- The House of Representatives is setting new rules for artificial intelligence tools. A new policy from the chief administrative officer and the House Administration Committee shows how the House will approve artificial intelligence tools and define AI use cases. The policy is meant to help lawmakers use AI tools for House-approved purposes. It also sets guardrails on what lawmakers should avoid when using AI tools.
- Postal Service employees and annuitants have more resources to help them navigate their health benefits during Open Season this year. Ahead of the new Postal health program’s launch in 2025, the Office of Personnel Management has created a landing page with more information. The new website breaks down details about auto-enrollment, as well as how the Postal program works for Medicare enrollees. Both federal postal employees and retirees will be able to make changes to their health care options between November 11th and December 9th for plan year 2025.
- Legislation to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset is nearing the finish line. Just over a week after it was filed, a discharge petition for the Social Security Fairness Act has reached the 218-signature threshold it needs to force a House floor vote. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), an original cosponsor for the bill, said it’s a major milestone. “We are closer than we have ever been,” Spanberger said during a press conference Thursday morning. But with agency spending levels for fiscal 2025 still unresolved, the legislation is unlikely to see movement until at least November. And even if the House passes it, the bill still faces a battle on the Senate side as well. If enacted, the Social Security Fairness Act would eliminate both WEP and GPO, which reduce and sometimes eliminate Social Security benefits for certain federal retirees and other public servants.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs will keep paying veterans’ benefits without delay after Congress approves emergency funding. The Senate passed a $3 billion supplemental funding bill that the House approved earlier this week. The VA needed Congress to pass the emergency funding by Friday to avoid a delay in compensation and pension benefit payments that go to seven million veterans and their survivors. VA officials said the budget shortfall comes from paying more benefits to more veterans than previously expected under the PACT Act. The 2022 law makes more veterans eligible for VA health care and benefits, if they were exposed to toxic substances during their military service.
- The Cyberspace Solarium Commission has gotten a lot done. Since the commission’s March 2020 report, Congress and the executive branch have picked up 80% of the original 75 recommendations. But with cyber threats to critical infrastructure getting worse, the commission is urging the next administration and Congress to act quickly on some of its outstanding recommendations. Chief among those is the designation of “systemically important entities,” which are organizations that would have to meet minimum cyber standards but get some special “information sharing” benefits in return. The commission also wants to see the next administration come up with a better “continuity of the economy” plan in case of a devastating cyberattack.
- Agencies are making more use of special pay authorities for cyber positions. The Department of Veterans Affairs has a special salary rate for IT positions. The Department of Homeland Security has a “cyber talent management system” that allows it to offer people in cyber-related jobs a higher-than-usual salary. And then there’s the Defense Intelligence Agency and other defense intelligence components. Last year, the Pentagon approved a “targeted local market supplement” for cyber and STEM positions at those agencies. DIA officials said they’re already seeing a recruiting boost.
- It will take another year to stand up the Space Futures Command. When Air Force senior leaders unveiled a ‘sweeping’ set of structure changes in February, one of the biggest shakeups announced was the creation of the Space Futures Command. Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman indicated it could take up to a year to fully stand up the command. The Space Futures Command will be responsible for future planning in the Space Force, and it will serve a similar function as the Air Force’s Integrated Capabilities Command – service leaders announced a provisional version of the command earlier this week.
- Regardless of who the next president is, the Air Force has enough institutional support to continue its structural overhaul. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the efforts announced in February are aligned with the service’s needs and are not controversial. Being a political appointee, however, Kendall’s future service depends on who occupies the White House next year. He said he hopes he will have the opportunity to continue to serve in the next administration.
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