Federal Newscast

Ahead of the new Postal health program's launch in 2025, the Office of Personnel Management has created a landing page with more information.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Congress has until the end of the month to reauthorize Overseas Comparability Pay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new bill, called the Right to IVF Act, rolls together four previous bills all aiming to broaden fertility coverage nationwide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Department of the Air Force is on track to meet its recruitment goals for fiscal 2024 across all components. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The government saw less staff attrition in fiscal 2023 but some demographic groups are still showing higher rates of quitting than others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the cuts to IRS funding would reduce its total revenue collection by nearly $66 billion dollars over the next decade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville is holding up the promotion of Lieutenant General Ronald Clark to lead Army forces in the Pacific.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Agencies are getting an important exception to the National Archives policy of no longer accepting paper records. NARA says agencies can continue sending official personnel folders to the National Personnel Records Center through June of 20-25. And agencies will be able to deliver employee medical folders to the records center until June of 20-27. NARA stopped accepting most paper records at its facilities this past June. But Archives officials have acknowledged that agencies need more time to digitize their personnel and medical records.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lawmakers are officially filing their discharge petition today to try to move the Social Security Fairness Act to a floor vote. The bill aims to repeal the WEP and G-P-O, two provisions that reduce or eliminate Social Security for certain public servants. The discharge petition will only move forward if the document gains 218 signatures, a House majority. The Social Security Fairness Act currently has 326 cosponsors. NARFE is urging all House representatives to sign the petition to move the bill to a floor vote. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The agency is targeting two categories of tax delinquents — more than 1,600 millionaires with more than $250,000 dollars in tax debt, and 125 thousand high-income individuals, who haven’t filed a tax return since 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A federal union is calling for temporary work-from-home options for staff at the Environmental Protection Agency. The push from the American Federation of Government Employees comes after reports of Legionella outbreaks at several EPA facilities across the country. The affected EPA buildings are located in D.C., Boston, Houston and Chicago. The union called it “completely unacceptable” to continue letting EPA employees into the buildings in those areas. Using situational telework would let EPA staff continue their work safely, AFGE said, until the Legionella outbreak is under control. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Governor Moore joins state and federal leaders to announce Maryland is adding IRS Direct File for 2025 filing season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Congress' own think tank … the Congressional Research Service … is getting new leadership. Foreign policy expert Karen Donfried (DAWN-freed) will become its director … starting September 23rd. She’ll take over for an interim leader who’s held the top job for more than a year. Donfried previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs … and as president of the German Marshall Fund. She also worked as a European specialist for C-R-S for 10 years.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Civilian federal employees are now almost certain to see a 2 percent federal pay raise in 2025. President Joe Biden formally announced his plans for next year’s salary hike on Friday. Nothing will be truly official until Biden signs an executive order enacting the 2025 raise. If finalized, it would be the smallest annual raise enacted during the Biden administration. The 2 percent raise for the General Schedule would break down into a 1.7 percent across-the-board increase, plus a 0.3 percent locality pay adjustment.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Don’t forget… federal employees do get some extra time off on election day this fall. A new reminder from the Office of Personnel Management details exactly how much time, and for what reason. Federal employees can take up to 4 hours of paid administrative leave to go vote on Nov. 5. On top of that, feds can take an additional 4 hours off to volunteer as a poll worker. The paid leave for feds on election day comes from an executive order that President Biden signed back in 2021.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices