5 percent of federal workforce to be furloughed Friday

The Department of Housing and Urban Development, Internal Revenue Service, Office of Management and Budget and the Environmental Protection Agency will all shut down Friday because of widespread employee furloughs — giving feds a four-day holiday weekend. The Labor and Interior Departments also are telling employees to stay home.

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EPA, HUD search for ways to keep mid-career feds

Mid-career employees are a scarcity in government. While agencies are awash with employees at the early career stage and those with 20-plus years of federal service, there aren't enough in the middle stages, and that has federal managers worried. Agencies like EPA and HUD are taking matters into their own hands. Both are launching new efforts aimed at keeping mid-career feds from leaving government for the private sector.

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HUD reorganization will close dozens of field offices, affect 900 workers

A major restructuring at the Department of Housing and Urban Development will close or consolidate dozens of the agency's field offices nationwide and affect 10 percent of its 9,000-member workforce. HUD officials said the current organizational model is not sustainable given the constrained budget the agency faces.

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HUD CIO Jerry Williams takes new job at Education

Jerry Williams will become the new chief information officer at the Education Department's Office of Federal Student Aid. Patsy Garnett, HUD's acting deputy CIO for IT and business modernization, also is heading to a new agency.

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Sequestration to force HUD to shut down for 7 days

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will furlough all 9,000 of its employees for seven days between May and August in a bid to reduce costs due to sequestration. All employees, including career employees, will be furloughed the same number of days, which will effectively result in a shutdown of the department on those days.

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Federal workers owe $3.5 billion in back taxes

The number of federal workers and retirees who owed delinquent income taxes jumped by nearly 12 percent in 2011, the Internal Revenue Service said Friday.

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Grassroots group trying to improve employee morale at HUD

The Department of Housing and Urban Development ranked at only number 20 this year on The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government survey by the Partnership for Public Service. However, a budding grassroots group of agency employees called the Under 5 Group seeks to improve its agency's morale, inch up those rankings and find ways to keep their newest hires aboard and not from wanting to jump ship.

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Agency collaboration founded in personal relationships

Several departments are seeing the benefits from governmentwide collaboration. The interagency National Intellectual Property Coordination Center used its relationships to get the word out more quickly about counterfeit air bags that potentially could explode on impact. HR University absorbed millions of dollars in performance management training courses from an agency who on the CHCO Council.

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Homeless rate steady in latest government estimate

A vigorous effort to house the homeless has been countered somewhat by a sluggish economy. The federal government and local communities have greatly increased the number of beds available to the homeless over the last four years, either through emergency shelters or through government-subsidized apartments and houses. But the struggling economy contributed to the number of homeless people in the United States remaining stable between January 2011 and January 2012.

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Kirit Amin heads to Commerce as deputy CIO

Amin spent the last eight months as HUD's chief technology officer.

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IT Innovation in the New Era of Government

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6-month spending bill clears Senate hurdle

A spending bill required to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month has cleared a procedural hurdle in the Senate.

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HUD, VA test revamped performance management system

HUD is one of five agencies piloting a performance management system, called GEAR. The new approach aims to eliminate a disconnect between organizational goals and employee performance.

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Oversight and compliance challenges

Host Roger Waldron talks government oversight with Ken Donohue of the Reznick Group.
July 17, 2012

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VA redoubles effort to combat homelessness

The Veterans Affairs Department is giving $100 million in grants to help community organizations support at-risk veterans so they have stable housing. Leaders of the homeless veteran initiative at the VA and Department of Housing and Urban Development are among the Service to America Medal finalists for their work on the problem.

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Agencies sitting on $70B in unspent funds, report finds

A congressional report released today outlines $70 billion of unspent federal dollars that could have helped disaster victims, spurred highway construction and fund education programs.

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Senator asks HUD for public housing pay details

Sen. Charles Grassley is asking the Obama administration to post the compensation of top officials at public housing agencies across the country.

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Obama administration sets housing agency pay caps

As the White House clamps down on excessive pay at public housing authorities, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to set a maximum salary ceiling of $155,000 for public housing agency officials.

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HUD seeks 'data-driven' approach to grants

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has unveiled a series of new online tools designed to streamline and modernize the way local communities apply for HUD grants. The eCon Planning Suite is a set of data and mapping technologies released to the 1,200 local communities that vie for HUD block grants, as well as to the public at large.

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Online tool lets VA employees conceive career paths

John Sepulveda, the Veterans Affairs Department assistant secretary for human resources and administration, said the portal lets employees assess their skill gaps and create a plan to move up the career ladder. HUD and DLA also have initiatives to create high performing employees and organizations.

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