The second-longest government shutdown is projected to put a toll on the U.S. economy. The Congressional Budget Office expects the shutdown so far to take a $7 billion hit to the economy. That sum would climb to $14 billion if it drags on for another month. About 75,000 federal employees are currently furloughed and many others are working without pay. (Quantitative Analysis of the Effects of the Government Shutdown on the Economy - Congressional Budget Office )Some GOP House lawmakers want to maintain an NDAA provision that would let civilian DoD employees keep their union contract. In a new letter, Republicans argued that removing union coverage in the DoD would not enhance national security, but risk it, by worsening employee morale and retention. The GOP letter comes as civilian employees at most agencies are on track to lose collective bargaining rights, due to executive orders from President Trump earlier this year. The National Federation of Federal Employees expressed support for the GOP letter, but added that it should be expanded to include the entire federal workforce. (Letter on collective bargaining for DoD employees - House Republicans)A Senate lawmaker is raising questions about the recent F5 cyber breach that sent agencies scrambling. Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-L.A.) in a new letter called on F5 to work with its customers to secure systems potentially affected by the hack. Earlier this month, the company publicly disclosed that nation-state hackers had breached some F5 systems and stolen files. The intrusion led to a government-wide emergency directive to patch F5 devices and systems. Cassidy wants to know more about how F5 is working with customers to identify specific threats and safely re-connect systems. (Cassidy continues committee investigation into cybersecurity incidents - Senate HELP Committee)Passport services employees are working without pay, despite available funds. About 1,500 passport services employees at the State Department are showing up to work without pay during the second-longest government shutdown. That’s an unusual step since this part of the agency is fee-funded and can normally pay staff on time during a lapse in congressional funding. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said it's been standard practice to pay these employees on time in previous shutdowns. (‘What happened to all of our funds?’ Passport services staff, exempt from shutdowns, working without pay - Federal News Network)Maryland Democrats are seeking to offer student loan relief to federal employees and contractors affected by the shutdown. House and Senate lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require the Education Department to pause all payments on student loans for both feds and contractors during a government funding lapse. The legislation would apply to the current shutdown and any future shutdown that lasts longer than two weeks.(The Shutdown Student Loans for Feds Act - Maryland Democrats)The nominee to be inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services is pledging to support the Trump administration’s agenda. HHS IG nominee Thomas March Bell, in his written statement for the Senate Finance Committee, said he’ll work to support the initiatives of President Donald Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Bell is a lawyer and former Senate staffer who served at HHS in Trump’s first administration. Oversight experts said his pledge of support for a political agenda raises questions about his ability to be independent. Bell’s nomination comes after the previous HHS inspector general was among 17 IGs fired during Trump’s first days in office. A federal judge later found those firings were unlawful. (HHS IG nominee pledges to support Trump’s initiatives - Federal News Network)The Defense Department is stripping away job protections from its civilian employees and directing managers to “act with speed and conviction” to fire employees who are performing “unsuccessfully.” The new memo also warned that managers will be held accountable if they fail to remove poor performers. This ultimately suspends DoD's requirement that managers attempt to rehabilitate underperforming employees, clearing the way for supervisors to fire workers whose performance is deemed “unacceptable” more quickly. Legal experts and analysts warn that the new policy could be used to remove anyone who does not align with the Trump administration’s priorities. (DoD strips job protections from civilian employees, directs managers to fire with ‘speed and conviction’ - Federal News Network)More than 45 recent senior political appointees from the Biden-Harris administration who worked on economic policymaking are calling for major changes to how the federal government works. The Roosevelt Institute's new report captures 161 ideas that they said would result in a more effective, nimble and responsive government. Among the ideas are to build the infrastructure and capacity to proactively sustain two-way engagement with the American people and to eliminate the current role of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), as well as remove the Paperwork Reduction Act and the Regulatory Flexibility Act from the books as a way to remove red tape and accelerate rulemaking. (Former Biden-Harris appointees call for a more nimble, responsive government - Roosevelt Institute)GSA took the first step to modernize its platform to track its real estate holdings. The General Services Administration is looking for a commercial software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to consolidate and streamline the Public Buildings Service's business processes, improve its data visibility and integration and enhance user experience across the real estate lifecycle. In a new request for information, GSA says it's currently using eight separate systems to oversee and manage its real estate portfolio. Among the technology capabilities GSA is looking for include an API-first, extensible architecture to enabling modularity and future integrations and the application of AI to enhance efficiencies, forecasting and decision making across the real estate lifecycle. Responses to the RFI are due by Nov. 17.(GSA to modernize systems to support real estate portfolio - SAM.gov)Marc Berkowitz, the White House’s nominee to serve as assistant secretary of defense for space policy, has long advocated for a closer relationship between the National Reconnaissance Office and the Space Force’s Space Systems Command. When asked about a potential merger, Berkowitz said that all options to improve the efficiency of national security space capabilities are on the table. He also told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing that, for decades, the undersecretary or assistant secretary of the Air Force was dual-hatted as director of the NRO, and that programs were running “efficiently” at the time. (Space policy nominee open to merging NRO, Space Force - Senate Armed Services Committee)The post The government shutdown takes a $7 billion toll on the U.S. economy, so far first appeared on Federal News Network.

The nominee for inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services has pledged to support the Trump administration’s agenda, marking an unusual statement from a nominee for a role that is considered independent. “If confirmed as inspector general I will examine, evaluate, audit, and investigate to support the initiatives of President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Robert] Kennedy,” Thomas March Bell wrote as part of written testimony prepared for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance today. Bell is a lawyer and former Senate staffer who also served as chief of staff for the HHS Office of Civil Rights during the first Trump administration. In his written testimony, Bell highlighted specific challenges with fraud, waste and abuse at HHS. He wrote that the “traditional tools” of an IG are “well known,” pointing to independence and transparency, being “tough but fair when making evaluations,” and producing “timely materials without compromising quality with clear accessible reports and regular communication.” “But the current challenges will require more than this list – the Office of the Inspector General must help explain what is actually going on and provide actionable information in support of the president’s and secretary’s courageous and innovative change of direction for the improved health of all Americans,” Bell continued. An IG nominee’s pledge of support for a President and cabinet secretary’s agenda raises questions about Bell’s ability to remain independent, Faith Williams, director of the Effective and Accountable Government Program at the Project on Government Oversight, told Federal News Network. “It is not the job of an inspector general to provide actionable information and support of anybody’s agenda,” Williams said. Mark Greenblatt, former inspector general of the Interior Department, said IGs are meant to be “policy neutral.” Greenblatt was among 17 inspectors general who were fired at the outset of the second Trump administration. “His language about supporting the president’s policy agenda is at odds with the independent nature of the IG position,” Greenblatt said. Bell was not asked about the specifics of his written statement during today’s hearing. But Senate Finance Committee Democrats have called his nomination unlawful, arguing Trump illegally fired the previous HHS IG. And in an Oct. 28 letter, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) raised questions about Bell’s history and his “ability to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in a manner that does not favor any ideological or political agenda.” Bell’s nomination comes amid continued questions about the independence of IGs under the Trump administration. Trump has continued his purge of government watchdog leaders, with his firing last week of Parisa Salehi, the inspector general at the Export-Import Bank. Trump has also nominated IGs with unusually political backgrounds, including John Walk, a political appointee at the Agriculture Department, to serve as Agriculture’s inspector general. And former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) was picked by Trump to be watchdog at the Labor Department. D’Espositio’s nomination drew some scrutiny from Republicans, but the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee advanced his nomination along a 12-11 party line vote earlier this month. “I just wanted to say on the record that I’m going to be looking to make sure that he executes his new responsibilities with the unbiased nature that he has committed to,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said before voting to confirm D’Esposito. But Williams noted that none of Trump’s other nominees have gone as far as Bell in pledging support for the president’s initiatives. His statement “doesn’t lend confidence to the idea that the President still supports a system of independent inspectors general,” she said. “I would very much hope this statement and in general Bell’s ability to be independent will be questioned by senators on both sides of the aisle,” Williams said. Greenblatt argued Bell’s statement is a “blinking neon sign saying ‘I’m not fit for an IG position.’” Bell could still face questions before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which often holds hearings for IGs across government. “The tone of that language in his opening statement suggest that the American public should be concerned that he’s going to put a thumb on the scale in favor of certain policy outcomes,” Greenblatt said. “That’s a five-alarm fire in the IG community.”The post HHS IG nominee pledges to support Trump’s initiatives first appeared on Federal News Network.

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