Elections
A pair of new bills aim to reshape the Secret Service
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., penned new legislation to shift the agency’s jurisdiction for investigating financial crimes and alter how it designates its protective perimeter in the wake of the Trump assassination attempt.
'Fire every single mid-level bureaucrat': Vance on federal employees
Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, has been at the center of GOP efforts in Congress to “dismantle” diversity, equity and inclusion programs at federal agencies, and has suggested that if Trump wins re-election, he should fire “every mid-level bureaucrat” in government.
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How federal agencies are responding to the Trump assassination attempt
FBI, Secret Service and others are taking a lead role and deploying personnel in response to Saturday's shooting.
House lawmakers push measure to limit impact of deceptive AI on elections
The legislation would apply to AI-generated election content that is designed to interfere with voting in federal, state or local contests.
The major takeaways for federal employees from the first presidential debate
President Biden and former President Trump clashed over the role of government and their vision for how to manage agencies.
Senate Dems call for an update on vote.gov improvements
More than a dozen Democratic senators signed a letter to the General Services Administration asking for an update on the agency’s work to modernize the government’s voting information platform.
Nothing’s decided yet, but we might be headed to a new era of divided government
The Senate is a toss-up and the House is leaning Republican.
Some agencies aren't fulfilling Biden's promise to give feds time off to vote
Agencies are exploiting loopholes or issuing restrictive policies, confounding staff.
Former CISA chief warns of ‘very chaotic environment’ ahead of midterms
Chris Krebs said those hoping to undermine confidence in U.S. elections may have their best shot yet during this week’s midterm vote.
What would a GOP takeover of the House mean for the Oversight Committee?
The chair-in-waiting for the once “sleepy” committee would like to investigate COVID-19’s origins, the Biden administration’s border policies and the president’s family members.
IRS tech, CISA funding in Build Back Better
An effort to put $3.5 billion into key governmentwide tech modernization accounts appears to have come up short in the Build Back Better bill, but there's still a lot of technology spending on the table.
Christopher Krebs: Truth and consequences
Krebs spent 2020 working furiously to ensure the integrity of our elections, while also ensuring that ransomware, software supply-chain vulnerabilities and a range of other rapidly escalating risks didn't cripple government operations or the nation's critical infrastructure.
Few agencies sought Schedule F conversions
In the waning days of the Trump administration, only a relative handful out of hundreds of eligible agencies and department responded to an executive order that looked to reclassify vast swathes of the federal civil service as at-will employees.
Lawmakers reach bipartisan deal to probe Jan. 6 attack
The proposed commission would have investigative and subpoena powers and would hold hearings to produce a report by the end of 2021.
OPM details pandemic emergency paid leave program
This special leave will be available through the end of the fiscal year or until the $570 million fund is exhausted, OPM documents say.
NIST framework focuses on election cybersecurity
The new draft framework combining election security and cybersecurity is the first of its kind for NIST.
IC: Foreign actors tried to affect U.S. election via influence campaigns, but not by hacking
The intelligence community's newly declassified report largely concludes Russia attempted to meddle in the U.S. election through influence operations but did not attempt the kinds of cyberattacks observed in 2016.
Biden looks to expand time off for feds to vote
An executive order issued Sunday on voting access includes a directive to the Office of Personnel Management to support federal employees looking to vote or serve as poll workers or observers during elections.
With Tanden out, top House Dems push Young for budget director
The House Speaker her and top lieutenants are pressing for the nomination of Shalanda Young to lead the Office of Management and Budget.
Manchin's opposition could sink OMB nominee
President Biden's pick of Neera Tanden's to head the Office of Management and Budget is in peril after a powerful centrist Democrat has announced his plan to vote no on the nomination.
