Federal Newscast

Democrats are demanding that the White House follow a 2019 law to ensure back pay for furloughed employees after the government shutdown. In a letter to the Office of Management and Budget, House and Senate lawmakers wrote that the law is clear: Furloughed employees are owed back pay, just as excepted employees are. The letter comes after OMB questioned whether the law actually guaranteed pay for furloughed feds. OMB’s legal opinion, though, quickly received backlash from lawmakers, unions and other employee organizations.

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The Army’s Human Resources Command has developed an internal AI chatbot called “Ask HR” — the chatbot will enter beta testing once the government is funded. The bot has access to Army regulations, Military Personnel Messages and other HR data, which allows soldiers to quickly find information. The new tool is part of a broader effort to create a “digital front door” for human resources, which combines the Army’s existing call center and online services to improve the overall soldier experience. Army officials also said they are also exploring the use of generative AI to identify talent more quickly and improve officer retention. 

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Plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s latest mass layoffs will make their case to a federal judge tomorrow. The administration sent RIF notices to more than 4,000 federal employees last week. Government employee unions say reduction-in-force procedures are normally prohibited during a shutdown and that the Trump administration gave unlawful orders to exempt RIF activities. The Supreme Court this summer allowed the Trump administration to proceed with earlier mass layoffs across the federal workforce.  

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The Pentagon is making the reinstatement process smoother for service members who were booted from the military over the COVID vaccine. In a new memo, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness said applicants seeking reinstatement now receive special-category VIP treatment. That includes notifying commanders in advance of their arrival, getting priority processing at Military Entrance Processing Stations and an assigned escort to expedite their screening. In addition, the department will proactively review personnel records and discharge characterizations for service members involuntarily separated solely due to COVID-19 vaccine refusal. 

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The number of federal employees filing retirement claims in September was the lowest all year. Just over 6,300 employees submitted their retirement paperwork to the Office of Personnel Management. At the same time, OPM also processed the fewest number of current claims in September, just over 7,900.  Despite the lower number of claims, OPM says it took six days longer, on average, in September than in August to process claims. The current retirement claims backlog is at 23,500, which dropped for the fourth straight month.

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The number of so-called TSP millionaires is continuing to go up. As of October 1st, nearly 190,000 participants in the Thrift Savings Plan have accounts totaling over $1 million. That’s about 2.6 percent of all TSP accounts across the board. It also means roughly 19,000 more feds have crossed the million-dollar threshold in the last three months. Most TSP millionaires have spent decades investing in their accounts.

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Senate Democrats are charging the Department of Government Efficiency is putting federal data at risk at the Social Security Administration, the General Services Administration and the Office of Personnel Management. In a new report, Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, says staff investigations and whistleblower accounts show how DOGE personnel are working without any accountability to agency leadership, Congressional oversight or the public. For example, Peters says despite an SSA risk assessment warning of an up to a 65% chance of catastrophic breach, the data remains in systems without any verified security controls. Peters called on SSA, GSA and OPM to immediately halt DOGE operations and access to information systems given the risk of a serious data breach.

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The White House is warning of the potential for spillover effects into the broader economy because of the government shutdown, now entering its second week. The White House's Council of Economic Advisers says calculations based on the number of federal employees and federal contractors not being paid imply that a month-long shutdown would reduce consumer spending by $30 billion. The CEA says approximately half of which would directly be due to federal employees and contractors not working and half would be due to spillover effects on other sectors. More broadly, CEA says delays in agency processes ranging from small business loans to export licenses approvals to awarding federal contracts also would negatively impact the U.S. economy.

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In today's Federal Newscast, federal employee unions are moving against an unprecedented actions during a government shutdown

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In today's Federal Newscast, the Thrift Savings Plan continues its run of month-over-month gains. 

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