Sexual misconduct at Coast Guard is a fleet-wide problem, congressional probe finds

Coast Guard’s cultural failings around sexual misconduct are not limited to the service’s academy but extend to the entire service, a congressional probe has found. Nearly a year ago, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subpanel on investigations opened an inquiry into the Coast Guard’s mishandling of sexual assault and harassment cases at its prestigious Coast Guard Academy and the service’s failure to disclose those cases to Congress. The Coast Guard’s own investigation of sexual misconduct, dubbed Operation Fouled Anchor, concluded in 2020, but Congress didn’t learn…

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Dysfunction in Congress spoils the work life of congressional staff

Few workforces have been studied and dissected as much as that of the two million-strong executive branch of the federal government. There’s another smaller, if no less crucial workforce. It belongs to Congress. The latest research shows wide-and-deep dissatisfaction among congressional staff members. For details, the Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the President and CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation, Brad Fitch. Interview Transcript:  Tom Temin And you have surveyed members of the congressional staff. What is it? About 30,000 plus or minus. Tell us about the survey…

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Axios: MoveOn Endorses Summer Lee and Andy Kim in First Congressional Endorsements

Read the Axios story here and 2024 election memo here Washington, D.C. – Today, MoveOn Political Action announced its endorsements of Representative Summer Lee (PA-12) for reelection and Representative Andy Kim for the New Jersey U.S. Senate seat. These are the group’s first primary endorsements in 2024. As The New York Times reported in January, MoveOn launched its $ 32+ million 2024 election program to mobilize millions of young surge voters to protect our freedoms and our democracy from Donald Trump and MAGA extremists. MoveOn is focusing on working to…

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Whistleblower protection legislation stalls amid congressional chaos

Whistleblower protection legislation often has bipartisan support. Yet it seems to take forever. A bill to extend federal protections to contractors was supposed to get marked up in January in the House Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. But now it is sidelined. For more, the Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Joe Spielberger, the policy counsel at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO). Interview Transcript:  Tom Temin And this new bill, then is pretty significant. Let’s talk about the bill itself. What does it purport to do…

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Congressional repeal of Social Security’s ‘evil twins’ nears finish line

The possibility of repealing Social Security’s so-called ‘evil twins” is closer than ever to the finish line. There are now 303 House cosponsors on the Social Security Fairness Act. It is the second highest number of cosponsors on any pending bill in all of Congress. If enacted, the legislation would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). The two provisions reduce, and in some cases eliminate, Social Security benefits for certain federal retirees. The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) is urging the…

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