Judge orders Army Corps of Engineers to send 'letter of appreciation' to whistleblower
- A Merritt Systems Protection Board judge orders the Army Corps of Engineers to send a letter of appreciation to the whistleblower. The judge says the Army Corps has not fulfilled the terms of the 2023 settlement and wrote a letter of “deepest gratitude” to Dr. Toni Savage, who exposed multi-million dollar contract fraud she witnessed as a Corps contract employee. It was decided that he was obligated to pay. Engineer Support Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Corps was also required to pay an undisclosed amount to Savage, who was retaliated against for blowing the whistle.
- The General Services Administration is one step closer to establishing a new way for agents to verify and authenticate customer identities by taking the Login.gov platform to the next level. And we rely on industry expertise to make it happen. GSA has awarded eight vendors spots in a new blanket purchase agreement for next-generation identity proofing capabilities. Through the BPA, which is capped at $194 million, eight vendors will provide a variety of services including document capture, authentication and verification, biometric comparison, and identity resolution. The agency is using BPA as part of improvements to Login.gov following a scathing audit report in 2023. GSA received 17 bids, so there is still the possibility of a protest.
- The Veterans Benefits Administration is moving away from mandatory overtime. While VBA provides more benefits to more veterans than at any point in its history, we strive to ensure our employees can keep up. VBA is asking Congress to nearly double the overtime budget in fiscal year 2025. But Benefits Undersecretary Joshua Jacobs said the VBA is looking to move away from mandatory overtime to reduce employee burnout. “We're working hard to eliminate overtime requirements. We don't think that's sustainable long-term,” Jacobs said.
- Agencies face several challenges when it comes to hiring employees with disabilities. Certain hiring authorities, known as Schedule A, are intended to help agencies streamline the hiring process for hiring people with disabilities. However, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has found that government agencies face confusion and difficulty in exercising their authority. Many agency employees are not familiar with employment authorities. And often, agencies don't have enough qualified human resources staff to handle these recruitment efforts. The EEOC is seeking better guidance, clarification, and assistance to help agencies better understand and utilize this authority.
- Some Department of Homeland Security departments are facing a staff exodus. Over the past six months, DHS's Office of Countermeasures for Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) has lost 24 of its approximately 240 employees, or about 10% of its workforce. The law authorizing the position expired in December, but Congress has not yet passed a reauthorization. Without that, CWMD leaders said the office will continue to lose employees and struggle to recruit new talent. The office has also faced declining employee morale, with employee engagement scores among the lowest in the federal government in recent years.
- The Army is the largest participant in the first round of the Department of Defense's Replicator program. One of his systems, which the Army was already working on, was adopted in the first phase of the Replicator program. The program aims to deploy thousands of small, inexpensive drones. The service has already proposed several systems as part of the program's second round. Doug Bush, assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, declined to say which systems were selected in the first round. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife said the Air Force's program is not mature enough for the first wave of the replicator concept.
- The Department of Justice is pushing for new standards for the system underlying the Freedom of Information Act. The DoJ is seeking comment on his first-ever FOIA business standards. Feedback is expected to be submitted by he May 17th. This standard is intended to help agencies align around a common FOIA service, as well as give vendors a better idea of how to structure their FOIA case management systems. The federal government received a record number of FOIA requests last year. Many federal FOIA offices report that outdated and disjointed technology is one of their biggest challenges.
- The largest military life survey has found a significant drop in the number of military families encouraging young people to join the military. At the same time, the number of families keeping young people away from military service has doubled since 2016. The military service has struggled to meet its recruiting goals in recent years. Families who discourage military service from their loved ones will further exacerbate the Pentagon's recruiting crisis, as the majority of new employees report having a family member who has served in the military.
- The Army is adding a new approach: returning veterans to fill some of its uniformed personnel shortages. A message sent yesterday by the Army's Deputy Chief of Personnel Staff authorizes the use of the Army's Veterans Recall Program to fill vacancies in “critical and critical” positions. All recalls are voluntary, with commands able to request specific veterans to return to active duty or serve in specific positions. The Army expects most recalls to last one to two years, and for retired airmen two to three years.
- Two House Republicans are trying to block the IRS' efforts to use artificial intelligence to conduct more targeted audits. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana) and Rep. Eric Burleson (R-Missouri) are leading the No-AI Audit Act. The bill would require the IRS to select and initiate audits based on employee decisions rather than AI algorithms. The bill would also limit the IRS' ability to set AI guidance without first establishing clear taxpayer protections.
- Most government agencies have effectively provided personal assistance services (PAS) for dietitians with disabilities. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, this trend continues even in workplace environments where telework has increased. Government agencies are legally required to implement PAS programs to assist staff with disabilities in performing physical tasks. For the approximately 15% of agencies that have issues with requirements, the EEOC recommends that a senior management meeting discuss solutions. The EEOC stated that, if possible, agencies should allocate additional personnel and funding to provide accommodations to PAS.
Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not directed to users within the European Economic Area.
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A Merritt Systems Protection Board judge orders the Army Corps of Engineers to send a letter of appreciation to the whistleblower. The judge says the Army Corps has not fulfilled the terms of the 2023 settlement and wrote a letter of “deepest gratitude” to Dr. Toni Savage, who exposed multi-million dollar contract fraud she witnessed as a Corps contract employee. It was decided that he was obligated to pay. Engineer Support Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Corps was also required to pay an undisclosed amount to Savage, who was retaliated against for blowing the whistle.The General Services Administration is one step closer to establishing a new way for agents to verify and authenticate customer identities by taking the Login.gov platform to the next level. And we rely on industry expertise to make it happen. GSA has awarded eight vendors spots in a new blanket purchase agreement for next-generation identity proofing capabilities. Through the BPA, which is capped at $194 million, eight vendors will provide a variety of services including document capture, authentication and verification, biometric comparison, and identity resolution. The agency is using BPA as part of improvements to Login.gov following a scathing audit report in 2023. GSA received 17 bids, so there is still the possibility of a protest. The Veterans Benefits Administration is moving away from mandatory overtime. While VBA provides more benefits to more veterans than at any point in its history, we strive to ensure our employees can keep up. VBA is asking Congress to nearly double the overtime budget in fiscal year 2025. But Benefits Undersecretary Joshua Jacobs said the VBA is looking to move away from mandatory overtime to reduce employee burnout. “We're working hard to eliminate overtime requirements. We don't think that's sustainable long-term,” Jacobs said. Agencies face several challenges when it comes to hiring employees with disabilities. Certain hiring authorities, known as Schedule A, are intended to help agencies streamline the hiring process for hiring people with disabilities. However, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has found that government agencies face confusion and difficulty in exercising their authority. Many agency employees are not familiar with employment authorities. And often, agencies don't have enough qualified human resources staff to handle these recruitment efforts. The EEOC is seeking better guidance, clarification, and assistance to help agencies better understand and utilize this authority.
Some Department of Homeland Security departments are facing a staff exodus. Over the past six months, DHS's Office of Countermeasures for Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) has lost 24 of its approximately 240 employees, or about 10% of its workforce. The law authorizing the position expired in December, but Congress has not yet passed a reauthorization. Without that, CWMD leaders said the office will continue to lose employees and struggle to recruit new talent. The office has also faced declining employee morale, with employee engagement scores among the lowest in the federal government in recent years. The Army is the largest participant in the first round of the Department of Defense's Replicator program. One of his systems, which the Army was already working on, was adopted in the first phase of the Replicator program. The program aims to deploy thousands of small, inexpensive drones. The service has already proposed several systems as part of the program's second round. Doug Bush, assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, declined to say which systems were selected in the first round. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife said the Air Force's program is not mature enough for the first wave of the replicator concept. The Department of Justice is pushing for new standards for the system underlying the Freedom of Information Act. The DoJ is seeking comment on his first-ever FOIA business standards. Feedback is expected to be submitted by he May 17th. This standard is intended to help agencies align around a common FOIA service, as well as give vendors a better idea of how to structure their FOIA case management systems. The federal government received a record number of FOIA requests last year. Many federal FOIA offices report that outdated and disjointed technology is one of their biggest challenges. The largest military life survey has found a significant drop in the number of military families encouraging young people to join the military. At the same time, the number of families keeping young people away from military service has doubled since 2016. The military service has struggled to meet its recruiting goals in recent years. Families who discourage military service from their loved ones will further exacerbate the Pentagon's recruiting crisis, as the majority of new employees report having a family member who has served in the military.The Army is adding a new approach: returning veterans to fill some of its uniformed personnel shortages. A message sent yesterday by the Army's Deputy Chief of Personnel Staff authorizes the use of the Army's Veterans Recall Program to fill vacancies in “critical and critical” positions. All recalls are voluntary, with commands able to request specific veterans to return to active duty or serve in specific positions. The Army expects most recalls to last one to two years, and for retired airmen two to three years.Two House Republicans are trying to block the IRS' efforts to use artificial intelligence to conduct more targeted audits. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana) and Rep. Eric Burleson (R-Missouri) are leading the No-AI Audit Act. The bill would require the IRS to select and initiate audits based on employee decisions rather than AI algorithms. The bill would also limit the IRS' ability to set AI guidance without first establishing clear taxpayer protections.Most government agencies have effectively provided personal assistance services (PAS) for dietitians with disabilities. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, this trend continues even in workplace environments where telework has increased. Government agencies are legally required to implement PAS programs to assist staff with disabilities in performing physical tasks. For the approximately 15% of agencies that have issues with requirements, the EEOC recommends that a senior management meeting discuss solutions. The EEOC stated that, if possible, agencies should allocate additional personnel and funding to provide accommodations to PAS.
Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not directed to users within the European Economic Area.
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-newscast/2024/03/judge-orders-army-corps-of-engineers-send-whistleblower-thank-you-letter/ Judge orders Army Corps of Engineers to send 'letter of appreciation' to whistleblower