Furloughs at the Department of Transportation have come to an end and employees are to return to work Wednesday. In a press release Tuesday evening, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, "I am pleased that the Senate has acted to break its logjam and extend the Highway Trust Fund for another 30 days. This means that our valued employees may return to ...

Many federal service contractors could see their jobs brought back in-house if provisions in the House and Senate Defense authorization bills are passed into law, according to an industry group. The House version of the policy measure includes an amendment sponsored by Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., that would give "special consideration" to federal employees for any function that has been performed ...

Progress in promoting women to the top levels of the federal civil service has flowed like the mighty Mississippi River in the springtime. Wrong. Lately, it's been more like a leaky faucet in Uncle Sam's kitchen. While men and women are close to being equally represented in the lower grades of the federal workforce, "at the higher levels women are woefully ...

A day after a report released by the Internal Revenue Service showed that federal workers owe more than $3 billion in taxes from 2008, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee has asked the agency to turn its attention on contractors, specifically those working within Medicare and Medicaid programs. According to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the Government Accountability Office previously ...

It's tough enough selling military service to teenagers who might not be so keen on getting their heads shaved or buy the whole "we do more by 9 a.m." line. And the fact that enlisting today could very well mean a visit to the front lines doesn't help, either. But according to a new report, there are other factors that make ...

Salt Lake City has become the first Utah city to offer housing and employment protections for gays and lesbians — an action supported by the Mormon Church. The City Council, in a unanimous vote Tuesday, passed a pair of nondiscrimination ordinances that would bar landlords and employers from discriminating based on sexuality — a protection not currently afforded under state or ...

Federal employee groups on Monday questioned the accuracy of a recent news report that claimed from 2007 to 2009 the number of government workers earning more than $100,000 per year spiked. Based on an analysis of federal data, a Dec. 10 USA Today story, said the number of federal workers earning more than $100,000 per year rose from 14 percent in ...

The stimulus money flowing through state agencies has saved or created almost 4,500 jobs in Colorado so far, most of them in colleges and prisons. An analysis released Tuesday by Gov. Bill Ritter's economic recovery team also found that about 6,200 homebuyers have taken advantage of the one-time $8,000 federal tax credit for buying their first home. It also found that ...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell has appointed lieutenant governor Bill Bolling his administration's new jobs czar and made it a position in his cabinet. McDonnell also appointed retired Fortune 500 CEO Bob Sledd to be his commerce secretary and named longtime aide and adviser Janet Polarek Secretary of the Commonwealth. Bolling's new title won't mean a raise in his ...

Civilian agencies should increase their acquisition workforce by at least 5 percent by 2014, according to a memo the Office of Management and Budget released on Tuesday. In a second memo, OMB sought to limit the use of noncompetitive and higher-risk types of contracts. "These steps are essential to achieving the president's goal of $40 billion in annual savings through contracting ...

Imagine you've just been hired to manage the Washington Nationals. Your contract is contingent on your ball club making it to the World Series. But the team's owner says you have to take the field with essentially the same players you inherited -- despite their losing record. Sound absurd? Of course, but it isn't far from reality, considering an administration proposal ...

It's been six months since John Berry took over the Office of Personnel Management. With his appointment, and increased attention provided by President Obama's White House, federal personnel issues have gained a much greater profile. More attention, however, doesn't mean Uncle Sam's broken hiring system is fixed, or the confusing employee pay and evaluation structure is suddenly sane, or the federal ...

The U.S. Postal Service lost billions of dollars in revenue during the last fiscal year as the volume of mail plunged. Lawmakers may one day soon consider cutting mail delivery to five days a week. They also may need to sort out how the Postal Service pays for the benefits of current and future retirees. But most customers only care about ...

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana's state tax collections are continuing to take a dive, prompting Gov. Mitch Daniels to warn Thursday that budget cuts that could include schools and employee layoffs might be needed soon. Revenue for September was $166 million short of a May forecast that lawmakers and Daniels used to put together a new two-year budget that took effect July 1. ...

Seven months after President Obama vowed to "personally select" an adviser to orchestrate the government's strategy for protecting computer systems, the White House will name a former Bush administration official to the job Tuesday. Howard A. Schmidt, who was a cyber-adviser in President George W. Bush's White House, will be Obama's new cybersecurity coordinator, an administration official said Monday night. Schmidt ...

Is David Letterman to blame for the lack of diversity at the Department of Homeland Security? The talk show host's recent admission of trysts with women who worked for him, a Republican lawmaker said Wednesday, has provoked not outrage among his fans and the media, but rather a sense of reluctant acceptance. And Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) suggested that such a ...

"When the Senior Executive Service began 30 years ago, all the assistant secretaries for administration in the government," said Carol Bonosaro, "were career executives. Over time, you will now find only two who are career executives and that's because of statute." Which is a real shame, according to the president of the Senior Executives Association. Bonosaro told the Federal Drive that ...

President Obama on Monday signed an executive order designed to boost the number of veterans in the federal workforce. The directive creates Veterans Employment Program offices in federal agencies, to match veterans with job openings and help them navigate the application process. The offices also will give veterans guidance on how to adjust to civilian life after they are hired. "This ...

WASHINGTON - Businesses receiving federal contracts under President Barack Obama's economic stimulus program reported creating or saving more than 30,000 jobs in the first months of the program, according to data released Thursday by a government oversight board. The numbers, based on jobs linked to less than $16 billion in federal contracts, represent just a sliver of the $787 billion stimulus ...

Hiring reform for the entire federal workforce, not just cyber security positions, is the topic of a public meeting the OPM planned for Friday. Participants have been asked to discuss "whether normal, competitive hiring is an effective avenue for bringing recent college graduates into the federal workforce," according to the Federal Register. The hearing follows a May 11 directive from Obama, ...