interview transcript: Tom Temin: And now the lame duck is paddling away.…

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Bills, amendments linger in Congress with lasting implications for feds

Lawmakers have until Dec. 16, when the current continuing resolution expires, to pass the rest of the appropriations bills and fund the government next year, but it’s not the only item on the congressional to-do list with big implications for the federal workforce. Many of those additional items are included as amendments under the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2023. There are more than 1,000 amendments to the NDAA, and at least a handful of them have the potential to change the federal hiring process, federal benefits, retirement and…

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Biden Claims Congress ‘Passed’ His Student Loan Forgiveness Plan. It Didn’t.

President Joe Biden recently said Congress approved his plan to “forgive” student loan debt.   While talking with a group of young people at the White House during an on-camera interview published Sunday by NowThis News, Biden said he had “just signed a law” that would forgive $ 20,000 in student debt for Pell Grant recipients and $ 10,000 for all borrowers earning less than $ 125,000 a year.   “It’s passed. I got it passed by a vote or two, and it’s in effect,” Biden said.   Actually, Biden used executive action…

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Congress cares about one thing now and its not 2023 appropriations

Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Subscribe to Federal Drive’s daily audio interviews on Apple Podcasts or PodcastOne. Congress trucks back to Washington this week with only a few legislative days left before the end of the fiscal year. They’ll have to deal with government funding among other things. Here with the outlook Bloomberg Government deputy news director Loren Duggan, who talked to the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Interview transcript: Tom Temin:  Let’s begin with what’s the schedules precisely for the House and the Senate. Loren Duggan: Well,…

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Five federal workforce items on Congress’ to-do list

With the end of fiscal year 2022 approaching and a Sept. 30 deadline, Congress still has a lot on its plate to avoid a continuing resolution (CR), or potentially a government shutdown. Although some lawmakers have said a CR is already nearly inevitable, there are several key components on Congress’ to-do list when the House and Senate return from the August recess. Appropriations bills So far, the House passed six of its 12 spending bills for fiscal 2023 on July 20. Senate Democrats also released draft legislation for the 12…

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