Here is the latest from The Washington Posts ‘Federal Insider’.
Patent office workers bilked taxpayers millions by playing hooky, watchdog finds
Thousands of employees who review patents for the federal government potentially cheated taxpayers out of at least $18.3 million as they billed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for almost 300,000 hours they never worked, according to a new investigation. The probe scheduled for release Wednesday by the independent watchdog for the Commerce Department, the patent office’s […]
Obama order on contractor workplace violations takes effect soon, despite objections
Obama administration officials are preparing to implement a controversial two-year-old executive order that will give agencies greater ability to deny federal contracts to companies with labor-law violations. Once the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces executive order is fully implemented, potential contractors must report violations covering 14 workplace protections from the previous three years. Any requirement […]
The exception to Postal Service motto about delivering mail
The U.S. Postal Service motto about delivering the mail in snow, rain, heat and gloom of night left out an exception — thieving postal employees. Before we get to the dirt, let’s stipulate that the vast majority of postal workers are conscientious, law-abiding folks who are diligent under difficult conditions. That’s why information from the U.S. […]
Insurer did a ‘bait and switch’ on long-term care rate hike for feds, lawmakers say.
This post has been updated. Congress wants to know exactly what led to an explosive rate increase for 274,000 current and retired federal employees who are buying long-term care insurance. A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee demanded documents from the Obama administration this week showing how it arrived at a seven-year […]
Will states follow DOJ’s private prison move? Some are ahead of the feds.
Uncle Sam is an influential guy. When he speaks, states listen. If history is a guide, the Justice Department’s decision to phase out private prisons could have an impact well beyond federal Bureau of Prison facilities. Already, some states are ahead of the federal government in closing for-profit correctional locations. The move by the Justice […]
VA moves to restrict treason symbols at cemeteries
The Civil War has been over for 151 years, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) cemeteries, which began three years prior, have finally decided to restrict flags representing the killers of U.S. government soldiers. VA now plans to “amend our policy to make clear that Confederate flags will not be displayed from any permanently fixed […]
Federal sexual violence stats sow confusion
Sexual violence is a major problem in America, and the federal government has various programs to combat it. But those efforts might be more effective if Uncle Sam had a better idea of what he’s fighting. The problem: Federal sexual violence statistics are confusing. “Rape is rape” makes a good protest sign, but it doesn’t […]
Dead or alive? Social Security misclassified some
That old joke about a premature report of someone’s death isn’t so funny when it’s the government declaring people dead who are not. That’s what’s happening at the Social Security Administration (SSA). Social Security officials have discovered 90 cases in their records where the living were listed as deceased. That’s 90 “as of today,” Mark […]
Smithsonian, other agencies protect artifacts in Iraq, Syria
When we think of the war against Islamic State terrorists, the Defense Department, the State Department and the intelligence agencies come to mind. We should add the Smithsonian Institution to the list. The Smithsonian, better known for museums ringing the Mall, is one of a half-dozen agencies cited in a Government Accountability Office report on […]
Trump, Clinton planning their transitions side-by-side in Washington
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s preparations to take over the government if they’re elected are now in high gear, and their transition teams are working out of the same building a block from the White House at 1717 Pennsylvania Ave. It’s the first time in history that two presidential campaigns have worked to set up […]
‘Confusion at every level’ of the Park Service
Years of sacred- and ceremonial-ground desecration at the Effigy Mounds National Monument in northeast Iowa disgraced the National Park Service, as did a recently sentenced former park manager who stole ancient human remains and hid them in his garage for more than two decades. A review team of Park Service officials from outside the monument’s […]
Seniors balk and Social Security backs off text messaging requirement
It’s good to keep up with the times, but the Social Security Administration (SSA) found itself too far in front of many people it serves. Seeking to enhance online protections, the agency required “my Social Security” account holders to use a password sent to them via text message. That was a problem for some older […]
Implicit bias training seeks to counter hidden prejudice in law enforcement
When the Justice Department released its report on the Baltimore Police Department last week, examples of racial bias were clear: The police: — employs “enforcement strategies on African Americans, leading to severe and unjustified racial disparities” — “disproportionately searches African-Americans during stops,” yet illegal items were found twice as often on white individuals during vehicle […]
Private federal prisons — less safe, less secure
Private prisons — unsafe and insecure. That’s the picture emerging from a Justice Department Office of the Inspector General’s report that adds to a growing effort to take the profit out of penitentiaries. The report’s central conclusion: “We found that, in most key areas, contract prisons incurred more safety and security incidents per capita than comparable […]
Merchant Marine Academy under fire for sexual assault allegations
KINGS POINT, N.Y. — They call it the “safe word.” It’s the secret code that cadets at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy are advised to use if things get really rough during their year-long shipboard training on merchant vessels thousands of miles from shore, or at ports far from home. It’s supposed to act as a fail-safe for […]
With 500,000 female genital mutilation survivors or at risk in U.S., it’s not just someone else’s problem
Visualize a long line, more than 500,000 people long. Look closer. They are all female. You’ll see lots of girls, some new born. What you can’t see is the many who have had their genitalia mutilated. Those who haven’t are in danger. This imaginary queue represents real people, the number of women and girls in […]
The workers Clinton and Trump should not forget
In the heat of a bizarre presidential campaign, the horse race makes it easy to forget that the point of politics is governing. And when we think of the next administration, we often focus on who will get the top political appointments. But to govern effectively, any administration needs to consider civil servants, particularly during […]
As Park Service battles sexual harassment, this Sports Illustrated swimsuit model twerks in Yellowstone
As the National Park Service confronts what Interior Secretary Sally Jewell has called a “culture” of sexual harassment, the agency allowed barely clad swimsuit models to twerk in photos with iconic park backdrops. These shoots — used for the first time last year in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and reprised by National Geographic in May’s issue on […]
Closed Social Security offices, furloughed staff under GOP cuts, agency warns
Social Security is facing dark times — not just figuratively, but as in the lights would go out. That’s the warning from Social Security Administration (SSA) officials if an appropriations bill pushed by House Republicans takes effect. “There would be up to two weeks of furloughs for all employees,” the agency said in information obtained […]
More feds are working from home. But no one has figured out whether that’s really a good thing.
About half of federal employees — 1 million people — are now eligible to work from home, either full time or a few days a week. A little more than a quarter of them actually do. That’s a huge jump from 2010, when Congress passed legislation to encourage telework to save energy and commuting costs, […]
Loss of VA health-care providers grows as demand for care increases. Will service suffer?
Two trend lines in veterans’ health care are not encouraging. Demand for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) services is going up, but so are losses among the agency’s health-care providers. Annual VA outpatient medical appointments rose by 20 percent, or 17.1 million visits from fiscal 2011 through 2015, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. […]
Senators rap Energy Dept. for enabling contractor retaliation against whistleblowers
Sandra Black says she lost her job for doing it. Black worked for Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the private contractor that operates the Department of Energy’s (DOE) 310-square-mile nuclear storage complex in South Carolina. As her title “employee concerns program (ECP) manager” indicated, Black was the point person for issues staffers wanted to fix. Her […]
Cost to maintain Afghan military vehicles skyrocketed because of Pentagon mistakes, report says
The Pentagon’s effort to maintain vehicles for Afghanistan’s military and train local troops to take care of its fleet has been a failure, a watchdog reported Thursday, with the program’s cost more than doubling to $423 million. Now dozens of unanticipated expenses — incurred largely because the company the Defense Department hired for the job repeatedly violated the terms […]
Feds feel the burn over huge long-term care price hike
Federal employees and retirees are feeling the burn. They’re hot over the huge jump in their long-term care premiums that will take effect Nov. 1. The increases will average 83 percent — that’s $111 per month — and rise as much as 126 percent. John Hancock Life and Health Insurance Co. provides the coverage. Their anger mirrors […]
Weather Service conducts ‘illegal surveillance’ on staff, union says
If it’s on Facebook, can it be secret? Members of the National Weather Service Employees Organization (NWSEO) thought they had a secret Facebook page that was available only to them. But not only did National Weather Service (NWS) management officials know about the page, they accessed it and made scornful comments about the postings, according […]
Democrats’ platform barely mentions feds, but their unions strongly support Clinton
Democrats have long been in the corner of federal employees, but those workers are almost absent from the 2016 Democratic platform. This reference to the federal workforce is an indirect one to job applicants: “The next president should take executive action to ban the box for federal employers and contractors, so applicants have an opportunity […]
Congress wrestles with providing fertility benefits for injured veterans and servicemembers
This was the year the government was gong to start helping injured veterans and members of the military maintain their ability to start families by offering unprecedented fertility preservation programs. In January, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced the Pentagon would soon launch a pilot program to help active-duty servicemembers freeze their eggs and sperm, as a […]
Senate workers will get $1 million in back pay after Labor Department probe
Hundreds of U.S. Senate cafeteria workers will get hefty checks for back pay after a Labor Department investigation found they were underpaid for their work under federal law. The private contractor hired by the Architect of the Capitol to run the Senate food-service operation did not abide by the Service Contract Act, which governs wages paid to […]
Most long-term insurance care enrollees are eligible for little-known benefit
Three-fifths of enrollees in the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program who are facing steep premium increases will be eligible to invoke a little-known feature of the program that will allow them to stop paying premiums but still keep some coverage, the Office of Personnel Management has said. The paid-up provision allows enrollees whose premium […]
New Grand Canyon park chief on sexual misconduct: ‘Some of our colleagues have suffered immeasurable harm’
Now that eliminating sexual harassment is a top priority for the National Park Service, Director Jonathan Jarvis is laying out the steps he is taking to create a “zero tolerance” culture. “First, some have asked what it means for the National Park Service to have a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment,” Jarvis wrote in an email last week to […]
Christie on Trump’s plan to fire feds faster and clean out Obama’s people
“As you know from his other career, Donald likes to fire people.” That was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) talking to the donor class in a closed-door meeting at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this week. Christie was both recalling the reality television career of Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and projecting […]
Yellowstone tourists were not the only ones to try an ill-fated bison rescue. A Park Service manager did too.
The baby bison who had to be put to death at Yellowstone National Park in May after tourists loaded it in the trunk of their car was not the first one to die after human interference tore apart its family. A similarly misguided rescue effort at Badlands National Park resulted in the death of a bison […]
Costs skyrocket for feds’ long-term care insurance
Federal employees and retirees who participate in the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) are in for some serious sticker shock. They pay the full cost of that insurance, and on Nov. 1, it will jump by up to 126 percent. The average increase will be 83 percent or $111 per month. That leaves retirees […]
Hatch Act — too complicated for a Cabinet secretary? Not really
If an Obama administration Cabinet secretary, one of the highest-ranking positions in the government, doesn’t know the restrictions on federal employees during partisan political campaigns, is the law too complicated for the average fed to follow? No. Yet, that’s one question raised by news that Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro violated the […]
Patent lawsuits swell and watchdog says the government is to blame
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