
Congressman Pushes for Transparency of Agency Settlement Agreements
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Agency Leaders Should Use Pandemic Lessons in Workplace Planning, OMB Says
In a July memo, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young instructed agencies to consider telework and remote work when planning their office workspaces.
Biden Administration Reports Progress in Achieving Workforce, Customer Service Goals
For the third quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2022, the Office of Management (OMB) reported solid progress toward advancing the customer experience imperatives and workforce priorities.
OMB Urges Agencies to Reduce Paperwork Burdens on Citizens
In recent guidance, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) instructed federal agencies to reduce the administrative burdens citizens face when applying for federal services.

New guidance “a really important moment” in Evidence Act implementation, data expert says
Nick Hart, president of the Data Foundation, comments to Government Matters on the new data and analysis that agencies must submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to comply with OMB guidance on implementing the Evidence Act.

White House Releases Memo Detailing Workplace Reentry for Federal Employees
The Biden administration released a memo on June 10, 2021 to facilitate the safe, effective, and efficient return of federal employees to the physical workplace given the declining threat of COVID-19. The administration lifted the 25 percent occupancy rule for federal buildings, but continues to require detailed plans from agencies regarding return-to-work initiatives prior to increasing occupancy.

Biden Administration Releases Budget Proposal
On April 9, 2021, President Joe Biden released his administration’s FY 2022 budget proposal, which included funding increases for education, health, and the environment while keeping consistent spending levels on defense and homeland security.

Prioritizing Federal Personnel: Policy Priorities for the Executive and Legislature
On the latest episode of the FEDtalk podcast, panelists discussed elevating the importance of human capital management in the federal government.

Office of Management and Budget Reinstitutes Requirements for Strategic Planning Goals
The Biden administration announced its plans to rescind a December 2020 memo issued by the Trump administration that changed strategic planning requirements. Robert Fairweather, Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), announced in a March 24, 2021 memo that OMB is reversing the Trump-era memo that suspended requirements for agencies to set strategic planning goals as part of the annual budget process.

OMB Behind Schedule on Open Data Initiatives
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has not yet released guidance for federal agencies regarding implementing comprehensive data inventories, which could be delaying public access to government data. OMB also has not published reports on the 24 Chief Financial Officers Act agencies’ performance and compliance with the Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act.

OPM Halts Diversity and Inclusion Trainings Pending Mandatory Review
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released a memo Friday pausing all diversity and inclusion trainings in the federal government until they are review by OPM. The move comes following several Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memos aimed at eliminating certain trainings that have been labeled divisive and anti-American, as well as a presidential executive order to the same effect.

Shifting Federal Employees Away from Low-Value Work
Recent updates to the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) Cross Agency Priority (CAP) Goals have focused on shifting federal employees away from low-value work toward high-value work.

Trump Administration to Stop Taxpayer Funding for Critical Race Theory Training
A September 4, 2020 memo (M-20-34) from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought asserts that critical race theory (CRT) trainings for federal employees are un-American and go against the founding principles of the United States. The memo directs agencies to cancel contracts and cease funding for these trainings.

Lawmakers Express Concern Over Reopening Plans for Federal Employees
Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Mark Warner (D-VA) have issued a letter to the acting directors of the Office of Personnel Management and Office of Management and Budget expressing opposition to plans to require many federal employees in the national capital region to return to their offices.

OMB Officials Discuss Plan for Recalling Federal Employees
Officials at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sat down with GovExec to discuss the plan for recalling federal employees to their offices. Officials indicate that the government will take a piecemeal approach based on different regions and agency needs.