With a government shutdown looming at the end of this week, lawmakers are scrambling to fund the government and approve emergency COVID-19 aid. The omnibus government funding bill is expected to also serve as the vehicle for two COVID-19 relief packages. The $1.4 trillion spending and COVID-19 relief bill must be finalized or all non-emergency government services will be shut down and thousands of federal employees will be furloughed beginning at midnight on Friday, December 18.

The Public Servant Protection Act is a bill designed to protect government workers, officials, and appointees from being targeted at their homes. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and five Republican colleagues, introduced the legislative proposal last week.

Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) on Tuesday introduced the Retirement Annuity Supplement Clarity Act to address the way the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) calculates the retirement annuity supplement for federal employees who have a divorce settlement dividing their Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) annuity.

Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari plans to conduct an audit into the agency’s surveillance and data collection practices after an October 23rd letter from Senators raised questions about Customs and Border Protection (CBP)’s domestic surveillance practices. IG Cuffari’s November 25th letter responding to the Senators indicates he will he complete an audit to ensure that DHS and its components “have developed, updated, and adhered to policies related to cell-phone surveillance devices.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said she would be stepping down as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. She said, “After serving as the lead Democrat on the Judiciary Committee for four years, I will not seek the chairmanship or ranking member position in the next Congress.”

This week (November 15-21) is International Fraud Awareness Week, which is dedicated to the global effort to minimize the impact of fraud by promoting anti-fraud awareness and education. This event, held by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), is a time to share information about preventing fraud, identity theft, and security with peers, coworkers, and family members.

The Department of the Interior and the Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced that veterans and Gold Star families will be receiving free lifetime access to national parks, refuges, and other public lands. These families will have free access to approximately 2,000 public locations with many activities including hiking, fishing, paddling, biking, hunting, camping, stargazing and climbing.

A memorandum for Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCOs) released Monday announced draft updates to federal hiring policy based on the Executive Order on Modernizing and Reforming the Assessment and Hiring of Federal Job Candidates that was released by the Trump Administration in June 2020. The executive order directed agencies to expand the use of competency-based assessments and rely less on educational requirements when hiring for certain positions.

Senate appropriators released all 12 of their fiscal year 2021 spending bills on the morning of November 10, 2020. Lawmakers have until December 11, 2020 to secure government spending and avoid a federal shutdown. Both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) have called for a new omnibus spending bill, which would fund all government agencies in a single large package, rather than another continuing resolution that only funds the government temporarily at previous levels.

In an open letter to Congressional leaders, six former Secretaries of Homeland Security wrote that Congress needs a reorganization of the way it oversees the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The former secretaries and acting secretaries, stretching across Republican and Democratic administrations, are Tom Ridge, Michael Chertoff, Janet Napolitano, Jeh Johnson, Rand Beers, and Kevin McAleenan.

A Department of Justice guidance released on October 29, 2020 states that local police will now be allowed to wear body cameras when they assist federal law enforcement on task force operations. This decision comes after the success of a pilot program launched last year in Houston; Detroit; Wichita, Kansas; Salt Lake City; and Park City, Utah.

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) introduced the Improvement and Modernization Act (AIM) that would modernize the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to improve gun safety. The bill itself would remove statutory restrictions that prevent ATF from protecting the public from violent criminals and combating black market weapons smuggling, according to its authors.

President Trump signed an executive order on October 21, 2020 creating a new classification for federal employees. Per the order, employees that are in confidential, policy making positions would be categorized as Schedule F employees and would not be subject to traditional Title 5 workplace protections. These employees would also be barred from organizing against or appealing the administration. The order grants agency leaders broad discretion to hire and fire individuals in this schedule.

A new White House strategy recently named 20 emerging technologies that are crucial to national security. In light of new and different forms of national security threats, the administration is encouraging agencies to begin investing in emerging technologies and incorporating them into their organizations.

On October 20, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Google for allegedly violating antitrust laws that protect consumers from unfair business practices and ensure fair competition. A Department of Justice press release explained that a civil antitrust lawsuit had been filed against Google by the DOJ and 11 state attorneys general.

The Red Ribbon Campaign, the U.S.’s oldest and largest drug prevention program, is holding its annual Red Ribbon Week beginning October 23. Red ribbon has been a symbol for drug prevention since the death of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena during a drug operation in Mexico in 1985. Red Ribbon Week occurs each year and is dedicated to promoting awareness about drugs. Schools across America participate in red ribbon week and teach their students about drug prevention.

Participants in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) can expect to pay higher premiums in 2021, with an expected average increase of 4.9%. On average, federal employees will pay $7.89 more toward their health premiums per biweekly pay period next year. This hike is lower than that of last year, which was an increase of 5.6%.

In an October 7, 2020 letter to the House and Senate Armed Services Committee, a diverse group of organizations who have been impacted by money laundering, fraud, and counterfeiting came together to support the inclusion of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) in the NDAA for this year.

The presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, established by President Trump and Attorney General William P. Barr in January 2020, has come under scrutiny for violating federal law by solely including members of federal, state, and local law enforcement rather than multiple perspectives such as civil rights activists, defense attorneys, and mental health professionals.

With many federal employees now teleworking, the importance of working from home securely and safely is high. In response to both new and old cybersecurity risks, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a guide to help individuals and organizations safely telework for the long-term.