Federal Daily - November 10, 2009
No Shoo-In for ‘Burrowers’
Starting next year, the Office of Personnel Management will expand its authority over the hiring of political appointees to competitive service positions, OPM Director John Berry said last week.
While OPM now conducts merit reviews of Senior Executive Service appointments whenever they occur, its oversight below the SES level is now largely limited to the review of political appointees hired for competitive service positions during a presidential election year. The new OPM policy will expand its oversight authority to require agencies to obtain an OPM merit review before hiring any current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position.
The new rules, announced in a Nov. 5 memo, take effect Jan. 1.
The new policy applies to current political Schedule A or Schedule C executive branch employees or those who have held Schedule A or C positions within the past five years. It also applies to current non-career SES executive branch employees or those who have left their non-career SES executive branch positions within the past five years.
“While political appointees may not be excluded from consideration for federal jobs because of their political affiliation, they must not be given preference or special advantages,” Berry said. To see more, go to: www.chcoc.gov/Transmittals/TransmittalDetails.aspx?
TransmittalId=2588.
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Open Season on Facebook
The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program has come to Facebook, with a new page called Fed Benefits Open Season. The page offers quick links to sites and brochures covering health, vision and dental plan offerings, flexible savings accounts and other open season concerns. The new page was gaining “fans” quickly as the week opened.
To see the page, go to: www.facebook.com/fedbenefits.
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Former Union Lawyers OK’d to Assume Top Spots at MSPB
The Senate on Nov. 5 confirmed President Obama’s nominees to fill a pair of top positions on the Merit Systems Protection Board—National Federation of Federal Employees attorney Susan Grundmann, to serve as MSPB chair; and Anne Wagner, a former American Federation of Government Employees assistant general counsel, to serve as vice chairman.
Grundmann’s term will run until March 1, 2016, and Wagner’s until March 1, 2014.
At the time of her nomination as the new MSPB chair, Grundmann represented NFFE and the 36-union United Department of Defense Workers Coalition. Grundmann also represented employees at the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, Passport Services, Veterans Administration, General Services Administration, and 25 other federal agencies, NFFE said.
Prior to her appointment, Wagner served as the General Counsel of the Personnel Appeals Board of the Government Accountability Office. To see more, go to: www.nffe.org/ht/display/ReleaseDetails/i/16408, and www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-More-Key-Administration-Posts-7-30-09.
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DLA Prepares Dinner for 180,000
It may seem to most people that Thanksgiving dinner takes forever to prepare. But try. dinner for 180,000—that’s what the Defense Logistics Agency has been working on since May: Thanksgiving dinner for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Biggest item on the menu: turkey. In Iraq alone, DLA has obtained about 226,000 lbs. of raw and pre-cooked whole turkeys, 78,000 lbs. of additional white meat, and 73,000 lbs. of extra dark meat—together worth about $1.4 million.
“Providing superb meals to our U.S. troops is a critical mission of the Defense Logistics Agency and one we put a great deal of effort into,” said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Scott Chambers, who commands the DLA Philadelphia field activity which provides all the food for U.S. military personnel. Chambers said Thanksgiving planning starts “even before Memorial Day rolls around.”
Actual deliveries to Iraq and Afghanistan began in mid-October to provide flexibility for unexpected changes or troop movements, DLA said.
Other items which are already in Iraq, or on their way, include tens of thousands of pounds of beef, ham and shrimp; 40,000 lbs. of potatoes, 9,700 cans of sweet potatoes and about 7,200 cans of cranberry sauce. All in all, about $2.7 million worth of Thanksgiving dinner.
Plus another $1.3 million in similar fare for the troops in Afghanistan.
To see more, go to: www.dla.mil.
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