Even though the U.S. Postal Service isn’t mentioned once in the stop-gap spending bill approved by the House this afternoon, the measure deals a blow to the agency’s hope of ending Saturday mail delivery this August. For about 30 years, Congress has used annual appropriations bills to continue a ban on any reduction in mail delivery frequency. But continuing resolutions like the one that cleared the House today are basically just extensions of whatever Congress did the previous year. And because this particular CR is ‘silent” on the mail delivery issue, that means the prohibition would remain in force through…
Monthly Archives: March, 2013
Federal Times last December brought you the inside story of how the once-ballyhooed Results-Only Work Environment program fizzled when it was tested at the Office of Personnel Management. In a sad postscript to that story, Best Buy — the home of ROWE, where it was first pioneered in 2005 — has just announced it is also canceling the ROWE program. According to CNN: Best Buy said some of the 4,000 non-store employees who took advantage of its work-from home program still may be able to telecommute or set flexible schedules. But as of Monday they’ll no longer have the freedom to…
The Office of Personnel Management just announced that federal offices in the Washington area will be closed Wednesday due to snow. The storm — dubbed “snowquester” — has now begun, and is expected to hammer Washington. The Washington Post’s Capitol Weather Gang just tweeted that “conditions will deteriorate fast” as the main part of the snowstorm moves in to Washington. OPM says that the closure does not apply to emergency employees and telework-ready employees who are required to work. But for everybody else, enjoy your snow day.
Now more than ever, federal managers should be creating an environment where employees are compelled to collaborate and share innovative ideas, a senior administration official said Tuesday. “We’re going to need to have strategies as managers,” said Dan Tangherlini, acting administrator at the General Services Administration. Speaking at the Federal Managers Association’s national convention in Washington, Tangherlini challenged managers to use existing resources, such as people and technology, to improve productivity and drive down costs. “We are contending with a situation, which in my 22 years of service…is unique,” he said of the wide gap between federal spending and revenue,…
The General Services Administration auction of a a 20,000-square-foot heating plant in the high-priced Georgetown section of Washington continues to attract bidders, according to the agency. The latest bid is $19 million, up from $16.1 million a week ago. While the “soft close” date was originally set for Feb. 19 every bid the agency receives extends the amount of time left for others to respond, essentially creating a bidding war amongst interested parties.
The sequester is here, and many federal employees are upset, frustrated and worried about the impact of severe budget cuts on their jobs and agencies. Some employees are leading efforts to help their agencies cut costs and potentially lessen the impact of anticipated sharp budget cuts. It may mean using cheaper printing paper, parking in a less expensive garage or conducting more meetings via the Internet. What are you or your colleagues doing to save money? Federal Times wants to hear from you. Please contact Nicole Johnson at njohnson@federaltimes.com or at 703-750.8145.
We began our new feature Silver Screen Feds last week with a look at the heroic postal workers in “Miracle on 34th Street” and the smug Environmental Protection Agency agent from “Ghostbusters.” This week, we examine a far less-honorable mailman — Newman from “Seinfeld” — and the surprising heroism of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Hank Schrader in “Breaking Bad.” BEST FEDS: Hank Schrader, DEA, “Breaking Bad” (Stephen Losey) The main character of the dark crime drama “Breaking Bad” is Walter White, a once-milquetoast high school chemistry teacher who uses his genius and cunning to cook crystal methamphetamine after learning that…
So some of you have seen the now viral Harlem Shake and some of you have not. But essentially, one person begins dancing and after a cut scene everyone is. There are weird poses and dances but that is the essential gist of it. But some passengers on a Frontier Airlines flight got the FAA’s attention when they did it on a plane in mid flight. So for all of our FAA readers, or general flight experts. What rules were broken and were there any crimes committed?