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…

Read More...

GOP senators seek IG review to see if SBA office space remains underutilized

Republicans on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee are calling for a watchdog review of the Small Business Administration’s office space use, over concerns its offices remain underutilized. In a letter to SBA’s inspector general, committee ranking member Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) led committee members Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) in asking the watchdog office for a report on SBA’s current office space utilization. “We request your office assess the SBA’s office space utilization as part of your role in providing independent, objective, and timely oversight of the…

Read More...

‘MORALLY REPREHENSIBLE’: Senators Rip FEMA on Poor Handling of Illegal Immigrant Travel

Key Senate Republicans blasted the Federal Emergency Management Agency for shoddy record-keeping regarding the transportation of illegal immigrants throughout the U.S.  FEMA distributes grants to nonprofit organizations for shelter and travel expenses for illegal immigrants, but last month informed The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project that it has no documentation about how that taxpayer money has been spent. (The Daily Signal is Heritage’s news and commentary outlet.) “It is becoming clearer every day that the Democrats’ open-border catastrophe is not only being orchestrated by the Biden administration, the American taxpayer is…

Read More...

The House approves a short-term extension to avoid a shutdown. Senators are up next to vote

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed another short-term spending measure Thursday that would keep one set of federal agencies operating through March 8 and another set through March 22, avoiding a shutdown for parts of the federal government that would otherwise kick in Saturday. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill later in the day. The short-term extension is the fourth in recent months, and many lawmakers expect it to be the last for the current fiscal year, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said that negotiators had…

Read More...

Senators move to financially protect contractors during government shutdowns

“Continuous vetting” is no longer just for employees in national security positions. More federal employees, many of whom are in policymaking, public safety and health and law enforcement roles, will soon be subject to background checks at any given time. The Office of Personnel Management is directing all agencies to start making preparations to change vetting procedures for what are called “non-sensitive public trust positions.” The goal is to enroll all feds in both high-and moderate-risk categories into the government’s continuous vetting program by next October. ( ‘Continuous vetting’ procedures…

Read More...

Biden meets with bipartisan group of senators to discuss Ukraine

President Biden on Wednesday met virtually with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss Russia’s military buildup along the Ukraine border, the White House said. “President Biden and the senators exchanged views on the best ways the United States can continue to work closely with our allies and partners in … The Washington Times stories: White House

Read More...