News round-up from Congress and OPM: reminder about telework, House representative proposes rule that would jail feds for disclosing security clearances, and will the lack of a speaker result in a shutdown?
This week’s look at recent news affecting feds: will no speaker mean no annual pay raise? Plus, a rule proposed by Rep. Gaetz would punish federal workers for publicly sharing that they hold a security clearance. Lastly, OPM sent a reminder to agencies earlier in the month about tracking employees who work remotely.
No Speaker, No Raise?
There will be a shutdown on November 17th if Congress is unable to pass either a continuing resolution or the 12 budgetary bills that need the President’s signature in order to fund the government. The earliest that a new Speaker could be elected is Wednesday this week and that is looking less likely with Scalise dropping out of the race. It is also unclear if Rep. Jordan would be able to secure any support from Democrats or the Democrat-controlled Senate.
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Without a Speaker of the House, Congress is unable to tackle any of the legislative items on their long to-do list or add new ones. All legislative business in practically on halt and this includes the 12 budgetary measures, one of which is the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act). The Senate’s version of the NDAA included a 5.2% raise for military personnel. The NDAA needs 60 votes from the Senate and has to get passed by the end of the calendar year or not only would there not be a pay raise for the military, but also no continued funding for the Department of Defense. The last time NDAA wasn’t approved in time was 1963. The last time all 12 appropriations bills were approved before October 1st (when the Fiscal Year begins) was 1997, but stop-gap measures and continuing resolutions typically prevent a government stoppage. For more information on how a shutdown could impact the 2024 federal pay raise, check out our most recent pay raise update.
Security Clearance Rule Proposed
One of the far-right Republican representatives that’s responsible for not only the shutdown threat but also ousting Speaker McCarthy is Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz. One of the Congressional committees that he is a member of is in process of revising the rules surrounding maintaining security clearances. Gaetz recently proposed a rule related to the “continuous vetting” of federal employees in “non-sensitive positions.” The rule would fine feds $1000 and/or result in up to a year in prison should federal workers publicly disclose that they have a security clearance in a conversation that isn’t directly related to federal employment or for federal contracting purposes. The reason for the rule, which could potentially impact over 4 million feds (mostly veterans and current and former DoD employees), is intended to prevent feds from abusing their government position to influence US political beliefs. The rule is not expected to pass but accentuates the GOP’s current distrust in the federal workforce.
New Tracking for Remote Work
On October 5th, OPM issued a reminder to federal agencies about new requirements regarding telework. The correspondence detailed ways to collect data and monitor employees who are working remotely. The monitoring includes tracking when such workers log-in and how long they are logged in for. Agencies are responsible for reporting the number of telework agreements in place to OPM and supervisors are responsible for verifying the accuracy of timesheets to ensure employees are recording how many hours they are teleworking. There was supposed to be a second Congressional hearing to address inquiries about remote work in the federal government that were made by legislators such as Joni Ernst, who accused the federal workforce of widespread fraud last month. The threat of a potential shutdown prevented the hearing from ever taking place.
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Until Next Time,
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