Tag: Wednesday

No Christmas Eve Off for Federal Employees

No Christmas Eve Off for Federal Employees

fotorutkowscy/Shutterstock.com

Federal employees will report for a full day of work Tuesday, with the Obama administration opting not to give any extra time off for Christmas Eve.

The decision does not come as a surprise. It is “consistent with historical precedent when Christmas has fallen on a Wednesday,” an official at the Office of Personnel Management told Government Executive. “The government has remained open on Christmas Eve for six of the last nine times since 1946 that Christmas Day has fallen on a Wednesday.”

One of the recent exceptions was 2002, when President George W. Bush gave feds a half day off on Tuesday, Dec. 24. Continue reading “No Christmas Eve Off for Federal Employees”

Dems threaten budget deal

Dems threaten budget deal

Lauren Schneiderman

By Vicki Needham, Mike Lillis and Bernie Becker – 12/11/13 05:15 PM EST

 

The budget deal worked out by House and Senate negotiators is on the verge of unraveling over the exclusion of federal unemployment benefits, several leading Democrats warned Wednesday.

The lawmakers are outraged by a GOP move to add the Medicare “doc fix” to the package but not a continuation of unemployment benefits — a strategy they say could sink the entire package by scaring away Democratic votes.

Reps. Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and Sandy Levin (Mich.) said the move creates a “new dynamic” undermining Democratic support for the plan announced Tuesday by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).  Continue reading “Dems threaten budget deal”

Deficit-reduction plans could impact federal workers, military and veterans

Deficit-reduction plans could impact federal workers, military and veterans

Federal workers, military personnel and veterans could take a hit under more than a dozen deficit-reduction options the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office detailed in a new report Wednesday.

The potential impacts range from reduced pensions and cost-of-living raises for federal employees to capped pay increases for military personnel and stricter eligibility requirements for veterans’ disability.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) talks to an aide during a conference on the budget. (Alex Wong/Getty).

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) talks to an aide during a conference on the budget. (Alex Wong/Getty)

The agency released its report shortly after a congressional conference committee held its second meeting to discuss budget matters and ways of avoiding another government shutdown like the one that occurred in October. The talks have yielded few signs of progress so far. Continue reading “Deficit-reduction plans could impact federal workers, military and veterans”

How the Budget Deal Will Die

How the Budget Deal Will Die

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Charles Dharapak/AP

Rep. Paul Ryan began the budget conference committee last month by warning Democrats that they would sabotage the negotiations by insisting on a debate over more revenue.

“If this conference becomes an argument about taxes, we’re not going to get anywhere,” Ryan told the group on Oct. 30. It took Democrats all of one week to dismiss his advice.

Several liberal lawmakers on the committee drafted a memo last week detailing “egregious tax loopholes” that could be closed to raise revenue and help soften sequester cuts—a nonstarter for Ryan and the House Republican Conference. Continue reading “How the Budget Deal Will Die”

Shutdown ends; Obama signs deal

By Alexander Bolton and Pete Kasperowicz – 10/17/13 12:40 AM ET

President Obama signed into law a bipartisan deal approved by Congress to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling, the White House said early Thursday morning.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers will return to their jobs on Thursday, and national parks and memorials shuttered for 16 days will reopen.

Lawmakers voted just hours before the Oct. 17 deadline set by the Treasury Department for raising the borrowing limit. Continue reading “Shutdown ends; Obama signs deal”

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