• Teleworking DoD employees are once again a target in the latest spending legislation from House appropriators. A policy rider in the fiscal 2025 defense spending bill would block any funding from going toward the costs of teleworking or remote working for defense employees and contractors. The GOP-led appropriations committee advanced the spending bill last week. The telework measure, however, may be unlikely to make it into the final appropriations package for fiscal 2025. Democrats, with a Senate majority, have remained largely in favor of federal telework. They say it fosters better workforce recruitment and retention.
  (Fiscal 2025 Department of Defense appropriations bill - House Appropriations Committee)
• Early signs are pointing in the right direction after some recent federal workforce reforms. The Office of Personnel Management’s initiatives over the last couple of years have included banning the use of salary history in hiring, creating a portal for internship openings and broadening eligibility for the Pathways Program. Larger impacts of those changes are likely still further down the road. But there are already some initially positive indications, especially for early-career recruitment: “It’s going to take a little more time. I do think what we’re seeing, though, is a renewed and increased interest in federal job opportunities by early-career talent,” OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver said.
  (Early-career federal job openings seeing ‘renewed and increased’ interest, OPM’s Shriver says - Federal News Network)
• The Energy Department wants to secure the future electric grid from cyber threats. Energy’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response (CESER) is working to set security expectations for using the cloud. Later this year, the CESER office will convene with big cloud service providers and the clean-energy sector to collaborate on cybersecurity requirements. The discussion comes amid growing threats to critical infrastructure, including the energy grid. Many renewable energy operators are relying on cloud computing for critical services.
  (Energy working with renewables industry, cloud providers on cyber requirements - Federal News Network)
• The Department of Veterans Affairs is looking to keep aging and disabled vets living independently. The VA is looking at how smart-home technologies and wearables like smartwatches can flag when aging and disabled veterans are having a medical emergency in their homes. Joseph Ronzio, VA’s deputy chief health technology officer, said the department is also taking steps to ensure veterans have a say as to who gets this data, and how it may be used. “Everyone nowadays has some smartness in their home, whether it’s a speaker, whether it’s light switches, whether it’s different types of lights or other physical devices — cameras, motion detectors that leave a digital service," Ronzio said.
  (VA looking at ‘smart home’ tech to keep aging, disabled vets living independently - Federal News Network)
• The Army has taken over the role of the Combatant Command Support Agent for U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM). The Department of the Air Force has served in this role since 2017. The shift mainly happened because the primary location of CYBERCOM operations is at Fort Meade in Maryland, where the Army has a significant presence. About 350 Air Force civilian employees in U.S. Cyber Command became Army civilians as part of the reshuffle. The Army will now provide administrative and logistical support to CYBERCOM. Congress mandated the transition as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
  (Army becomes combatant command support agent for CYBERCOM - U.S. Army)
• The Defense Department has signed a $248 million deal with Duke Energy to deliver solar power to five military bases in the Carolinas over the next 15 years. The power will come from two newly-built solar arrays in South Carolina, and DoD has agreed to buy all the electricity those facilities can generate. Defense officials said the project helps meet the government’s energy sustainability goals, and – in combination with on-base microgrids – makes the five bases more resilient against disruptions to off-site power supplies.
  (DoD Announces Two Solar Projects to Supply Five Military Installations in the Carolinas With Clean Energy - Department of Defense)
• Three more agencies are getting nearly $30 million to accelerate their IT modernization projects. The governmentwide Technology Modernization Fund is granting $17 million to the Energy Department to update its human resources IT systems. The fund is also backing a Bureau of Indian Education project to modernize school websites for tribal communities. The Federal Election Commission is also getting funding to improve online services for political campaign filers.
  (Technology Modernization Fund announces investments to modernize tribal school websites, campaign finance software, federal HR system - General Services Administration)
• The Department of Transportation (DOT) is drafting a new cybersecurity strategy. Transportation officials told the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that the agency will finalize the plan by September. GAO said DOT needs a strong cyber risk management plan to address threats to its data and systems. The congressional auditor is also urging Transportation officials to take a closer look at their cyber workforce needs.
  (Priority open recommendations for Transportation Department - Government Accountability Office )
• The Space Force’s first chief technology and innovation officer, Lisa Costa, has officially retired from federal service. At the Space Force, Costa was responsible for developing strategies and policies that advanced science and technology efforts across the service. She also spearheaded the Unified Data Library project, a repository that collects space situational awareness data from military and commercial sources. Prior to her current role, she served as the chief information officer at U.S. Special Operations Command. There is no information yet as to where Costa will be working next.
  (Space Force’s chief technology and innovation officer retires from government service - LinkedIn)

The post Teleworking DoD employees targeted by House spending bill first appeared on Federal News Network.

OPM’s initiatives over the last couple years, such as banning the consideration of salary history, creating a job portal for internship openings, and broadening eligibility for paid internships through the Pathways Program, all aim to open the doors to more candidates and make the hiring process more equitable.

Even though the larger impacts of those changes are likely still further down the road, OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver said signs are pointing in the right direction, especially for OPM’s efforts centered on improving recruitment and retention of younger employees.

“I do think what we’re seeing is a renewed and increased interest in federal job opportunities by early-career talent,” Shriver told Federal News Network Tuesday during an event for federal interns hosted at OPM’s headquarters office.

Tuesday’s event was part of OPM’s intern experience program, now in its second year, which offers resources and hosts events for federal interns interested in pursuing a career in public service. The program aims to support early-career federal recruitment and retention overall. It’s also a step toward revitalizing the federal internship program, which has struggled for years.

Early-career numbers appear to be trending in a positive direction. Data from the Office of Management and Budget shows that between fiscal 2022 and 2023, the number of federal interns increased by 33%. There’s also been a recent uptick in the number of federal employees under age 30.

As part of the intern experience program, OPM hosted a panel Tuesday with senior leaders from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Department of Health and Human Services and Small Business Administration. Dozens of federal interns attended the event in person, with many more joining virtually to listen to the conversation.

“Events like these I think really help foster that engagement, that cohort spirit,” Shriver said after the panel.

Altering the Pathways Program

In another push toward better early-career recruitment, OPM is also now focused on helping agencies update their internal use of the Pathways Program, after finalizing new regulations in April. The recent updates to Pathways aim open the doors to more diverse applicants and alleviate some challenges agencies have historically had with the program.

The Pathways Program changes will still take a while to fully get off the ground, but Shriver said OPM is already working with agency HR offices as they iron out some of the early wrinkles to adjust their agency-specific programs and align with the new regulations.

“There’s a lot of stuff in there that is new for them to figure out, including the types of programs that now qualify — not only community colleges, but technical skills programs,” Shriver said. “Also the fact that now there’s a streamlined pathway to entry for registered apprentices, for people who participated in Job Corps, or [AmeriCorps] VISTA volunteers. [We are] making sure that not only central HR, but HR out in the field, are understanding these new flexibilities.”

That work to help HR offices and other Pathways Program leaders at agencies also involves collaborating with chief human capital officers, hosting informational webinars and educating colleges about the opportunities now possible for a broader swath of candidates, Shriver said. Additionally, OPM is working with agency HR departments to participate in job fairs, reach out to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and meet face to face with potential federal talent.

Just this week, OPM also met with other agencies to discuss its program, “Level Up to Public Service,” which focuses on expanding awareness around public service careers through partnerships with K-12 institutions and universities. The program particularly targets recruitment of individuals with disabilities who may be interested in pursuing federal employment.

“We’re getting a lot of really engaged people that are considering the federal government for a career. They’re asking smart questions, they’re navigating the hiring process, and so I think that our efforts to reach out and engage early-career talent are paying off,” Shriver said. “It’s just a matter of time, with these new tools that we put in place, before we’re going to start seeing that impact.”

Agency-specific targets for early-career talent

Senior leaders like Sara Bronin, chairwoman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, said early-career employees and interns often bring new and different ideas to her agency.

“The nature of people in preservation is that we always want to keep things the way they are — that’s in some ways the definition of preservation,” Bronin told Federal News Network at OPM’s event Tuesday. “But a field like ours needs fresh perspectives.”

Because of the desire for those broader perspectives, Bronin said her office focuses significantly on early-career talent in both recruitment and development.

“I really try to help interns and early-career professionals understand the big picture, why we are doing something and what their specific contributions can add to that effort,” she said. “For managers, it’s really important to provide the context to arm interns and early-career professionals with information and to connect them with others in the field who can help enhance their understanding of what they’re doing — not just in the internship, but in how they might approach work beyond just their specific internship.”

Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency is aiming to double their number of federal interns by the end of this summer, according to Performance.gov.

Kimberly Patrick, EPA’s principal deputy assistant administrator for mission support, said while the agency is expanding its onboarding process to offer a full year of resources to new employees, that onboarding will also extend to all of the agency’s interns.

“We want to make this place as attractive as possible for our interns, so caring for them as well, as a part of that umbrella, is something that we’re looking to do, especially as we increased considerably the number of paid interns we’re having at the agency this year,” Patrick said at a June 6 GovExec event.

Alongside managing the intern experience program and other early-career talent efforts, OPM is also planning to create a governmentwide mentoring program for interns in the coming months.

“We talk about it a whole lot — how can we make the government a more attractive employer? What are the obstacles to bringing in early-career talent? And how can we be more competitive as agencies with the other opportunities that you all have?” Shriver said to the interns who attended OPM’s panel Tuesday. “We want to make sure you hear that message from us loud and clear.”

The post Early-career federal job openings seeing ‘renewed and increased’ interest, OPM’s Shriver says first appeared on Federal News Network.

Some forward-thinkers are already challenging the status quo, from Trump’s 2020 executive order prioritizing skills over degrees to the Office of Personnel Management guidance to the recent introduction of the bipartisan ACCESS Act in Congress. It’s clear that change is on the horizon.

So let’s look at the top three reasons non-graduates are uniquely positioned to help government agencies bridge the tech skills gap:

1. Driving innovation through diverse experiences

Non-graduates often enter the tech industry through unconventional paths — rigorous apprenticeships, self-directed learning or honing their skills in entirely different fields. This diversity of experience is a powerful asset for driving innovation and breaking free from the Einstellung Effect that can plague government problem-solving.

These individuals bring a unique blend of hands-on knowledge and theoretical understanding, enabling them to develop creative solutions that can revolutionize public service delivery. In an environment where overcoming entrenched thinking is crucial, non-graduates’ fresh perspectives can be the key to pushing technological boundaries and reimagining what’s possible.

2. Thriving in the face of rapid technological change

The breakneck pace of technological change demands a workforce that can adapt on the fly — a strength many non-graduates possess in spades. Their self-directed learning experiences and ability to quickly master new skills make them invaluable in the ever-shifting government tech landscape.

Non-graduates’ resilience, born from navigating challenges without the traditional support of academia, is a critical asset in an environment where policies, technologies and public needs are constantly evolving. Their agility ensures that government agencies can stay responsive and effective, no matter what technological curveballs come their way.

3. Expanding access to talent and driving cost-efficiency

By prioritizing skills over degrees, government agencies can significantly expand their talent pool and tap into a wealth of often-overlooked candidates. This approach not only promotes greater inclusivity but also offers substantial financial benefits.

Non-graduates often command lower starting salaries than their degree-holding counterparts, a significant consideration in budget-conscious public sectors. Moreover, by focusing on skills and performance, agencies can foster a more competitive and dynamic workforce where employees are motivated to excel based on real-world contributions rather than just their educational pedigree.

Embracing non-graduates in government tech roles represents a bold step towards a more agile, innovative and cost-effective public sector. By valuing diverse experiences, adaptability and practical skills, agencies can enrich their workforce and elevate their service to the public.

However, successfully integrating non-graduates requires more than just a change in hiring practices. Robust tools which align roles with AI-driven skill assessments and targeted microlearning, while ensuring leaders have actionable data-driven insights from skills analytics are essential for ensuring that all team members can thrive in this new paradigm.

As technology continues to evolve exponentially, our hiring practices must keep up. We need to shake up the status quo and build a government workforce ready to tackle tomorrow’s technological challenges.

Tony Holmes is Practice Lead for Solutions Architects Public Sector at Pluralsight.

The post The top 3 reasons the federal government should embrace non-graduates to bridge the tech skills gap first appeared on Federal News Network.

• The spending bill to support the funding for the rest of the government is facing a 25% cut. House appropriators passed the Financial Services and General Government 2025 spending bill yesterday and it is 20% below the administration's request and 10% below this year's enacted levels. But Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the reductions, especially those to the IRS of some $2 billion, will have a much bigger effect than any one agency's budget. "This bill funds every other bill you are going to consider or it funds paying the almost $900 billion to the debt." Hoyer said the cuts also mean federal workers could face hiring freezes, furloughs or layoffs, which will impact the services to citizens.
  (Markup Fiscal Year 2025 - House Appropriations Committee)
• A new report by the research organization RAND found that the majority of federal funding to assist military-to-civilian employment transitions goes toward educational benefits rather than helping service members and veterans find work. In 2019, four programs, including the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill and DoD's Tuition Assistance Program, accounted for $13.5 billion out of $14.3 billion in total. Meanwhile, the DoD's Transition Assistance Program received $140 million in funding. But there is not enough evidence to support that federally funded employment transition programs are effective. The study also found that military-to-civilian transition programs have limited oversight.
  (Military-to-civilian transition programs focus on education rather than employment - RAND)
• The Department of Veterans Affairs is staying the course on plans to roll out a new Electronic Health Record. The VA extended its contract with Oracle-Cerner for another 11 months. Both parties agree to come back to the negotiating table each year to renew the multi-billion-dollar contract. The VA and Oracle-Cerner approved a one-month extension in May to continue contract talks. The Defense Department is done with its deployment of the same EHR. But only six VA sites are using it and further rollouts are on hold, as the VA addresses problems at those sites. The VA said it plans to resume go-lives in fiscal 2025.
  (VA awards second option period to Oracle Health in support of Federal Electronic Health Record modernization contract - Department of Veterans Affairs )
• A bill looking to expand fertility treatment coverage in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program has failed to advance to a floor vote. Senate Republicans effectively blocked the Right to IVF Act Thursday afternoon. The legislation, which Democrats introduced last week, did not reach the 60-vote threshold to advance to a floor vote. If passed, the bill would in part increase requirements for carriers in the FEHB program to provide more fertility treatment coverage to enrollees. Even after the bill failed, advocacy groups are calling on the Office of Personnel Management to take it upon itself to make the changes. They want OPM to heighten requirements for FEHB carriers to further cover in-vitro fertilization (IVF) — both medications and treatments.
  (Senate GOP blocks bill to expand IVF access as advocates call for better FEHB coverage - Federal News Network)
• The White House joins a chorus of opposition, including that of Army leadership, to the idea of creating a separate Army drone branch. The White House Office of Management and Budget said creating a separate drone corps will limit the service’s flexibility to deploy drone technology at scale. OMB also said the Army secretary already has the power to create new branches within the service and that creating a separate drone branch through legislation will hinder the Army’s ability to address current and future requirements.
  (White House joins chorus of opposition to Army drone branch idea - White House)
• Oversight processes at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission need some work, according to the Government Accountability Office. Agencies are responsible for managing their own EEO programs for federal workers. But GAO said the commission’s system for tracking those programs does not have guardrails for clearly identifying issues, or making sure decisions are timely. A lack of oversight can lead to challenges in figuring out whether agencies are EEO-compliant. GAO’s new report shows, for instance, that 16 agencies did not have anti-harassment policies in place. The EEOC said its working on enhancing and modernizing its oversight processes.
  (EEOC: Improved oversight processes needed to help agencies address deficiencies - Government Accountability Office)
• A major change to the General Services Administration's schedules program will make it easier for agencies to buy software more like the private sector. GSA will now let agencies pay upfront for software licenses through the schedules program. This change is specifically aimed at making it easier for agencies to buy cloud services, which has been hampered by the Advance Payment Statute, which originated in 1823. The interpretation of the statue required agencies to pay for services in the arrears. The update comes after GSA conducted research and gathered input from agency buyers and vendors last summer.
  (GSA updates rules for buying SaaS off the schedule program - GSA)
• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is one step closer to getting new leadership. President Joe Biden nominated Christy Goldsmith Romero, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to lead the FDIC. The current FDIC Chairman says he will step down as soon as a successor is confirmed. An independent report commissioned by the FDIC recently substantiated claims of a toxic workplace culture.
  (Nominations sent to the Senate - White House)

The post Rep. Hoyer warns of ‘freezes, furloughs, layoffs’ first appeared on Federal News Network.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation leaders say employees are suffering from low morale, and that the agency is facing long-term recruitment challenges, as it deals with reports of a toxic workplace environment.

Officials overseeing reforms at FDIC told members of the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday that the agency needs a “fresh start,” after an independent investigation substantiated claims of a toxic workplace.

Jonathan McKernan, co-chair of a special committee FDIC created to oversee an independent review of the agency’s workplace culture, said FDIC employees are “exhausted and distracted,” and face a “significant headwind” to do their jobs.

“We need a fresh start sooner rather than later. That’s important to establish credibility. It’s important to bring in someone that has a moral authority to really push change. And it’s important that we have clean hands to deal with our legacy issues,” McKernan said.

Lawmakers, however, are casting doubts on FDIC’s ability to implement workplace reforms with FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg remaining on the job.

Gruenberg said last month he’ll stay at FDIC until the Senate confirms his successor. But Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is calling on President Joe Biden to fire him immediately, and allow an acting chairperson to take over.

“There’s a clear succession plan in place. The agency’s operations would continue unabated if you rightfully stepped down today,” McHenry said.

Gruenberg has held leadership positions at FDIC for nearly 20 years.

An independent report into FDIC’s workplace culture said Gruenberg’s longstanding tenure at the agency “may hinder his ability to establish trust and confidence in leading meaningful culture change.”

“For these challenges to be overcome, there must at least be a genuine and sustained commitment to lead a culture change, accompanied by a recognition and acknowledgement that such change is necessary because of failings of the past, including his own,” the report states.

FDIC created a special committee to oversee an independent review of FDIC’s workplace culture, following several reports in the Wall Street Journal in November 2023.

Last month, FDIC publicly released a report led by the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

The report includes cases of stalking, harassment, homophobia and other violations of employment regulations, based on more than 500 complaints from employees.

According to the Associated Press, an FDIC employee told investigators she was stalked by a coworker and faced harassment, even after complaining about his behavior.

The report also mentions a supervisor in a field office referring to gay men as “little girls,” and a female field examiner who said she received pictures of a senior examiner’s private parts.

Michael Hsu, co-chair of FDIC’s special committee, said the report found Gruenberg was “not cited as a root cause” of the FDIC’s problems.

Joon Kim, a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, said women and minorities working at FDIC were more often the targets of misconduct in a workplace that he described as “patriarchal or insular.”

McKernan said the report demonstrated biases “in favor of the male workforce.”

The White House says Gruenberg will step down once a successor is appointed and that President Joe Biden will name a replacement soon.

Biden has yet to submit a new nominee to lead FDIC, but several lawmakers said Wednesday that Biden intends to nominate Christy Goldsmith Romero, commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to serve as FDIC chairwoman.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday that she had no update on Biden’s nominee.

“We understand how important it is to have an FDIC chair in place. So we’re going to certainly stay laser-focused on getting that done,” Jean-Pierre said.

With an unclear timeline of when FDIC would get a new permanent leader,
McKernan told lawmakers he’s “not particularly optimistic we’ll see accountability soon.”

“I think there’s a real question here, that we at the board need to consider, during this interim when we’re waiting for a new chair or we’re waiting for the current chair to resign, and have the acting chair. I think the board needs to take a more active role here and I have been pushing for that,” he said.

‘Morale is bad’

FDIC currently ranks 25 out of 26 midsize agencies on the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government scorecard tracked by the Partnership for Public Service.

“Morale is bad,” McKernan said. “We were near the top for quite some time. I think it’s fair to say that staff have seen no real accountability, so it’s hard to see much commitment to change, absent that accountability. I think it’s fair to say that there’s a lot of skepticism, even cynicism about prospects at the FDIC.”

McKernan described flagging morale within FDIC’s workforce, and that the agency faces recruitment and retention challenges.

“I think also going forward longer term, the state of affairs at the FDIC, if not fixed are going to be a real problem for retention and recruitment of new staff and that will be fatal to our ability to achieve our mission if we can’t fix that,” he said.

FDIC is dealing with these persistent workforce issues amid a growing workload. The agency reported last month that 63 banks are on the brink of insolvency.

“Distraction certainly does not help,” McKernan said.

Kim said a hotline that third-party investigators received over 500 calls from individuals, “emotionally recounting experiences of sexual harassment, discrimination, and other interpersonal misconduct that they had suffered at the FCIC.”

“Those who reported incidents to us expressed fear, sadness and anger at what they had to endure. Many had never reported their experiences to anyone before, while others had reported internally and had been left disappointed by the FDIC’s response,” Kim said. “Virtually all of them expressed hope that reporting what they had gone through to us might help change and make better the agency that they cared about deeply.”

Kim told lawmakers that FDIC’s workplace culture issues were longstanding and “have spanned for many years across different chairs.”

Abena Mainoo, a partner at the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, said that FDIC received 92 harassment complaints between 2015 and 2023, but that those complaints only led to suspensions in two cases.

“We found that far too many employees, and for too long, the FDIC has failed to provide a workplace safe from sexual harassment, discrimination and other interpersonal misconduct,” Mainoo said. “We also found that a patriarchal, hierarchic and insular culture helped create the conditions that allowed such misconduct to occur and persist.”

‘Broken’ internal reporting

Among FDIC’s plans for reform, Hsu said the agency is addressing employees’ fear of retaliation, implementing structural changes, and ensuring the board and senior management are held accountable “for doing what’s necessary to make the FDIC a safe and inclusive workplace.”

“The employees of the FDIC need and deserve a safe and inclusive workplace and they need it now,” Hsu said.

Hsu said the FDIC is in the process of replacing a “broken” internal processing for responding to reports of harassment. The new structure will bypass management hierarchies and instead redirect complaints to third-party investigators.

Hsu said FDIC is also hiring an independent “transformation monitor” to hold the agency accountable for following through on its plans to reform the agency.

An inspector general survey of FDIC employees in 2019 found that 8% of respondents said they experienced sexual harassment at the agency between January 2015 and April 2018.

However, FDIC’s Corporate Human Resources Information System (CHRIS) documented only two cases of sexual harassment and only seven cases of sexual harassment between 2008 and 2021.

Mainoo said the investigation found “no reason to believe the CHRIS database was complete.”

Since the report’s release, FDIC’s human resources office has launched a system that tracks different types of interpersonal misconduct.

“It allows the FDIC to identify sexual harassment, for example, compared to a hostile work environment, and also identifies whether misconduct falls under FDIC’s anti-harassment program, which the records before did not do,” Mainoo said.

The post ‘Morale is bad’ across FDIC workforce after reports of toxic workplace culture first appeared on Federal News Network.

Colleen Heller-Stein, formerly deputy CHCO at the Treasury Department, has stepped in as executive director of the CHCO Council, Federal News Network has learned. The senior-level position within the Office of Personnel Management leads agency CHCOs and other human capital leaders to innovate on best practices for managing the recruitment and retention of the federal workforce.

Heller-Stein is the first career federal executive to serve in the CHCO Council leadership role. She took over the position a few weeks ago from Latonia Page, who had been working as acting executive director of the CHCO Council since September 2023. Prior to Page’s time on the job, Margot Conrad — currently deputy chief of staff at OPM — served as the council’s executive director for about two and a half years.

Before taking on the role of leading the CHCO Council, Heller-Stein worked for 14 years at the Treasury Department. In addition to her experience as Treasury’s deputy CHCO, she previously served as the agency’s director of HR, as well as taking on a one-and-a-half-year stint as acting Treasury CHCO. Before moving to Treasury, Heller-Stein held various other roles in state and federal government, including working at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Government Publishing Office and Department of Veterans Affairs.

“As the former deputy CHCO and acting CHCO of a large, cabinet-level agency, I recognize the important role of the council as a collaborative resource and connective tissue for the largest and most complex workforce in the country,” Heller-Stein said in a statement to Federal News Network. “I look forward to working alongside human capital leaders across the federal government to support and strengthen the federal workforce.”

The CHCO Council, composed of federal human capital leaders from many major agencies, has been around now for more than 21 years. The council routinely convenes the senior leaders across government to discuss trends and strategies for improving the federal workforce through recruitment, retention and more. In May 2023, the council celebrated its 20th anniversary during a ceremony at OPM headquarters in Washington, D.C.

In recent years, the CHCO Council has focused on replicating and scaling up promising practices in agency recruitment and retention, including pooled hiring, shared certificates, skills-based recruitment and reducing time-to-hire for prospective job candidates.

The post Treasury’s Heller-Stein stepping in to lead the CHCO Council first appeared on Federal News Network.

Some agencies have been piloting neurodiversity initiatives in recent years, but the entire federal government now has a playbook to help find talent and create opportunities for people with autism and other neurodivergent conditions.

In May, the University of Washington, MITRE and DC-based nonprofit Melwood released the Neurodiversity@Work Playbook: Federal Edition. Teresa Thomas, MITRE’s program lead for neurodiverse talent enablement, said the playbook should help federal agencies with questions about how to establish workforce practices that embrace neurodiversity.

“It is a tool for agencies that really want to think through neuro-inclusion in a systemic sort of way,” Thomas said in an interview. “And to give them the tools that they need to know what to ask, to know who [and] to ask to know where to go. And to remind them of the things they need to not forget.”

The authors of the playbook also say agencies can help fill workforce gaps by adopting more inclusive hiring practices. Scott Gibson, Melwood’s chief strategy officer, said that the federal workforce is getting older. And federal agencies are struggling to recruit talent, particularly in technical areas like cybersecurity.

“I want everybody to embrace the moral imperatives of the playbook and the desire for a more inclusive world, but in practical terms, I want our government to recognize that this is really a good government imperative,” Gibson told Federal News Network. “We have to start taking bold action if we want to solve these challenges.”

Hala Annabi, an associate professior in the University of Washington Information School, authored the original “Autism@Work Playbook” released in 2019. She said the federal government is positioned to drive better neurodiversity practices across the country.

“The federal government is the largest employer in the U.S.,” Annabi said in a Q&A posted on the University of Washington’s website. “Imagine creating effective pathways and several employment models that work. If we continue to build models and pathways within the largest employer and adapt them across all federal agencies, imagine the potential for employment opportunities. So that’s one. It can open doors for employing this grossly underserved community of neurodivergent people.”

“Neurodiversity” is an umbrella term that broadly refers to differences in brain functioning. Autism, attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder, and dyslexia are among the most common examples of “neurodivergent” conditions.

Neurodivergent individuals make up a growing segment of the workforce, but many are unemployed or underemployed due to barriers in traditional recruitment and selection processes, according to the playbook. For example, neurodivergent candidates can be overlooked during the interview process due to “differences in how the candidate communicates, interacts socially, processes information, or moves their body,” the guide explains.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency became the first federal agency to launch a neurodiversity pilot in late 2020. NGA is now building on the pilot program with plans to hire a new cohort of neurodivergent individuals this year. The agency is also embedding its neurodiversity efforts more broadly into its persons with disabilities program.

Thomas said the playbook is informed by NGA’s experience, as well as an ongoing pilot at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

“Especially the things those agencies had to navigate to get there in the first place – what kind of questions were being asked of them? What kind of things did they have to think through? What kind of problems were they going to have to overcome? Who do they need to champion? How did they get that support that they needed?” Thomas said.

Early on, NGA and other pilot agencies have faced questions about the funding necessary to set up a program, as well as the legality of neurodiverse hiring efforts.

The 106-page playbook helps agencies address those questions. It takes them through the multiple stages of a neurodiversity program, from planning and developing the business case, through interviews, training, onboarding, and retention practices.

“I think another question that it answers that people don’t often think to ask is, where does this go? What are we aiming at?” Thomas added. “Because we can get really hyper focused on the shiny box, on the little pilot that we can all point to, which is great, really important tool, because it makes things happen. But we just think about getting that program built. And we don’t think about, what does this mean for organization systemically? How does this change who we are? How does this become something we don’t have to think about down the road? It’s just part of the way we do things.”

A key practice emphasized throughout the playbook is engaging the neurodiverse individuals who are already working at the agency. Gibson said NGA saw success in having its existing neurodivergent employees help lead the establishment of the pilot.

“It wasn’t the recruitment office looking to solve a challenge,” Gibson said. “People who raised their hand and were willing to volunteer that they were neuro distinct, had a say in how that program was able to be developed. They were also able to raise issues of concern that they were facing within the workforce. So I start there as a best practice. You’ve got to listen to your existing employees. We know that neurodivergent individuals exist within the federal workforce.”

The post Federal neurodiversity playbook pushes inclusive hiring, retention practices first appeared on Federal News Network.

As House appropriators outline plans to make steep government spending cuts for fiscal 2025, Democrats are warning that reduced agency budgets would lead to federal employee layoffs, and by extension, worsening federal services.

The fiscal 2025 financial services and general government appropriations bill is now heading to the full appropriations committee for consideration. Members of the GOP-led House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee advanced the legislation — along party lines and without amendments — during a markup Wednesday morning.

But Democrat subcommittee members opposed to the spending cuts said they’re concerned about the ability of the relatively small agencies included in that specific appropriations bill to handle large budget cuts.

“Our agencies often have smaller budgets, and thus less flexibility to deal with the cuts,” Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Wednesday during the subcommittee’s markup of the legislation. “Larger agencies under the jurisdiction of other subcommittees can scale back grant programs and shift funding around to make ends meet. It’s tough, and perhaps may not be appropriate, but it is easier than this bill.”

Hoyer warned that the House GOP bill, as is, would leave many agencies with no choice but to implement staff reductions to make ends meet.

“Our agencies have to lay off staff, severely undermining their ability to function at the most basic levels,” Hoyer said. “That has direct consequences on the American people.”

Under the 2024 enacted budget, which included significant spending cuts, some agencies are already limiting new hires and in some cases considering plans to reduce their workforces. The State Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs, for example, are looking to make staffing cuts in the Foreign Service and the VA health care workforce.

The House appropriations legislation comes in stark contrast to the White House budget request proposed in March. House Republicans proposed a discretionary spending allocation totaling $23.6 billion, which is close to 20% below the Biden administration’s request. The bill would cut spending to 10% below the enacted level for 2024.

Subcommittee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) called the spending levels and several GOP policy riders “unacceptable.”

That steep of a budget cut, Hoyer added, “belies the importance of the agencies for which we appropriate money.”

For the government’s lead agency on all things workforce, House Republicans’ spending plans would give the Office of Personnel Management a budget of $477 million for 2025. It’s an increase of $29.1 million over the enacted 2024 level — but the number still falls $31.4 million short of the White House’s request for the coming fiscal year.

At the same time, House Republicans, in the bill are calling for OPM to specifically aim to modernize IT and strengthen the government’s acquisition workforce.

The bill doesn’t include any language related to the federal pay raise for 2025, appearing to align with Biden’s 2% raise proposal for most General Schedule employees next year.

The draft bill also includes IRS spending cuts and proposes completely defunding IRS’ free Direct File platform. The legislation would cut the budget for IRS for 2025 to $10.1 billion, which is $2.2 billion below the enacted level for fiscal 2024.

The cuts would be most severe for IRS enforcement, which would see a $2 billion reduction in funding, House appropriators explained in a summary of the draft 2025 spending bill. Hoyer took particular issue with that component of House Republicans’ plans for IRS.

“The authority to transfer funds are not provided for in this bill,” Hoyer said. “In other words, we’re cutting our collection department by $2 billion. That’s the very essence of trying to be able to afford that which we’re buying and not paying for.”

The General Services Administration would see spending cuts for its use of the Federal Buildings Fund in 2025, according to the draft legislation. Lawmakers are calling for a cap of $8.9 billion to come out of that fund, which is nearly $1.8 billion below the 2025 budget request.

In one policy rider on the appropriations bill, House Republicans rejected the Biden administration’s request of $3.5 billion to build a new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt, Maryland. The draft bill would also withhold current funds allocated for the massive construction project.

Already, GSA has said construction on the new building will take more than a decade. Construction on the new FBI headquarters is not expected to begin until 2029, and FBI employees would not be working out of the new space until 2036. But in the spending bill, House Republicans said GSA should either continue operating out of the current building, or choose an existing, federally owned building in Washington, D.C., as a new headquarters.

The Executive Office of the President would receive $815.5 million for 2025, according to the spending bill. That’s $105.6 million below the budget request. As part of that appropriation, the Office of Management and Budget would get $126 million.

Several of the bill’s other policy riders specifically target Biden administration policies that Republicans have opposed for years. The legislation in its current form would ban the implementation of President Joe Biden’s executive orders on climate change, as well as diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA).

Additionally, the Small Business Administration would not be able to fund any climate change initiatives under the bill. In total, the House subcommittee proposed about $854.1 million for SBA, a cut of $117.1 million from the White House’s request, and $187.6 million below the enacted level for 2024.

Once the Senate subcommittee releases and votes on its version of the draft appropriations bill, House and Senate lawmakers will have to reconcile any differences between the two versions of the bill before voting on it, or sending it to the president’s desk for a signature.

The post Democrats warn layoffs ahead as House GOP proposes agency spending cuts first appeared on Federal News Network.

VA Secretary Denis McDonough says a “series of massive mistakes” led to his department approving nearly $11 million in bonuses to career executives who weren’t eligible to receive them.

“You cannot read the statute and say that this was an acceptable use of that statute,” McDonough told members of the House VA Committee at a hearing Tuesday.

VA’s inspector general office, in a report released last month, found the department improperly awarded $10.8 million in critical skills incentives (CSIs) to more than 180 executives last fall.

Congress authorized these incentives under the toxic-exposure PACT Act to help the VA retain employees with in-demand skills, or skills that are in short supply, and serve a mission-critical need.

“It’s hard for me to read the statute and conclude that there’s no executives in headquarters that could qualify for a CSI. And consistent with that, we will look at that if there are places we need a CSI,” McDonough said. “Similarly, there is no way to read the statute to conclude that every senior executive in headquarters absolutely deserved one.”

McDonough said the VA has recouped about 92% of the bonuses paid to executives, and that the department has new procedures in place to ensure it awards incentives in a way that’s “very specific, individual and skill-driven.”

“This is why we are reviewing the entire process on these,” he said.

The VA, however, is not canceling critical skills incentives that went to 197 career executives in the field, outside VA’s central office in Washington, D.C.

“I’m not ready to opine on this completely, because the review is ongoing. But the evidence to date suggests that they were handled in a process much more consistent with the policy that we laid out in 2023 — meaning with individual justifications, based on those individuals with specific market analyses to make the case that this is a particular skill in those markets to keep those personnel,” McDonough said.

McDonough said the VA can justify these awards as retention incentives, given “churn” among VA network and medical center directors.

“I have believed and continue to believe that those investments are important to keep that critical leadership cadre,” he said.

‘They blew the whistle’

McDonough said he found out about the bonuses to VA executives on Sept. 13 last year, after getting a call from VA’s chief financial officer.

“They blew the whistle, because they saw these large payments going out of the Finance Service Center. That was speaking truth to power. That was calling out a challenge. That was an important internal check — one we rely on, on a regular basis,” McDonough said.

After learning about the bonuses, McDonough notified VA Committee Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.) in a phone call, and asked the VA’s inspector general office to investigate.

“In fact, it was me who called you to tell you about it. It was me who asked the inspector general to investigate, and it was me who stopped and recouped,” McDonough told Bost at the hearing.

In addition to canceling and recouping the bonuses, McDonough rescinded his delegation of authority, which allowed VA under secretaries to approve their own senior executives’ awards.

Under the current process, McDonough must approve any decision for a senior executive to receive a critical skills incentive.

In addition to implementing the VA OIG’s recommendations, McDonough said he’d be open to Congress advancing legislation that would allow lawmakers to have a more active role in overseeing these critical skill incentives.

“If you all think that it’s appropriate to take a hard look at how we administer these, we’d like to work with you on that,” he said.

‘The blame rests with me’

McDonough, however, rejected calls from Republicans to fire Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, Under Secretary for Benefits, VA Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher or top human resources officials.

“I continue to have confidence in our under secretaries because of their strong performance and the performance of their team on the implementation of the many authorities that we have — and because of the forthright way we’ve handled this scandal — naming it, owning it, learning from it, including appearing before you today,” he said.

The committee called on Elnahal and Jacobs to testify at Tuesday’s hearing. However, McDonough said he chose to testify before lawmakers because the decision to award these bonuses happened under his leadership.

“At the end of the day, there’s blame to go around here. but the blame rests with me. I should have put this into it the governance structure that I’ve built,” McDonough said.

Among its recommendations, VA OIG says McDonough “should take whatever administrative actions, if any, he deems appropriate related to the personnel involved in the process for granting CSIs for VA central office executives.”

“It is not a recommendation that we do lightly,” VA Inspector IG Michael Missal said, adding that agency IGs don’t have any authority to take disciplinary action, or even recommend disciplinary action.

Bost (R-Ill.) said “VA employees feel betrayed and let down” by VA’s handling of these bonuses.

“I know that some of the bonuses have been clawed back, but as far as I see, the same leaders who allowed, planned, and made these poor decisions remain in power,” Bost said.

Ranking Member Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said the VA “missed opportunities” to stop the improper bonuses, but said the bonuses account for 0.3% of the total critical skills incentives awarded under PACT Act authorities.

“I’m grateful to those VA leaders and employees who voiced their concerns. And I am grateful to Secretary McDonough for heeding those warnings, course correcting and self-reporting to the inspector general and promptly informing Congress once he became aware of the issues,” Takano said.

As of this April, the VA has awarded more than 41,000 CSIs worth $340 million. The average award is about $8,319. More than 90% of CSIs went to housekeepers, food service workers, police and HR specialists eligible to receive them.

McDonough said pay incentives under the PACT Act remain crucial to retain employees with “very critically important skills to veterans.”

“Retention rates are the highest they’ve been in years. Quit rates are at the lowest they’ve been in years. So we have demonstrated our ability to find that balance,” he said.

‘There were large failures’

VA senior executives received the maximum 25% of base pay allowed under the PACT Act. The awards ranged from $39,000 to $100,000.

VA OIG found the Veterans Health Administration and Veterans Benefits Administration authorized the maximum incentive to these executives without data or market analysis supporting those decisions.

VA HR officials had to review the awards before they went out, but Missal said they “gave undue deference to VHA and VBA leaders and signed off on the awards without elevating or resolving staff concern.”

“Staff within human resources had real concerns, identified the problems here, elevated it to then the head of the office, who then essentially ignored the concerns and just moved forward,” Missal said. “So the controls that were in place just didn’t work here. There were large failures.”

Senior executives in VA’s central office received bonuses meant for employees with high-demand skills. But Missal said VHA provided a short, identical paragraph on a single form to justify the bonuses to 148 of its senior executives. VBA, he added, provided more detail, but not enough to justify the bonuses.

“They had one explanation for all the VBA executives, one explanation for all the VHA. That’s taking all those people who have different roles and responsibilities, grouping them all together and saying, ‘We think they should because of this reason.’ Neither one of the explanations for why was adequate,” he said.

Missal said the PACT Act “gives a lot of authority and discretion to VA” to define a critical or high-demand skill.

VA required its leaders to provide market analysis to justify CSIs based on high-demand skills — but VHA and VBA didn’t provide that data.

Missal said VA policy did not require the Office of General Counsel to review the approval of the critical skills incentives, and likely would not have gotten a review for its attorneys, had the acting deputy secretary not requested such a review.

“This was a new authority. And you would think you would want to look at it very carefully as you’re implementing it, including having people with legal expertise to review it,” Missal said.

Among his recommendations, Missal urged the VA’s Office of General Counsel to have greater oversight of these payments.

“You had more junior lawyers reviewing it who just missed the issues. Our recommendation is to make sure for things that have reputational financial risks, to make sure you have a senior lawyer looking at this to make sure things are done properly,” he said.

The post VA secretary admits ‘massive mistakes’ over improper executive bonuses, rejects calls for firings first appeared on Federal News Network.

The problem will become even more pronounced as employers increasingly lean on new employees with solid math skills as a prerequisite. The problem is that math skills, especially in the area’s younger generations, are sorely lacking.

The deficit is particularly pronounced among K-12 students. Tests show “catastrophic” losses in Virginia according to Gov. Glen Youngkin. In Maryland, the number of students who tested as “proficient” in math dropped below pre-pandemic levels. And fourth- and eighth-grade students at Washington, D.C. schools experienced precipitous drops in scores.

Why does this matter? It’s simple: math skills are essential to economic growth and prosperity in our region.

From numerous roles in the federal government to federal contractors and business services professions that service federal agencies and companies, many jobs here rely on numeracy. At the same time, the new economy unfolding around us is firmly anchored in math with in-demand jobs in fields such as artificial intelligence, blockchain development, cyber security and data science.

Facility with math provides the opportunity for all students to be successful, regardless of their backgrounds. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for math-related careers in 2022 was $99,590, more than double the national figure of $46,310 for all occupations.

With all of that in mind, area education leaders must take decisive action to ensure students across the region build strong math skills.

We should replicate efforts by other states to do so.

• For example, Alabama approved legislation that ensures every elementary school has a math coach. The new law sets up a process to vet and approve high-quality instructional materials and curricula and establishes academies to build a pipeline of principals trained in effective math intervention strategies.

•   New Jersey created a tutoring corps that serves students statewide in pre-K through eighth grade. The corps works during and after school, as well as over the summer, to ensure minimal drop-off during breaks.

• Nebraska, Louisiana, Colorado, and Ohio now offer Zearn, a high-quality math supplemental resource. It is free to all public-school students and proven to improve performance.

• Texas put in place another resource, this time for educators: an interactive tool that gives real-time data insights about student performance in math, enabling early intervention when performance lags.

Part of the solution to this issue in our region also lies in addressing a cultural phenomenon — the false notion that people are either “good at math” or “bad at math.” For decades, the accepted norm has been that people self-select and divide themselves along these lines. That process begins during early education years. And if it solidifies during high school, people are likely to define themselves that way for the rest of their lives — with jobs increasingly relying on math and science skills, students and children face a severe disadvantage if they believe they are born to fail in math.

Parents in our area are supportive of blowing up that false choice. A recent poll by SurveyUSA of D.C. parents found that while some students believe they are not a “math person,” 89% of parents disagree, saying anyone can be a “math person.”

All of us — from parents and business leaders to philanthropies and others—must hold elected and education leaders accountable. We should demand that schools across the region have aggressive strategies that put numeracy at the center of the education agenda. If they don’t, economic opportunity for today’s students  — as the next generation of federal and corporate workers — will slip away.

Jim Cowen is executive director of the Collaborative for Student Success, a nonprofit that aims to ensure all kids are prepared for success in school, college, and careers. Jack McDougle is president and CEO of The Greater Washington Board of Trade, a leading business organization that drives solutions for inclusive economic growth and livability in the region.

The post Lack of fluency in math poses a threat to our region’s economic future first appeared on Federal News Network.

After a governmentwide update to the Pathways Program, the Department of Health and Human Services is already looking at how to start implementing the new flexibilities into its program.

But many of those flexibilities, which the Office of Personnel Management finalized in April, are optional, rather than required. That means it depends on an agency’s resources to make them a reality, and in many cases, requires agencies to think creatively.

“It really is being strategic in how we do outreach for recruitment to make sure that we are maximizing our resources,” Kimberly Steide, associate deputy assistant secretary for human capital at HHS, said in an interview with Federal News Network. “The interest is there, the passion is there, it’s really just finding the time and the resources to do as much as we want to do … and thinking about where we can get the most impact for the resources that we have available.”

Higher starting salaries, for instance, are now a possibility for employees that agencies hire through Pathways. Under OPM’s new regulations, agencies can offer a starting salary up to a GS-11 rate, rather than being capped at GS-9 rates as they were previously. Though offering a higher starting salary isn’t a requirement, Steide said she expects HHS will use the flexibility as much as possible.

“Salary is a big draw for many people early in their career,” Steide said. “A lot of that will be driven by budget, of course, but at the end of the day, we have a huge interest in ensuring that we have a solid pipeline of talent. And we have to start that with early-career talent.”

Governmentwide, the Pathways Program lets early-career employees take a temporary position at an agency, with the potential to later convert into a full-time position in the career civil service. OPM’s final regulations changed many different aspects of Pathways, intending to open the doors to more diverse applicants and alleviate the challenges agencies have historically had with the program.

For HHS, like many agencies, the program is central to early-career recruitment overall.

“Early-career talent is really important, and we’ve been strategically trying to do much more to engage and advance recruitment using many of these flexibilities,” HHS Chief Human Capital Officer Bob Leavitt said in an interview. “We have to be extraordinarily creative and innovative in how we share practices across the department to help us all move forward collectively. There’s so much that the human capital side is responsible for across the board. And one way of being efficient with those resources is really building up those communities of stakeholders, communities of practice.”

OPM’s recent updates to Pathways also reduced the requirements to complete the program, offered part-time options, and made candidates who have completed career or technical education programs, in place of a college degree, eligible for the program.

“I think that flexibility will be attractive for a lot of people,” Steide said.

HHS has used Pathways for over a decade, which is as long as the program has been around. Departmentwide, HHS hires roughly 600 employees annually through Pathways in a combination of the three programs: recent graduates, interns and Presidential Management Fellows. HHS’ main human capital office works with each agency subcomponent to determine their staffing projections and help them monitor the program.

“Many of our subcomponents are very well-branded and known. Some are not as well-known,” Steide said. “So it’s just ensuring that when people interact with HHS, they understand everything that we have to offer in terms of all of the different missions, and how they can build a really successful career with HHS.”

Leavitt and Steide said it’s also important to make sure Pathways is a good experience for anyone involved — starting from the recruitment aspect, but also extending to the entire time employees are involved in the program at HHS.

“We really try to bring them in in a cohort style, where we provide programming for them,” Steide said. “We try to have activities where we bring them together, so that they have a sense of community.”

But keeping Pathways participants within the agency full time isn’t always the end goal. In some cases, OPM’s final regulations now let Pathways employees, when converting to a full-time position, move to a different agency than the one with which they completed the program.

OPM added that flexibility, in part, because Pathways participants nearing the end of the program may not always find a full-time opening at their agency that’s a good fit. In those cases, the agency can then place that employee on OPM’s applicant talent portal. The online platform lets other agencies review available candidates and, if they’re a good fit and the employee is interested, hire them.

“That gives them some sense of security, in the sense of being able to be converted anywhere across government, as opposed to the agency that picked them up,” Steide said. “I think one of the best things that OPM did was to develop this portal because it demonstrates for the government that while we might not be able to place you where you were originally picked up, we do want to retain you.”

In general, Leavitt and Steide said OPM’s support of early-career hiring is “palpable.” OPM also has a governmentwide community of practice specifically focused on early-career talent recruitment.

“We have significant support through those communities of practice, through the technical tools that OPM helps provide us all,” Leavitt said. “There are a lot of opportunities to collaborate — collaborate with OPM, across government and within the departments to advance these areas.”

“I personally have seen a lot of synergy with OPM in the sense of trying to help governmentwide, bring resources together and strategically look at ways to approach recruitment and how best to reach early-career talent,” Steide added. “And it goes further than just recruiting them. It is really about [what] you provide them once they come on board.”

The post HHS thinking creatively to implement new Pathways flexibilities first appeared on Federal News Network.

• A group of academic and former public sector executives is pushing forward an alternative to Schedule F. The Working Group to Protect and Reform the U.S. Civil Service is proposing a different vision for a future federal workforce. Led by Francis Fukuyama of Stanford University; Don Kettl, former Dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy; and Paul Verkuil, a former chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States; the working group outlined five areas that the next administration would focus on to re-imagine the federal workforce. The non-partisan experts say bringing Schedule F back would have negative effects on the quality of the government by opening the door to politicization and patronage throughout the federal workforce.
  (Experts push new vision for federal workforce - Working Group to Protect and Reform the US Civil Service)
• A well-known agency chief information officer is moving to industry. Gerry Caron, CIO at the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration, is leaving federal service after more than two decades. Federal News Network has learned Caron is heading to a new job in industry. His last day will be May 31. The specifics about where he is going are unknown. Caron, who is well-known on the federal speaking circuit, has been the ITA CIO since February 2023. Before that, he was the CIO for the inspector general office at the Department of Health and Human Services and worked for the State Department for 18 years. Caron also has played a big role in helping drive the development of zero trust concepts through the CIO Council's Innovation Counsel for Zero Trust.
  (ITA CIO Caron heading to industry - Federal News Network)
• A former White House official is taking a top job at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Jeff Greene will join CISA as a senior adviser next month. Greene is currently the senior director of cybersecurity programs at the Aspen Institute. He is expected to help pick up the responsibilities of CISA executive assistant director for cybersecurity Eric Goldstein, who is leaving his role next month. Greene previously led defensive cyber and incident response efforts at the White House National Security Council. He also served as director of the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
  (Greene joining CISA as senior adviser - CISA)
• The Office of Personnel Management is defending recent moves to block the return of Schedule F. OPM finalized a rule last month reinforcing civil service protections for career federal employees and hampering the return of Schedule F. That was a Trump-era policy that made it easier to fire career federal employees in policymaking positions. Acting OPM Director Rob Shriver said that the return of Schedule F would have a “chilling effect” on career federal employees and prevent them from providing candid feedback on policy matters. “The human capital challenges that the federal government already faces will be dramatically exacerbated," Shriver said.
  (OPM defends rule to hamper Schedule F’s return, backs telework amid return to office push - Federal News Network)
• The Navy has taken a look at its scores on the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and decided it has some work to do. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro is launching what he calls Project Even Keel. It’s a four-phase effort to boost civilian employee engagement across the Navy and Marine Corps. The first phase is underway now, and focuses on gathering FEVS data from various commands. According to the Partnership for Public Service’s recently-released Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings – which are based on FEVS data – the Navy Department placed 11th among 17 large agencies.
  (SecNav Memo - Department of the Navy)
• The Defense Department is expanding its military spouse career pilot program. The Pentagon will expand its program that offers paid fellowship opportunities to include entry-level jobs. Last year, the program mainly focused on placing “career-ready” military spouses into paid fellowships. This year, the program will provide opportunities for military spouses who are at the beginning or early stages of their career. The program connects hiring managers and talent acquisition specialists with military spouses for paid 12-week fellowships across different career fields. Congress wants to make the pilot program permanent next year.
  (DoD expanding military spouse career pilot program - Federal News Network)
• Patrick Space Force Base in Florida will be the permanent home for STARCOM, the Space Force's Space Training and Readiness Command. STARCOM handles the Space Force’s training, doctrine, and test and evaluation missions. The command has been provisionally located at Patrick since last summer, but a decision on a permanent home has been awaiting a formal environmental review.
  (Patrick picked as permanent STARCOM HQ - Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.))
• The Pentagon's office of industrial base resilience is seeking public input on how to support the defense industrial base integration of artificial intelligence into defense systems. Public feedback will help guide the Defense Department’s efforts as it works with the DIB to rapidly adopt AI for defense applications. The office wants to know what investments in the DIB the Defense Department needs to make to support adoption of AI into defense systems. It also wants to know if there are vulnerabilities in the current and future supply chain that the department needs to address prior to incorporating AI into defense systems. Respondents have 60 days to provide their feedback.
  (DoD seeks public input on AI integration into defense systems - DoD)
• The Senate Intelligence Committee’s latest bill would create a new fund for spy agencies to acquire emerging technologies. That is just one provision in the fiscal 2025 intelligence authorization act, which the committee passed unanimously on Wednesday. The bill would promote reforms to the national security classification system and improve protections for intelligence community whistleblowers. The legislation would also require federal agencies to better engage with the private sector on threats to artificial intelligence systems.
  (Senate intelligence committee passes the fiscal 2025 intelligence authorization act - Senate Select Committee on Intelligence )
• The Social Security Administration closed field offices early on two Fridays this month. SSA granted that time off to thank its employees during Public Service Recognition Week. But the top Republicans on two Senate committees said those half-days made it harder for constituents to seek help from the agency. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) are asking SSA how many appointments and services were impacted by closing early and how much notice was given to the public about these early closures.
  (Collins, Capito raise concerns about SSA beneficiary access after SSA shutters operations during business hours - Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine))

The post Promoting Schedule F alternative, working group warns against Trump-era plan resurgence first appeared on Federal News Network.

The Pentagon is expanding its military spouse employment pilot program to include entry-level jobs as the program enters its second year. 

In its first year, the Military Spouse Career Accelerator Program mainly focused on placing “career-ready” military spouses into those paid fellowships. This year, the program will provide opportunities for military spouses who are at the beginning or early stages of their career.

“This year, we actually introduced entry-level positions as well. Our first year it was really career-ready spouses. And this year, we’re looking at those entry-level jobs for those younger spouses that might need to put their foot in the door and start the process of having employment and a career,” Patricia Barron, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy, told reporters Monday. 

The 2022 defense policy bill required the Defense Department to establish a three-year pilot program to provide military spouses with employment fellowship opportunities. Congress allocated $5 million for the pilot.

The program connects hiring managers and talent acquisition specialists with military spouses for paid 12-week fellowships across different career fields. 

In the first year of the program, about 250 companies have signed up to provide job opportunities to military spouses through the Military Spouse Career Accelerator Pilot. Last year, 422 spouses were placed in those fellowships. About 85% of those spouses got a permanent job with an average salary above $65,000.

In January, an additional 100 fellows participated in the program. Of the 23 spouses who completed their fellowships, 100% were offered employment. 

The program, so far, has been a “rousing success,” Barron said.

“It’s just been a great program. I think we’re getting an awful lot of really good feedback from the military spouses that are involved in the program,” she said. 

The House Armed Services Committee’s lawmakers on the quality of life panel recommended making the pilot program permanent in 2025.

Military spouses continue to be one of the highest unemployment demographics in the country. The unemployment rate for active duty military spouses has held steady at around 22%, but the federal government doesn’t track the exact number.

“It’s a little bit harder to track military spouse unemployment because it’s not a protected group. And so it’s sometimes hard to find the information that you need,” said Barron.

“Having said that, we’ve got new tools at our fingertips now through AI, through some of the analytics that a company like Google might provide. And I’m not saying that’s what we’re doing. What I’m saying is that we’ve got new tools now that we can look at to help us get after that number.”

Additionally, transferring professional licensing has been a challenge for military spouses for decades. Last year, President Joe Biden signed a provision into law to make it easier for spouses to transfer their licenses to a different state, but states are still figuring out how to implement it.

In 2020, lawmakers authorized the Defense Department to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Council of State Governments to facilitate spouses’ license transfers. Congress authorized $4 million per fiscal year to develop interstate compacts. 

“The challenge with that has been that the states are still trying to figure out how to implement that law, and therefore, it’s a little bit slow moving. However, even within that law, they call the interstate compacts as kind of the gold standard. If there’s an interstate compact in that state already for that career field, it takes precedence over that particular law. The reason why that’s important is we want to make sure that employers recognize the other states’ licenses. And in order for that spouse to continue, if they do it through a compact, they’re pretty much assured that they will do that,” said Barron.

In their final report, the quality of life panel recommended that Congress give the Defense Department permanent authority to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Council of State Governments to continue developing interstate licensure compacts.

Career fair for military spouses in May

This month, the Defense Department is hosting a series of free events to help military spouses meet their career goals and connect with potential employers.

The department will provide coaching opportunities for those military spouses who want to participate in the virtual hiring fair.

The symposium events are recorded and participants can register to view sessions, including “Breaking the Insanity Loop of Unemployment and Discouragement,” “Finding and Mastering Remote Employment,” and “Know Your Worth: How to Negotiate Your Perfect Fit.”

The career symposium will run through May 30. Military spouses can register at Military OneSource to participate in the event.

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After the VA’s Office of Information and Technology initially created an internal career development portal for agency tech staff, the office is now aiming to build out the platform even further.

“By the end of the summer, every single work role up there is going to have this skills maturity assessment, including — we’re hoping, fingers crossed — our AI work roles for our employees,” VA Senior Cyber Workforce Analyst Sharon McPherson said during a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conference last week.

The VA career development portal is meant to help employees understand how they can enhance their cyber skills. It offers training opportunities and other resources to help them get there. But right now, out of the 32 different types of cyber work roles at VA, just about 10 of them have a fully developed skills-building curriculum.

“This is a work in progress,” McPherson said. “We have been working on this for about three to five years.”

Since the platform’s creation, there has been a lot of interest from both senior executives as well as employees who want to see further development of the resources available. But because it’s a relatively small team working on the project for quite a large workforce, it’s been a challenge to move quickly, McPherson said. That’s especially true when trying to carve out time to collaborate with subject matter experts on how to define and develop the roles.

“They are in the service lines, they have jobs — how do they fit time to help us develop these resources with what they are doing in order for them to successfully complete the mission that they have for the work role and the job position that they’re in?” McPherson said. “That’s our biggest challenge.”

The portal aims to first address and clarify inconsistencies in the definitions of different cyber skills. Then, through the platform, employees can take trainings to help boost their skills, while better aligning with the different cyber work roles that VA has created.

The 32 work roles VA has defined stem from NIST’s National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) framework. Those roles cover areas like IT and cybersecurity — and now AI as well.

“The skills-based profile that we have developed for each one of the work roles, based upon the NICE framework, actually underpins the resources that we are developing for our employees,” McPherson said.

Once fully fleshed out, VA’s goal for the portal is to help employees define and build their careers ideally within the agency. But ultimately, the portal is focused on fostering professional growth, regardless of whether an employee stays with the VA, or eventually chooses to leave.

“The career development portal is more than just a collection of resources — it’s a centralized hub offering role-specific videos, qualifications, certifications, curated curriculums and on-the-job training,” VA wrote in a recent blog post. “It serves as a one-stop destination for employees seeking to refine their skills or explore new career paths within OIT across multiple tracks — technical, business and leadership, with more tracks to come.”

For feds considering a switch in their careers, they’ll also find listings for temporary opportunities, alternate career pathways and links to other federal employment opportunities.

On top of offering higher salaries for VA IT staff, the career development portal is another way VA is trying to address a persistent cyber skills gap. And at the same time that agencies like the VA face a governmentwide skills gaps in cybersecurity, they’re also facing an aging workforce. Currently, less than 5% of federal IT employees are under age 30. Although there are thousands of open cyber positions governmentwide, many agencies are struggling to hire and retain qualified staff in those roles.

The career development portal offers both long-term training programs, as well as “just-in-time” training for cyber skills needed in the short term. There are resources like short videos, condensed skills sheets and FAQ pages that can help employees when they need to understand something quickly, and don’t have time to go through a full training module.

“It’s something that would help you actually do the skill or the task that you need to do right at that particular moment,” McPherson said.

For each task or skill, the portal also defines three levels of proficiency, and describes different “behavioral indicators” of what each level looks like in practice for employees. The OIT team developed a skills self-assessment for employees to help them understand where they are, and where they might look to take their skills and tasks to the next level.

“The knowledge is great, the skills are great,” McPherson said. “But can you apply that knowledge, can you apply those skills, and actually do the tasks that are required in each particular work role?”

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The Government Accountability Office is telling Congress that agencies could save millions of dollars, by making better use of federal buildings.

GAO, in its latest report on overlapping and duplicative federal programs, states agencies could save about $100 million, if they used predictive models to make smarter decisions about deferred maintenance and repairs.

The watchdog office says the government could save even more, by setting federal building utilization benchmarks and addressing underutilized office space.

Comptroller General Gene Dodaro told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that predictive analytics would help agencies address a growing maintenance backlog.

“None of them were fully utilizing predictive modeling to say, ‘OK, if I make an investment here, I can save this amount of money. When’s the best time to make that investment?’” Dodaro told the subcommittee on emerging threats and spending oversight.

GAO found deferred maintenance and repairs grew from about $26 billion to nearly $49 billion between fiscal 2017 and 2022 for the federal government’s landlord, the General Services Administration, and the departments of Interior, Energy and Health and Human Services.

The watchdog agency expects HHS, Interior and Energy would be able to save $100 million by using these predictive analytics.

GSA said its potential savings would depend on the funding it gets to start these projects — but GAO estimates the agency could reduce its backlog by at least 0.5%.

Dodaro said agencies should also do more to address underused federal building space, “in light of the new working arrangements that agencies are forging and working their way through.”

The federal government owns over 460 million square feet of office space, which costs billions of dollars annually to operate and maintain. Federal real property management has been on GAO’s High-Risk List since 2003.

GAO recommends the Office of Management and Budget, which chairs the Federal Real Property Council, should set new federal building utilization metrics that reflect a greater level of telework across the federal workforce.

“As the country emerges from the pandemic and agencies continue to offer telework as an option, the federal government has a unique opportunity to reconsider how much and what type of office space it needs,” the report states.

OMB agreed with GAO’s recommendation. It told the watchdog office in March 2024 that it created a working group to start developing those benchmarks.

GAO said setting new benchmarks would push agencies to reduce the amount of office space they occupy. It estimates agencies would save at least 1% of costs from reducing leased space, and could result in $10 million of savings over five years.

Dodaro told lawmakers “there’s not that actually that many barriers” for agencies to start right-sizing their real estate footprints.

“Right now, the agencies are all doing it differently. Most of the utilization rates apply to headquarters buildings in Washington, not the buildings throughout the country and all the different assets. And you need different rates for like laboratories, versus other kinds of facilities, so it’s not an easy job. But somebody needs to take leadership,” he said.

GAO found last summer that all agency headquarters buildings in the Washington, D.C. area had excess space, including 17 that had an average building utilization of just 25%.

The Public Buildings Reform Board, in a more recent report, found the federal headquarters buildings operated at 12% of their estimated capacity, on average, between January and September 2023.

GAO looking at telework’s impact on federal workforce

Dodaro said GAO is also looking at what impact, if any, a greater use of telework has had on customer service, recruitment and retention and mission delivery across the federal government.

“The focus Congress ought to put on this, in my opinion, is on outcomes,” Dodaro said. “Are we getting the right outcomes that we want to achieve, and not try to micromanage how that happens? But if you don’t get the right outcomes, you need to hold the agencies accountable,” he said.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told the watchdog he’s “concerned about the ability to maintain a strong and effective workforce at the federal government level, given the telework policies that we have.”

Romney and Sen. Joe Manchin recently introduced the Back to Work Act, which would require federal employees to spend 60% of their work hours in the office. The Biden administration is currently calling on agencies to bring their employees into the office at least 50% of the time.

Romney said he’s leading the bill, in response to reported customer service constituents face when interacting with federal agencies still on a hybrid work schedule.

“Had the response time been the same as before COVID, fine. But in fact, the lines are longer. People are having a harder time getting in touch with the government,” Romney said.

GAO, a legislative branch agency, codified workplace flexibilities last year that allow its employees to telework up to four days a week.

“[If] we get the right outcomes, you can have workplace flexibilities. But if we don’t get the right outcomes, we’re not going to do it. Fortunately for us, we study it and evaluate it, and our outcomes are really good. And it doesn’t matter where people are,” Dodaro said about managing GAO employees.

The Partnership for Public Services this week named GAO the top midsized agency in its Best Places to Work rankings, for the fourth year in a row.

“People aren’t smarter just because they’re sitting in a government building,” Dodaro said.  “It may be that it’s telework, or it may be they don’t have the right people in the first place — they haven’t trained them properly to answer the calls they have, they’re not holding them accountable,” Dodaro said.

Meanwhile, Dodaro said telework and workplace flexibility are key incentives to attract in-demand tech experts to government jobs.

“Right now, the struggle to get AI people — the government can’t pay the same salaries, but you can give some workplace flexibility. You can get some high-tech talent. And we’ve been able to do that at GAO — scientists, computer security people — by giving them some workplace flexibilities they can’t get anywhere else. You wouldn’t have that caliber of talent in government in case you did that.”

A White House-led, interagency AI and Tech Talent Task Force, in a report last month, said agencies have hired over 150 AI experts, and are on track to bring on at least 500 new hires before the end of fiscal 2025.

However, Dodaro said agencies are going to have difficulty making those AI hires — although their expertise is needed to get the federal government up to speed with these emerging tech tools.

“Some of the data in the government is not good at all. It’s not complete, it’s not accurate, it’s not reliable. And if it’s used for AI applications, all you’re going to get is bad outcomes faster. So the limitation of the government, because of the lack of reliable data, is enormous and should not be underestimated.”

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