Adam Mazmanian The White House has threatened to start the ball rolling on layoffs at the Office of Personnel Management if a proposed merger to fold most of OPM into the General Services Administration isn't advanced with legislation. The Trump administration claims that a $70 million shortfall will result from the transfer of the National Background Investigation Bureau (NBIB) from OPM to the D... Read more »
Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) released the following statement after the House unanimously agreed to include in H.R. 3351 his amendment prohibiting President Trump from carrying out his threat to lay off hundreds of Office of Personnel Management (OPM) employees if Congress does not acquiesce to the Administration’s plan to abolish OPM altogether. “The federal government’s most essentia... Read more »
Mike Lillis House Democrats on Thursday introduced legislation to increase the number of refugees allowed into the United States, taking a direct shot at the Trump administration's move to cut the figure drastically. The legislation has little chance of passing through the Republican-controlled Senate, where GOP leaders have consistently backed President Trump's hardline positions on immigration,... Read more »
Joe Davidson Key members of Congress want the Trump administration to address charges of a “secret” Veterans Affairs wait list that has a higher number of patients seeking medical care than information publicly available. Allegations about significantly different data regarding veterans awaiting treatment on internal and public records were made by Jereme P. Whiteman, VA’s national director of cl... Read more »
Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) sent a bipartisan, bicameral letter to House and Senate Appropriators urging them to protect Coast Guard death gratuities in the event of another government shutdown. “The longstanding purpose of the death gratuity payment is to assist families of deceased servi... Read more »
Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, reintroduced the National Security Diversity and Workforce Inclusion Act, legislation that would promote diversity in federal national security offices. Companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD). Connolly was joined by Representatives Meeks (D-NY), Hastings (... Read more »
Earlier this week, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Congressman Paul Mitchell (R-MI), Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) introduced H.R. 2847, the No Passport Fees for Heroes’ Families Act, which waives passport fees for family members obtaining a passport to visit an injured servicemember overseas. It mirrors a provision in existing law that waives passport fees for family members ... Read more »
Andrea Worker Thousands of furloughed government employees suffered during the shutdown. Many were forced to seek public and and/or private assistance to meet basic needs and financial obligations. But during their ordeals, those government employees knew that when they returned to work they would eventually receive back pay. The same is not true for the businesses and employees who contract thei... Read more »
Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, and Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, introduced the Interim Stay Authority to Protect Whistleblowers Act. In the event there are no members on the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) as is currently the case, this legislation would delegate tem... Read more »
Mark Rockwell Even though the six-week partial government shutdown ended in February, its impact is still being felt, contractors told a congressional panel on May 6. Several federal contractors at a field hearing convened by the House Oversight and Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Government Operations testified their operations and employees faced extreme difficulties during the 35-day partia... Read more »
