House Ends Recess Early to Address Postal Service Situation
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bringing the House back from August recess to vote on emergency postal legislation after concerns that new policies imposed by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) could cause severe mail delays across the country. She said in a statement, "The postmaster general and top Postal Service leaders must answer to the Congress and the American people as to why they are pushing these dangerous new policies that threaten to silence the voices of millions, just months before the election."
White House Issues Formal Veto Threat Against House Appropriations Legislation
On Friday, the House passed a spending package for a majority of the federal government. The day before, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a formal notice announcing plans to veto the legislation, H.R. 7617, if it were to arrive on the president’s desk for signature.
House Lawmakers Aim for Civilian Pay Parity with DoD
In a letter to House Appropriations Committee members on Friday, several lawmakers advocated for pay party with the Department of Defense (DoD). In the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), House lawmakers included a 3.0 percent pay increase for service men and women. The House lawmakers argued Congress should provide civilian federal employees with the same pay raise.
Paid Parental Leave Fix Gets Cleared Through House NDAA Committee
The FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has passed out of the House Armed Services Committee with a provision extending paid parental leave benefits to all federal employees. Most federal employees were granted paid parental leave in the FY 2020 NDAA, but in what has been described as a technical error due to rushed drafting, several agencies were excluded from receiving the benefit. The provision within the FY 2021 NDAA would extend coverage to the excluded agencies.