Policy

Biden formally announces 5.2% average pay raise for feds in 2024

The annual declaration of a national emergency preventing large automatic raises from taking effect solidifies that 0.5% of the total pay increase figure will go toward an average boost in locality pay.

GAO: USDA violated the Anti-Deficiency Act while planning its relocation of science agencies

House Democrats renewed calls to institute tighter regulation of agency relocations in light of the watchdog agency's findings.

Leaders in both parties agree to pursue a stopgap to avoid shutdown

The House and Senate remain significantly divided over spending for the rest of fiscal 2024.

Bill to alleviate federal pay compression introduced by House Dems

The Pay Compression Relief Act would effectively allow General Schedule employees to receive annual increases to both basic and locality pay, even if they have already hit the federal pay cap.

White House calls on agencies to 'aggressively' reduce telework this fall

Chief of Staff Jeff Zients instructed agencies to focus on executing plans to increase in-person work in September and October.

Cannabis users could become feds under bipartisan House bill

The legislation also would allow federal job applicants who were previously denied positions or security clearances over marijuana usage dating back to 2008 to have those decisions reviewed under the newly proposed policy.

Defense and Commerce team up to support semiconductor investments

The two federal agencies signed a memorandum of agreement to exchange information on programs outlined under the CHIPS for America Act.

The Senate is on a bipartisan glidepath toward avoiding a shutdown, Schumer says

The way forward is still complicated by the House, which is pushing partisan spending bills along party lines.

Semiconductor industry group warns against new limits on chip exports to China

A spokesperson for the National Security Council told Nextgov/FCW that the Biden administration’s export controls “have been carefully tailored to focus on technology with national security implications.”

Congress must use budget power to move tech firms out of Beijing’s orbit, former lawmaker says

Former congressman and Under Secretary of the Army Patrick Murphy said lawmakers need to be focused “like a bulldog on a bone” when ensuring the U.S. is positioned to compete with China’s tech ambitions.

House, Senate China hawks concerned White House will let TikTok stay in the US

Key Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate warned that tweaked language in a new Commerce Department rule could lay the groundwork for TikTok’s proposal to store U.S. users’ data in the country.

Democrats call YouTube ‘extremely irresponsible’ for election misinformation rollback

YouTube’s decision to stop removing false content about previous U.S. elections “threatens to weaken our democracy,” several top Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said in a letter to the platform’s leaders. 

CFPB looks to existing law to regulate workplace surveillance tech

After a high volume of complaints, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offered a response as to how the government can limit the use of sensitive employee information in hiring practices.

All Veterans Affairs police officers to be issued bodycams, dashcams by end of 2023

The Department of Veterans Affairs said it will begin issuing in-car and body-worn cameras on June 20, starting with officers at the VA Desert Pacific Healthcare Network in Long Beach, California.

Relaunched electric grid caucus plans to highlight security, tech improvements

The bipartisan Grid Innovation Caucus plans to hold educational seminars and a Grid Innovation Expo to highlight emerging technologies and ensure the resiliency of the U.S. power network.

Bipartisan bill seeks to safeguard US data from foreign exploitation

New legislation would restrict the transfer of Americans’ data to foreign nations, but leaves the door open for TikTok to store U.S. users’ data on domestic servers.