Quick Hits

*** The COVID-19 pandemic had a dramatic impact on the issuance of U.S. passports by the State Department, according to a new oversight report. The State Department's Office of Inspector General reported on Tuesday that new passport issuances fell to a record low of just over 13,000 in May 2020, down from nearly 1.7 million new passports in May 2019. Among multiple agency issues, the report found that delays, lack of coordination and a lack of agility in two major IT modernization projects on systems at State's Bureau of Consular Affairs prevented the shifting of any of its passport operations to telework.

*** The National Academy of Public Administration announced the launch of the Center for Intergovernmental Partnerships on Tuesday. The new Center is designed to help foster cooperation across different levels of government, and will initially focus on coordination challenges posed by the rapid ramp-up of federal funding in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.