On Wednesday, January 29, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other top legislators in the House unveiled a $760 billion infrastructure package. They appealed to President Trump, who campaigned on a $1 trillion infrastructure plan, to join them in moving this funding forward. As recently as May 2019, the President was expected to propose a $2 trillion infrastructure package, but he urged Congress to first pass the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal. He signed that deal into place on January 29, the same day House Democrats offered their infrastructure proposal.

A year ago, the federal government was mired in a partial government shutdown, uncertainty, and frustration. And just a month ago, in early December 2019, the Federal Managers Association (FMA) expressed significant concerns about the costs of continuing resolutions on the federal workforce and the impact on day-to-day operations for managers. But a lot can happen in a month, and FMA is both proud and optimistic as we begin a new year.

FMA was encouraged by the two-year bipartisan budget deal Congress and the Administration agreed to and passed in August 2019, preventing sequestration and raising the debt ceiling. The document even called for “orderly and timely consideration” of FY2020 spending bills, but mere weeks remain on the second CR of the fiscal year. Members of Congress frequently say they want to run the government like a business. But a business that constantly ran with budget uncertainty and delayed funding would never thrive or stay in business long. FMA implores Congress and the Administration to come together and fully fund FY 2020.

Last month, Americans went to the polls to cast their ballots in the midterm elections. As a non-partisan organization, the Federal Managers Association watched the election results closely, supporting both Democrats and Republicans with a track record of working to enhance the federal workforce.

On September 25, 2019, FMA attended the Kalaris Intelligence conference at Georgetown University. Sponsored by Georgetown’s Center for Security Studies, the theme revolved around Artificial Intelligence (AI) and national security. For federal managers and their employees, AI has the potential to become a useful tool for gathering data, sifting through that data, and accomplishing long term goals in an effective manner. FMA attended to learn more about this emerging technology, how it is currently being used, and how it can be used in the future.

After five weeks of recess, both chambers of Congress will return to Washington, D.C., on September 9th. Committee work will restart, speeches will be made on the floor, and representative work for the American people will begin again. For anyone, returning to work can be an arduous undertaking, but for this first session of the 116th Congress it is set to be particularly so. As of the writing of this article, the Senate has yet to pass any appropriations bills to fund the federal government for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) and Congress has a little over three legislative weeks to avoid the second government shutdown of 2019.

The Senate has a lot of business to tend to when it returns from its State Work Period on September 9. Most notably, it will have barely three weeks before the end of the current fiscal year to pass appropriations to fund the federal government for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) and prevent another government shutdown. Among the other important priorities on the Senate’s plate is finally confirming nominees for the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the primary appeals board for federal employees.

In the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (P.L. 114-92), Congress gave the Department of Defense (DOD) authority to institute a two-year probationary period. FMA supported the change. Now there’s an effort currently underway to revert to a one-year probationary period via the FY2020 NDAA, and FMA is helping lead the charge for DOD to maintain its current policy.

As you have no doubt read at FEDManager.com, it has been a busy time at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in recent months. OPM has been led by Acting Director Margaret Weichert – who also serves as the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget – since October 2018. President Trump nominated Dale Cabaniss as director of OPM in March 2019, and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee favorably reported out her nomination in May. The full Senate has not yet acted on her nomination. FMA and our colleagues within the Government Managers Coalition offered support for her confirmation, noting the agency has only had a Senate-confirmed director for eight months out of the last four years.

On Thursday, May 2, Representatives Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Tom Cole (R-OK) introduced the Federal Retirement Fairness Act (H.R. 2478). The bill would allow Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) employees an opportunity to make catch-up retirement contributions for service performed in temporary positions. This has been one of FMA’s legislative priorities for several years.

As an organization that represents managers, supervisors, and executives in the federal government, including at the Internal Revenue Service, it was difficult, but necessary, to take a close look at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the IRS released last week. GAO was asked to “review IRS’s enterprise-wide strategic workforce planning efforts,” and its finding of serious risks to IRS’s mission should not come as a surprise.

As the 116th Congress churns into full gear, it will be bombarded with hordes of people seeking to meet with members of Congress and their office staffs. Corporations, associations, and others have already been making visits for several weeks, introducing themselves to the freshman members of Congress or solidifying previous relationships with more experienced lawmakers.

While much of the news has rightly been dominated by the partial government shutdown and the 2019 pay freeze, the 116th Congress is slowly beginning to turn the gears and get underway. New legislation is being introduced and reintroduced from earlier sessions of Congress. Among the bills that has been reintroduced is the TRICARE Reserve Select Improvement Act (H.R. 613 / S. 164), introduced by Representative Trent Kelly (R-MS) and Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), respectively. This legislation, referred to the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services, would address an issue the Federal Managers Association (FMA) has been working on for several years.

Much has been written about the current partial government shutdown as it approaches its third week, and rightfully so. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees across the country remain unable to perform their constitutionally-mandated missions until the shuttered agencies and departments are properly funded by Congress and signed into law by the President. Millions of dollars in production are lost and the services Americans count on are simply not performed. As the shutdown continues –without end in sight – another devastating policy towards feds was enforced over the holidays. On the evening of Friday, December 28, 2018, President Trump issued an executive order calling for a freeze of federal employees’ pay in fiscal year 2019.

Late last week Congress agreed to a two-week extension of a Continuing Resolution preventing a partial government shutdown for the time being. The new CR expires on December 21.

Last month, Americans went to the polls to cast their ballots in the midterm elections. As a non-partisan organization, the Federal Managers Association watched the election results closely, supporting both Democrats and Republicans with a track record of working to enhance the federal workforce.

In April, we wrote about the Federal Retirement Fairness Act (H.R. 5389), bipartisan legislation introduced by Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Walter Jones (R-NC). FMA endorsed the bill, which would allow a Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) employee to make a deposit, plus interest, and receive credit toward his or her annuity computation for non-deduction service performed on or after January 1, 1989.

We all saw it coming; it took no one by surprise. In fact, it was a mere formality when it did happen, but at the end of August, when the administration formally called for a pay freeze for all civilian federal employees for Fiscal Year 2019, it was disappointing nonetheless. The formal rationale for the pay freeze was due to “national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare,” from an administration that continues to boast unprecedented economic gains. And it came despite the federal workforce already contributing more than $182 billion towards deficit reduction since 2011 through a three-year pay freeze, reduced pay increases, unpaid furlough days, and two increases in retirement contributions for new hires, without any additional benefits.