Patent office workers bilked taxpayers millions by playing hooky, watchdog finds

Inventors are filing an exploding number of lawsuits against companies that appropriate their products illegally — and a new report puts the blame for these costly disputes squarely at the feet of the federal government. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is so focused on rewarding its employees for the number of applications they review that the quality of […]

GOP platform calls for recycling — of old proposals

“The 2012 Republican Platform is a statement of who we are and what we believe as a Party and our vision for a stronger and freer America.” So says the first sentence in the platform guiding Republicans this election season. While party platforms are often forgotten, they do indicate the values political parties promote. In […]

Lobbying battle over giving nurses more authority to treat veterans intensifies

Six days before the window closes for public comments, a Veterans Affairs proposal to expand nurses’ authority to treat veterans without a doctor’s supervision has drawn 71,520 comments online. [To cut wait times, VA wants nurses to act like physicians. Doctors say veterans will be harmed] That’s one of the largest turnouts for a federal regulation in […]

FDIC chief damages effort at damage control

Americans don’t worry about the protection of their bank accounts because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) inspires confidence. Unfortunately, FDIC doesn’t do the same when it comes to protecting sensitive agency data. Even in the context of a plethora of cyber breaches in and out of government and taking into account the partisan tinge […]

House conservatives try to force vote to impeach IRS chief

A group of House conservatives is making a last-ditch effort to force a floor vote to impeach Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen because of their continuing frustrations over how the agency has treated small-government groups. House Freedom Caucus members John Fleming (R-La.) and Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) on Thursday employed a rarely used procedural maneuver that allows any […]

U.S. made $136.7 billion in improper payments in 2015, a growing problem

Uncle Sam sure can mess up a lot of money. In fiscal year 2015, the federal government made $136.7 billion in improper payments, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). And the problem is worsening. Last year’s total is more than $30 billion greater than the 2013 amount. “Improper payments — payments […]

Would bill hit gay rights in the name of free speech?

With a Supreme Court ruling last year, Republicans and social conservatives lost their battle against same-sex marriage. But that doesn’t mean they are stopping their fight. Like their use of restrictive legislation to undermine the long established right to abortion, they are looking for ways to weaken the reach of court’s decision. Maybe there’s something […]

Interior chief: ‘Culture’ of sexual harassment probably pervades the National Park Service

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell acknowledged Tuesday that recent reports of sexual harassment in the National Park Service are probably “just the tip of the iceberg” and predicted that new attention to the issue will unearth cultural problems throughout the system. “I’m sure that as we investigate this, we will find there is a bigger issue, a […]

Dubious constitutional effort to cut due process for top civil servants spreads across government

If Congress can get away with the dubious constitutional move of cutting due process rights for senior executives in the Department of Veterans Affairs, why not do the same thing for top civil servants across government? That’s the approach the House took last week when it approved legislation, primarily along party lines, that would sharply […]

The big hole in America’s multicultural quilt

It was almost a generation ago when Rodney King, the black victim of a vicious beating by white Los Angeles police officers, issued his plaintive call: “Can we all get along?” Rick Zamarripa echoed that 24 years later after his son Patrick was one of five Dallas police officers killed by a black man. “I wish […]

House, Senate at odds over preference for veterans in federal hiring

The House has voted overwhelmingly to make no changes in the hiring preferences that veterans receive when seeking federal jobs, taking a position opposite to that of the Senate. The House voted 409 to 14 late Thursday in favor an amendment stating that “no funds may be used to revise any policy or directive related to hiring […]

VA health care is both good and in need of ‘dramatic change’

A congressionally mandated commission offers two views of health care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Care for veterans is “in many ways comparable or better in clinical quality to that generally available in the private sector.” At the same time, VA health care, operated by the department’s Veterans Health Administration (VHA), needs […]

House approves wide-ranging changes to federal personnel policies
The House has approved a bill targeting a range of federal employee appeal and union rights and other personnel policies, in the latest bid by Republicans there to address what they have called a lack of accountability for poor performance and misconduct in the federal workplace. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said the bill would “bring greater accountability to […]

Political divide over funding threatens fate of popular opioid bill

House and Senate negotiators on Wednesday finalized a deal to combat heroin and prescription drug abuse, but the bill’s chances of clearing Congress could be complicated by Democrats who argue it does not include enough funding. The bill is popular with members in both parties and several lawmakers in tough re-election contests are eager to promote it back […]

Will other feds make out like Clinton did?

The extraordinary case of Hillary Clinton and her emails raises intriguing questions for federal employees facing charges related to classified materials. Would they have been treated differently, perhaps more harshly, than a famous politician? Because she has escaped prosecution, will others too? Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, was publicly convicted without being legally charged […]

Weak staff-search policy aids federal prison smuggling, report says

Are prison employees behind “the persistent problem of contraband smuggling” in federal prisons? An investigation into the Justice Department’s Federal Bureau of Prisons cites weak and ineffective procedures that make it easier for workers to get prohibited items to inmates. And employees, albeit a small percentage, do smuggle. Justice Department news releases show seven cases […]

As National Park Service confronts sexual harassment, this dysfunctional park is Exhibit A

CANAVERAL NATIONAL SEASHORE, Fla. — This secluded beach on a barrier island off the Atlantic coast is a sunbathers’ paradise of nesting sea turtles and wading shore birds in the shadow of the Kennedy Space Center. But for rangers, visitor guides and many of the 50 employees here, working at this national park is anything but paradise. Multiple […]

$3.1 billion – at least — lost in bogus tax refunds to ID thieves in 2014

Even during this era of cyber-insecurity, here’s a chilling figure: 3.1 billion. That’s the number of dollars the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) paid in bogus tax refunds in 2014 because of identity theft refund fraud, according to the Government Accountability Office. The IRS has a Taxpayer Protection Program (TPP) that sounds like it should provide […]

Federal agents, prosecutors to be trained on implicit bias
The Justice Department on Monday said it will train its law enforcement agents and prosecutors to recognize and address how their own implicit bias affects their workplace decisions. The training will involve some 23,000 agents in the department’s four major law enforcement branches plus 5,800 attorneys in the 94 U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Deputy Attorney General Sally […]

Many victims of OPM background investigation files theft still not notified

A tenth of those whose personal information was stolen from a government background investigation database still haven’t been formally notified that they were victimized, the Office of Personnel Management said Monday. That might leave upwards of two million people still unaware that their personal identifying information including Social Security numbers—and much more personal information in some cases—was […]

Subaru spot closed Skyline Drive: park promotion or corporate commercialism?

When does the use of national parks by private companies cross the line between park promotion and corporate commercialization? That is the question raised by television spots shot in Shenandoah National Park that feature its beautiful vistas and not incidentally, a Subaru. Skyline Drive, which runs 105 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge […]

Veteran preference in federal hiring: The ‘third rail of civil service reform,’ expert says.

With an effort in Congress to scale back veteran preference in federal hiring awaiting action by a House-Senate conference committee, a former top personnel official says there’s a better plan. Jeffrey Neal, who was in charge of hiring for the Department of Homeland Security until he retired in 2011, says a Senate proposal to limit veteran […]

Is DEA a bad guy in opioid addiction fight?

Chuck Rosenberg, acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), had a fairly easy time at Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, where his efforts to change the opaque culture of the agency won praise. Then it was Sen. Richard J. Durbin’s time to ask questions. The Illinois Democrat wasted little time with niceties. He wanted to […]

Lawmakers ask: Did the framers lay the groundwork for the IRS chief’s impeachment?

A panel of legal scholars on Wednesday debated the legal standards for impeaching Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen, dividing over whether the framers of the Constitution meant to include gross incompetence as as reason for an ouster. The experts, called to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, agreed that impeaching Koskinen, an executive branch […]

Report says top civil-service rank needs urgent boost

The Senior Executive Service, the highest rank of the nation’s federal civil service, carries a certain prestige. But that is not enough to convince many lower-ranking employees that the status is worth the headache. A new report by the Partnership for Public Service and the McKinsey & Co. consulting firm says that “the SES is […]

DoD opens door for its employees to phase into retirement

The Defense Department on Tuesday opened the door for allowing its civilian employees to phase into retirement, potentially jump-starting a government-wide program announced to much fanfare several years ago but little used since. Guidance from the Pentagon’s personnel office lays out the policies it will use for the hybrid arrangement in which retirement-eligible employees cut […]

House seeks to give government watchdogs more bite

Government watchdogs would be able to sink in their teeth more deeply into agencies they are investigating, under two bills set for House votes Tuesday. The measures would strengthen the powers of inspectors general — independent offices within agencies that perform audits and investigations — and of the Office of Special Counsel, a separate agency […]

Military retirees have a revolving door to civilian Pentagon jobs. The Senate voted to shut it.

Since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, military officers facing retirement have had a revolving door to walk through to a civilian job at the Defense Department. Often it’s the same job they held while in uniform, and often they start the Monday after they retire and start collecting their military pension. Under this arrangement, […]

American Legion: Pentagon officials ‘turned their backs’ on veterans to get around hiring them

The American Legion will begin a campaign Monday to stop an effort in Congress to limit the advantage veterans have in federal hiring, starting with a letter to members of the House that accuses the Pentagon of conjuring a “morally-bankrupt tactic” to circumvent veterans’ preference. The influential veterans group, the country’s largest service organization, said Defense […]

Interior chief warns 70,000 employees: Sexual harassment is ‘completely out of line with our values’

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell sent a warning to 70,000 agency employees last week to “comply with the ethical responsibilities expected of all Federal employees” and said she is troubled by reports of sexual harassment in the National Park Service. The unusual email came a day after Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis was lambasted by Democrats and Republicans […]

Getting new drugs to terminally ill – more to story than bashing FDA

Their stories were heartbreaking and inspiring – but ultimately fatal. The terminally ill rallied on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Thursday afternoon, along with their families, supporters and members of Congress, demanding the “Right to Try” drugs that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They pushed […]

Senate votes to scale back federal job preferences for veterans

Congress stepped this week into a sensitive issue that’s been quietly roiling the already-challenging hiring system for federal jobs: the Obama administration’s high-profile push to give preference to veterans. The Senate version of the vast military policy bill that now heads to conference with the House would knock out one of the advantages veterans enjoy when […]

Did Red Cross spend too much on overhead as part of its Haiti relief efforts?

With all its good works around the world, the American Red Cross (ARC) has a reputation that is near angelic. But its halo is a bit askew following a 300-page Senate report that says the humanitarian organization did not spend a large portion of donations for Haitian earthquake relief on the suffering. Instead, 25 percent […]

House Dems examine right-wing domestic terrorism

House Democrats, frustrated by Republicans who are too cozy with anti-government radicals, convened a congressional forum Wednesday to explore “violent extremism on America’s public lands.” The informal hearing was driven by the refusal of the majority Republicans to fully investigate the 41-day siege of the  Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon earlier this year. The […]

IRS chief censured by GOP lawmakers in rare vote over treatment of conservatives

A divided House committee voted Wednesday to censure Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen over Republicans’ claim that he obstructed their investigation into the agency’s treatment of conservative groups. The party-line action by the Oversight and Government Reform Committee came after a protracted debate over what Koskinen knew, when he should have disclosed it to Congress […]

Visa overstays a security risk when 99% of foreigners leave U.S. on time?

Just a couple of days after the Orlando massacre killed 49 people, including many Latinos in a gay nightclub, a House Homeland Security subcommittee pondered a national security issue that barely exists, at first glance at least. The hearing on national security risks posed by visa overstays was planned well before Sunday’s shooting. While the […]

Lawmakers charge Park Service chief oversees culture of sexual harassment

National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis was confronted Tuesday by angry lawmakers in both parties for looking the other way at what they called a culture of sexual harassment in his agency. And his critics at a tense House hearing unusual for its united front questioned whether Jarvis was even equipped to address this and […]

Report says 99% of feds ‘fully successful’ or better at work. Is that credible?

Is it likely that 99 percent of staffers in any workplace are “fully successful” or better? That’s how highly federal employees are rated, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), as my colleague Lisa Rein reported. GAO looked at 2013 ratings for almost 1.2 million staffers, not including Senior Executive Service (SES) […]

Intelligence community doesn’t look like either federal or overall workforces

Intelligence agencies collectively are less diverse than other federal agencies or the overall U.S. workforce, and women and minorities are especially under-represented at senior levels, according to data released Friday. Intelligence agencies “struggle to recruit talented officers who mirror the diverse country they serve,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in what […]

The federal workforce, where everyone’s performance gets rave reviews

In the ranks of the federal government, 99 percent are really good at their jobs — and almost two-thirds exceed expectations or do outstanding work. That’s the conclusion of a new report by the Government Accountability Office, which also found that 78 percent of high-level civil servants — those in GS grades 13 through 15 — were […]

Preschool suspensions are made worse by racial disparities

Preschoolers suspended from school? Sounds crazy. But it’s real, and racial disparities make it worse. As my colleague Emma Brown reported, an Education Department report released last week says black children account for almost half of the public preschool suspensions, but are less than a fifth of the preschoolers. We’ll look at the appropriateness of […]

Falling Social Security service: you don’t get what you pay for

There’s an old saying: You get what you pay for. Or maybe not, at least in the world of Social Security. Workers pay for the Social Security Administration (SSA) through paycheck deductions, but as a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says, “only to the extent that Congress allows SSA to spend […]

Investigators: Consumers are ‘at risk of illness or death’ because of slow FDA food recalls

The Food and Drug Administration did not force a recall of tainted peanut butter that caused salmonella poisoning in 14 people until 165 days after confirming the contamination, the agency’s watchdog said in report released Thursday. And in a similarly alarming case, it took the government 81 days to recall a variety of cheese products made by a […]

Democrats take aim at GOP Sen. David Vitter for ‘hamstringing’ agency leadership after Chinese hack

One year after Chinese hackers exposed sensitive information from the personnel files of 22 million federal workers, contractors and others, the agency in charge of the response has no permanent leader. In the 11 months since she has led the Office of Personnel Management, a heretofore obscure agency that vaulted to the headlines last June, Beth F. […]

One year after OPM cybertheft hit 22 million: Are you safer now?

Are you safer now? That’s the question for the 22 million federal employees and others whose personal information was stolen by cyberthieves from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in a heist announced one year ago. Beth Cobert thinks so. And former congressional critics now like what they see. Cobert is OPM’s acting director. She […]

The 9-to-5 day could end for many feds as Metro repairs make flexible schedules the norm

The government has grown so concerned that its Washington-area workers can’t get to the office on time during the massive Metro repairs that started this week that it’s now urging federal offices to change their employees’ work schedules. The shift from the rush-hour arrival and departure common for most federal workers to dramatically more flexible schedules could affect thousands of employees who […]

VA considers gender-confirming surgery for veterans

As debate swirls around who can use what restroom, the Department of Veterans Affairs is placing itself on the side of what makes sense. It is moving to change regulations so VA hospitals can provide gender confirming, or gender reassignment, surgery.  This procedure alters a transgender person’s sexual characteristics in order to match the individual’s […]

Bosses in hot water after sacking government worker once forced to sandbag his house