Federal News Countdown: DoD workforce caps and agency innovation

John Palguta, vice president for policy at the Partnership for Public Service, and Jason Miller, Federal News Radio's executive editor, count down the top feder...

Today’s guests on the Federal News Countdown:
John Palguta, vice president for policy, Partnership for Public Service
Jason Miller, executive editor, Federal News Radio

John Palguta’s stories
#3 Sequestration could spur furloughs at Education
From Federal News Radio:

Sequestration would force the Education Department to furlough many of its employees, the department’s leader said Wednesday. “If we’re faced with tough calls, we have an obligation to be fiscally responsible,” Secretary Arne Duncan said in an interview with Federal News Radio after a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, and Related Agencies hearing Wednesday.

#2 Report: Lack of encouragement causes agency innovation to fizzle
From Federal News Radio:

The federal government is saddled with the reputation of a stodgy, stunted work environment where the status quo rules the day. But the problem isn’t that federal employees don’t have bright ideas for doing business differently, according to a new Partnership for Public Service report. The problem is that too often agency leadership fails to encourage employees to think outside the box or to reward them when they do so.

#1 Federal vs. private-sector pay: No comparison is definitive, auditors say
From The Washington Post

Various studies have used different methods and data in reaching opposing conclusions about how federal and non-federal pay compare, but no one approach is definitive, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Monday.


Jason Miller’s stories
#3 Sequestration could spur furloughs at Education
From Federal News Radio:

Federal News Radio Sequestration would force the Education Department to furlough many of its employees, the department’s leader said Wednesday. “If we’re faced with tough calls, we have an obligation to be fiscally responsible,” Secretary Arne Duncan said in an interview with Federal News Radio after a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, and Related Agencies hearing Wednesday.

#2 GAO, FPS disagree over ability to assess federal building risk
From Federal News Radio:

The Federal Protective Service and the Government Accountability Office are at odds over a new software tool to protect federal buildings. FPS is replacing the failed Risk Assessment and Management Program (RAMP) with an interim technology, the Modified Infrastructure Survey Tool (MIST).

#1 DoD extends civilian hiring restrictions through 2018
From Federal News Radio:

The Defense Department intends to continue a wide-ranging freeze on the growth of its civilian workforce for at least six more years, according to documents the Pentagon drafted in preparation for the budget proposal it will release next year. The DoD comptroller’s guidance to military components ordered that current targets for civilian personnel, based on 2010 staffing levels, will remain in effect through 2018.

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