Trump administration ordered to restore Public Apportionments database

var config_5573133 = {“options”:{“theme”:”hbidc_default”},”extensions”:{“Playlist”:[]},”episode”:{“media”:{“mp3″:”https:\/\/mgln.ai\/e\/345\/rss.art19.com\/episodes\/6d513a7d-c1e5-47a3-ad3a-6ecc9baeb48c.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg5Xb3JkUHJlc3MGOgZFVA%3D%3D–466d26bc6c0e932b4a48b1403433bf1814d4975e”},”coverUrl”:”https:\/\/federalnewsnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/FedNewscast1500-150×150.jpg”,”title”:”Trump administration ordered to restore Public Apportionment database”,”description”:”[hbidcpodcast podcastid=’5573133′]nn[federal_newscast]”}}; * The Office of Management and Budget has until today to turn the lights back on one of its key public spending transparency websites. In March, OMB shut down its Congressionally-mandated database that tracks the apportionment of funds to individual agencies, saying it didn’t believe it should have to provide “predecisional” information. On Monday, a federal judge found that decision violated the law, and gave the Trump administration until 10 a.m. on Wednesday to restore the Public Apportionments Database.(Trump administration ordered to restore Public Apportionments Database – U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia) * Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has issued a memo listing medical conditions that disqualify recruits from joining the military. The memo also includes an updated list of medical conditions that require a waiver to enlist, such as lack of vision in one or both eyes, having a pacemaker, or a history of chronic kidney disease. The new policy follows Hegseth’s directive to review medical conditions that are currently eligible for waivers. The number of recruits joining the military with medical waivers has increased over the past decade, partly due to a Pentagon policy change that no longer disqualified recruits with conditions like childhood asthma or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, from serving. But the policies around granting waivers have come under increased scrutiny following the Trump administration’s ban on transgender service members.(Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has issued a memo listing medical conditions that disqualify recruits from joining the military – Hegseth updates medical waiver policy ) * The powerful House Homeland Security Committee has a new chairman. New York Republican Andrew Garbarino was selected to lead the committee this week. He takes the gavel from retiring Tennessee Representative Mark Green. Garbarino is known as a key advocate for cybersecurity on Capitol Hill. He previously served as chairman of the homeland security committee’s cybersecurity subcommittee. During a hearing on Tuesday, Garbarino said one of his top priorities was reauthorizing the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, which expires at the end of September. (Garbarino selected to lead powerful homeland security committee – Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-New York)) * The Department of Veterans Affairs is reining in its use of pay incentives to recruit and retain employees in veteran-facing health care jobs. VA officials say they don’t need these incentives to fill critical vacancies. But recent data shows the department has seen a net loss of about 7,500 employees in veteran-facing jobs so far this fiscal year. That includes registered nurses, physicians and psychologists. The VA announced earlier this month that it plans to cut 30,000 positions through attrition, and is no longer planning on a “department-wide” reduction in force to cut more than 80,000 positions. VA Secretary Doug Collins says the staffing cuts will not impact veteran care or benefits. (VA loses 7,500 employees in veteran-facing roles as part of workforce cuts – Federal News Network) * A new authentication system is coming to users across the Defense Department. The Pentagon says the new “myAuth” system will be rolled out over the next 18 months, replacing the existing DS Logon system, and also eliminating a large collection of smaller web-based login services. The system is based largely on a commercial product, Okta Verify. Officials say it will let military members and DoD civilians access some sites without using a common access card, and also ease the login process for retirees and military family members. (New authorization system is coming to Department of Defense – Defense Department) * Funding for a key cybersecurity project at the Department of Homeland Security has expired. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s CyberSentry program puts sensors on the networks of critical infrastructure organizations that opt into the program. Analysts at Lawrence Livermore National Lab play a critical role in examining the data that comes off those sensors. But the lab’s funding for doing that work expired on Sunday. That’s what Tim Gleason, program leader at Lawrence Livermore, told the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday. “The sensors are still deployed,” Gleason said. “They’re still gathering data. We just aren’t analyzing the data that’s coming in.” CISA says it’s reviewing the agreement with the lab and that the CyberSentry program remains fully operational. (CISA allows critical infrastructure cybersecurity contract to lapse – Federal News Network) * Former feds are seeing more opportunities pop up to continue their public service through a different lens: Public policy fellowships. Harvard’s Kennedy School says it will offer scholarships to feds impacted by workforce cuts if they’re interested in pursuing a master’s degree in public policy. Democracy Forward also recently announced a new fellowship program specifically for former feds to research the long-term impacts of the Trump administration’s agency cuts. Those outside opportunities come while leadership development programs inside the government are waning. The Trump administration canceled the long-standing Presidential Management Fellows program. And the Office of Personnel Management reduced the workforce at its Center for Leadership Development. (Former feds seeing more opportunities to continue their public service – Federal News Network) * A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is calling on the Defense Department to halt the Army’s effort to restructure its acquisition offices as part of the service’s sweeping transformation initiative. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, the lawmakers warned that dismantling the Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments and Ammunition “will have devastating consequences.” The Army is weighing in consolidating its 12 Program Executive Offices into seven Capability Executive Offices. The lawmakers said the move would damage the Army’s ammunition acquisition efforts. The group called on the Army to pause any implementation of the effort and demanded a briefing from the Pentagon by August 1.(Lawmakers push back on Army’s plan to consolidate its PEOs – Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.)) * At least two groups of fired federal employees have gained class action status in their cases before the Merit Systems Protection Board. Probationary employees who were fired from the Department of Interior were told they can now continue their appeals as a class action. That follows a similar decision for employees fired from the Department of Homeland Security. Normally, class certifications at MSPB are rare. But attorneys representing the impacted federal employees said they’re both hopeful and confident that the handful of early decisions will lead to more of those decisions. Both groups of former feds are alleging that their terminations earlier this year amounted to back-door reductions in force.(Two groups of fired feds gain class action status – Federal News Network) * The State Department laid off more than 1,300 employees earlier this month. But certain offices are feeling those cuts more than others. The Bureau of Global Talent Management lost more than 150 total employees as part of the reduction in force. That’s more than any other office. The Bureau of Consular Affairs lost more than 100 employees to the RIF. The Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, which manages the department’s international real estate portfolio, also lost nearly 100 employees. A small percentage of employees who received RIF notices were terminated by accident and have since been reinstated.(Some parts of State Department more impacted by workforce cuts – Federal News Network) The post Trump administration ordered to restore Public Apportionments database first appeared on Federal News Network.
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