Federal pay caps continue to challenge recruitment and retention efforts
Federal pay caps are contributing to ongoing recruitment and retention challenges in the Defense Department’s blue-collar workforce. A new report from the Government Accountability Office has found that multiple DoD installations are struggling to keep employees in the Federal Wage System, due to longstanding pay limitations set by Congress. GAO also pointed to evidence that the pay rates for blue-collar federal employees have deviated from pay rates in the larger labor market, making it even harder for DoD to compete with the private sector. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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House passes its version of 2026 defense policy bill
The House passed its version of the 2026 defense policy bill, which includes a 3.8% pay bump for service members. House Republicans pushed the bill through largely without Democratic support after adding conservative provisions and blocking debates Democrats sought on issues like expanding the use of the military inside the country. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith, who voted against the bill, said the GOP included “countless partisan amendments” and “silenced debate of critical issues.” The annual legislation also includes sweeping acquisition reforms aimed at changing how the Pentagon does business. The Senate is expected to pass its version of the defense bill later this week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Pentagon publishes final rule implementing CMMC
The Pentagon has published the final acquisition rule implementing the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program. The rule, released in yesterday’s Federal Register will allow Defense Department procurements to include CMMC assessment requirements. The assessments are intended to ensure defense contractors are following cybersecurity standards for protecting controlled unclassified information. The Pentagon estimates 80,000 defense contractors may be required to obtain a CMMC assessment. Officials plan to phase in the requirements over a three-year period. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Federal retirement claims processing times increase
Federal employees, on average, are waiting longer to see their retirement applications processed. New data from the Office of Personnel Management for August shows it takes an average of 70 days to process a claim from a retiring fed. But if retirement claims are coming to OPM in less than 60 days, those cases take, on average, 45 days to complete. At the same time, OPM received more than 9,400 retirement claims last month. OPM's backlog of retirement claims dropped by 2,000 to 24,300. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Energy dept sued over plan to purge FOIA requests
The Energy Department is being sued over its plan to purge old Freedom of Information Act requests. The nonprofit group American Oversight filed the suit in U.S. District Court last week. It challenges DOE’s effort to require individuals to re-confirm their interest in FOIA requests. In an August notice in the Federal Register, DOE announced that those with a FOIA request submitted prior to October 1, 2024, must email the agency within 30 days to keep the request open. American Oversight argues the move violates the law and would open the door for other agencies to sidestep their obligations under FOIA. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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