Federal contractors no longer have to pay a minimum wage of almost $18 per hour for employees under certain types of contracts. President Donald Trump rescinded the executive order from April 2021 establishing higher hourly pay for hundreds of thousands of blue collar workers. The Biden administration raised the minimum wage for specific covered government contracts like those for concessions or those for services on federal lands to $17.75 an hour starting on January 1st. Trump’s rescission means contractors can pay blue collar employees a minimum of just under $13 an hour.
The Department of Homeland Security has a new chief information officer. Antoine McCord took over as CIO earlier this month. He replaces Eric Hysen, who had served as DHS CIO from 2021 until departing this past January. McCord is a veteran of the Marine Corps, where he specialized in cyber and intelligence operations. After leaving the Marine Corps, McCord also served in the U.S. intelligence community. McCord’s official online biography says his focus as DHS CIO is on mission-driven leadership, as well as operations to neutralize threats against the department.
The IRS is putting fired probationary employees on paid leave. Many doubt they’re back for good. The IRS is in the process of reinstating thousands of recently fired probationary employees but none have returned to their jobs yet. Reinstated employees received an email on Monday telling them they’ve been placed on paid administrative leave. But the IRS is looking at a reduction in force to take effect in mid-May, a month after the tax filing season deadline. Employees said they’re concerned about the possibility of getting their jobs back, only to be fired again.
In about a week, 23,000 Bureau of Prisons employees will see significant cuts to their pay. BOP recently announced plans to reduce and in some cases fully remove retention-based incentives, which can add anywhere from a 10% to 25% boost to the employees’ base pay rates. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents over 30,000 BOP correctional officers and other agency staff members, raised alarms that the pay cuts will lead to employees leaving their jobs, exacerbating the already short-staffed workforce.
The Army has a new data aggregation framework. As commanders and soldiers bring together more and more data, the Army’s chief information officer is asking them to take a more risk-based approach. In a new policy, Army CIO Leo Garciga tells servicemembers to recognize and then mitigate risks when bringing together two or more data products. The Chief Data and Analytics Officer will lead the implementation of the framework and will request feedback to incorporate into future iterations of this policy. Garciga said the policy will enhance decision-making by integrating data across platforms, ensuring timely and accurate information flow while also promoting a data-centric approach to operations.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is defending his decision to let a team from the Department of Government Efficiency scrutinize the Postal Service’s longstanding problems. DeJoy told Congress the DOGE team will have limited access to USPS data and will tackle several issues outlined in a recently signed agreement. Several ongoing lawsuits are challenging DOGE’s access to data at other federal agencies. DeJoy said the DOGE team is not taking steps to privatize USPS. That’s something President Donald Trump told reporters he was considering before taking office for a second term.
House lawmakers want to know more about the Department of Homeland Security’s response to China-connected cyber attacks. Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) and several colleagues are asking for details on DHS’ response to Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon. Those are the names of China-linked cyber groups that have reportedly infiltrated U.S. critical infrastructure over the last few years. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Green and company ask what actions DHS and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Secure Agency have taken in response to the hacks.
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