A new project aimed at exploring the role drone technology can play in improving yield, fruit quality and forecasting in UK strawberry production is a pivotal step towards enhancing food security.

A Federal Drive interview didn't quite get locality pay right. Sharp-eyed readers wrote in to let me know about it! Here's some of the straight dope.

The post You keep a close eye on all things locality pay first appeared on Federal News Network.

Biden’s 2% federal pay raise plan accounts for a 1.7% across-the-board increase, plus an average 0.3% locality pay adjustment, for most civilian employees.

The post Biden issues pay plan with 2% federal pay raise recommendation first appeared on Federal News Network.

NFFE says skipped-over job duties that wildland firefighters perform for the Forest Service could mean they’re missing out on thousands of dollars a year.

The post Wildland firefighters at the Forest Service work beyond their job duties. Their union says that’s a big problem first appeared on Federal News Network.

State Department officials notified the American Foreign Service Association about the possible lapse of funds in July.

The post Feds working overseas face 22% pay cut, if Congress doesn’t reauthorize necessary funds first appeared on Federal News Network.

DIA is taking advantage of targeted local market supplement that was approved by the Pentagon last year for cyber, IT and STEM positions.

The post DIA sees STEM pay supplement as a ‘powerful recruiting tool’ first appeared on Federal News Network.

The continuing resolution reauthorizes funds to avoid a 22% pay cut for 11,000 federal employees who spend most of their time overseas.

The post Congress passes stopgap bill to avoid government shutdown, 22% pay cut for feds overseas first appeared on Federal News Network.

About 15,000 blue-collar federal employees could see as much as 12% federal pay boosts, once the Office of Personnel Management’s regulations become final.

The post Proposed federal pay adjustment could boost wages for thousands of blue-collar feds first appeared on Federal News Network.

NALC National President Brian Renfroe said the tentative agreement represents the union’s largest general wage increase, on average, since its 2006 contract.

The post USPS letter carrier union gets 1.3% annual raises in tentative labor deal first appeared on Federal News Network.

Boeing, where union workers turned down 35% pay hikes, is in big trouble. Both its commercial and defense sides are losing money, just as China comes on.

The post Does that 2% pay raise mean federal employees are chumps? first appeared on Federal News Network.

The Social Security Fairness Act, a bill to undo WEP and GPO, has enough support to force a floor vote. But that’s unlikely to happen until at least November.

The post Bill to repeal WEP, GPO reaches threshold to force a House floor vote first appeared on Federal News Network.

In plan year 2025, FEHB enrollees will see 45 plan options, across 25 different plans, offering IVF coverage above OPM’s baseline requirements for carriers.

The post FEHB enrollees will see more choices for comprehensive IVF coverage in 2025 first appeared on Federal News Network.

Beginning in January, federal employees and annuitants in FEHB will pay an average of 13.5% more toward their health care premiums, according to OPM data.

The post In 2025, FEHB enrollees will see largest health premium increase in over a decade first appeared on Federal News Network.

Kevin Moss, Consumers' Checkbook senior editor, explains how federal employees can avoid huge increases in their healthcare costs in fiscal 2025.

The post Choose wisely: Not all healthcare premiums are increasing first appeared on Federal News Network.

Learn how to compare Federal Benefits Open Season plans with easy-to-use tools.

The post We’re ready to help you make the most of the Federal Benefits Open Season first appeared on Federal News Network.

The State Department has named a new coordinator for its investigation into cases of so-called Havana Syndrome

The post State Dept. names new coordinator on ‘Havana Syndrome’ cases first appeared on Federal News Network.

The United States and the Philippines have announced plans to expand America's military presence in the Southeast Asian nation, with access to four more bases as they seek to deter China’s increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea. The agreement was reached as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in the country for talks about deploying U.S. forces and weapons in more Philippine military camps. In a joint announcement Thursday by the Philippines and the U.S., the two said they had decided to accelerate the full implementation of their so-called Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which aims to support combined training, exercises and interoperability.

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The debt ceiling deal has come with just days to spare before a potential first-ever government default. On Sunday, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a final agreement and they are urging Congress to quickly pass it. Biden pronounced the development “good news” in remarks at the White House announcing the agreement. This followed a tentative compromise announced late Saturday. The deal risks angering some Democratic and Republican lawmakers as they begin to unpack the concessions, which include spending cuts. McCarthy and Biden spoke Sunday evening as negotiators drafted legislative text. They face a June 5 deadline when Treasury says the U.S. would risk a debt default.

The post Biden and McCarthy reach a final deal to avoid US default and now must sell it to Congress first appeared on Federal News Network.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy is suddenly confronting a new threat to his power. Angry hard-right conservatives have brought the House chamber to a halt, reviving their displeasure over the debt ceiling deal struck with President Joe Biden. McCarthy brushed off the disruption as healthy political debate — not too different from the 15-vote spectacle it took in January for him to finally convince his colleagues to elect him as speaker. But it's a foreshadowing of the next budget fight as Congress tries to fund the government at the levels agreed to, or risk a federal shutdown in fall.

The post GOP conservatives shutter House to protest McCarthy-Biden debt deal, setting up next budget brawl first appeared on Federal News Network.

U.S. officials say state-backed Chinese hackers foiled Microsoft’s cloud-based security and hacked the email of officials at multiple U.S. agencies that deal with China ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing last month. The surgical, targeted espionage accessed the mailboxes of a small number of individuals at an unspecified number of U.S. agencies and was discovered by the State Department. Officials said none of the breached systems were classified. The hack was disclosed late Tuesday by Microsoft, which said email accounts were haced at about 25 organizations globally beginning in mid-May. A U.S. official said the number of U.S. organizations impacted was in the single digits.

The post Chinese hackers breached State Dept., other government email on eve of Blinken visit, officials say first appeared on Federal News Network.

The U.S. is sending additional fighter jets and a warship to the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman to increase security in the wake of Iranian attempts to seize commercial ships there. The Pentagon says the USS Thomas Hudner, a destroyer, and a number of F-35 fighter jets will be heading to the region. Defense officials last week announced the deployment of F-16s to the area over the past weekend and there have been A-10 attack aircraft there for nearly two weeks in response to the Iranian activity. The latest deployments come after Iran tried to seize two oil tankers near the strait early this month, opening fire on one of them.

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The U.S. military is considering putting armed personnel on commercial ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, in what would be an unheard of action aimed at stopping Iran from seizing and harassing civilian vessels. That's what five American officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. If implemented, it would be an extraordinary step by the Pentagon as it grapples with a renewed effort by Iran to harass and seize ships traveling in the strait, through which 20% of all the world’s crude oil passes. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the AP about the U.S. proposal.

The post US military may put armed troops on commercial ships in Strait of Hormuz to stop Iran seizures first appeared on Federal News Network.

The Supreme Court's rejected a conservative-led attack that could've undermined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The post Supreme Court sides with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, spurning a conservative attack first appeared on Federal News Network.

A Bureau of Land Management preferred alternative for a proposed large-scale wind energy farm in southern Idaho would shrink the size by nearly half.

The post Bureau of Land Management shrinks proposed size of controversial Idaho wind farm project first appeared on Federal News Network.

The Supreme Court has sided with the Biden administration in a dispute with Republican-led states over controversial social media posts.

The post The Supreme Court rules for Biden administration in a social media dispute with conservative states first appeared on Federal News Network.

The Supreme Court has stripped the Securities and Exchange Commission of a major tool in fighting securities fraud.

The post The Supreme Court strips the SEC of a critical enforcement tool in fraud cases first appeared on Federal News Network.

Christopher Skaluba, the executive director in the DoD CDAO, said the office is creating tools to provide data-driven insights on AI workforce needs.

The post DoD seeks to create ‘culture of learning’ through CDAO first appeared on Federal News Network.

Cordell Schachter, the Transportation Department CIO, said the agency’s DevSecOps capabilities are maturing as part of its digital transformation effort.

The post DoT driving IT modernization to meet enterprise, local needs first appeared on Federal News Network.

Brian Mazanec, the deputy director of the Office of Preparedness in HHS’ ASPR, said they are implementing several initiatives under its year-old strategy.

The post HHS’ ASPR playing ‘quarterback’ for cyber response, resilience first appeared on Federal News Network.

How are DoD and DHS profiling a successful cloud computing strategy and what is the vision for the future?

The post Federal Executive Forum Defense and Homeland Cloud Computing in Government Progress and Best Practices 2024 first appeared on Federal News Network.

State wants teams of procurement specialists who not only know the contracting process, but also have deep insights into their respective markets.

The post State Dept transforming procurement with category management, streamlined processes first appeared on Federal News Network.

New lawsuits claim that the U.S. Defense Department and the Department of Veteran Affairs are making it difficult and sometimes impossible for veterans to get infertility treatments. Multiple lawsuits were filed Wednesday in federal courts in New York and Boston seeking to hold the United States accountable for creating obstacles to health care access for a population that advocates say has a higher rate of infertility than the population at large. The lawsuits seek to obtain in vitro fertilization coverage for military service members and veterans who don't fit the Veterans Affairs definition of infertility as pertaining solely to married, heterosexual couples.

The post Veterans sue US Defense and Veterans Affairs departments to get access to infertility treatments first appeared on Federal News Network.

Hundreds of thousands of veterans have received additional benefits in the past year after President Joe Biden signed legislation expanding coverage for conditions connected to burn pits that were used to destroy trash and potentially toxic materials. The first anniversary of the law is Thursday, and Biden will mark the occasion at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Salt Lake City. Administration officials are trying to encourage as many people as possible to sign up by Wednesday, which would allow their benefits to be retroactive to when the law was signed. The agency is also trying to hire more people to handle the influx of claims, which is expected to cause larger backlogs over the coming months.

The post Veterans see historic expansion of benefits for toxic exposure as new law nears anniversary first appeared on Federal News Network.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has undergone a medical procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and has resumed duty after temporarily transferring power. He is continuing to deal with bladder issues that arose in December following his treatment for prostate cancer. The Pentagon says the procedure Friday was successful, elective and minimally invasive, “is not related to his cancer diagnosis and has had no effect on his excellent cancer prognosis.” Austin has returned home, and the Pentagon says no changes in his official schedule are anticipated, including his participation in Memorial Day events.

The post Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin resumes duty after undergoing procedure at Walter Reed first appeared on Federal News Network.

Change Healthcare is starting to notify hospitals, insurers and other customers that they may have had patient information exposed in a massive cyberattack. The company also said Thursday that it expects to begin notifying individuals or patients in late July. Change Healthcare is a subsidiary of health care giant UnitedHealth Group. It provides technology used to submit and process billions of insurance claims a year. Hackers gained access in February to its system and unleashed a ransomware attack that encrypted and froze large parts of it.

The post Change Healthcare to start notifying customers who had data exposed in cyberattack first appeared on Federal News Network.

Rising inflation is expected to lead to a sizeable increase in Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for the year 2022

The post EXPLAINER: Why Social Security COLA will jump next year first appeared on Federal News Network.

Millions of retirees on Social Security will get a 5.9% boost in benefits for 2022

The post Social Security checks getting big boost as inflation rises first appeared on Federal News Network.

California’s Fort Ord has been on the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of the most polluted places in the nation since 1990

The post What Lies Beneath: Vets worry polluted base made them ill first appeared on Federal News Network.

Prominent demographers are asking the U.S. Census Bureau to abandon a controversial method for protecting survey and census participants’ confidentiality

The post Researchers ask Census to stop controversial privacy method first appeared on Federal News Network.

Presidents come and go, but White House grounds superintendent Dale Haney has been a constant through the past 10 presidencies. As of this month, Haney has tended the lawns and gardens of the White House for 50 years. But he may be better known for taking care of the president's pets. Lately, he's often seen with Commander, President Joe Biden's dog. Haney started at the White House in 1972, and said he planned to work there for just two years. President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, surprised Haney on Monday by planting an elm tree on the south grounds to honor Haney.

The post Meet Dale Haney, the White House groundskeeper for 50 years first appeared on Federal News Network.

Frank Indiviglio, NOAA’s deputy director for High Performance Computing & Communications (HPCC), said conversations are happening about how NOAA can containerize its climate models in order to push the models themselves out to the public to understand, build upon and tweak.

The post Edge computing enables NOAA to push workloads closer to public consumers, not just field researchers first appeared on Federal News Network.

Kristi Thompson, Federal Communications Commission, discusses robocalls and how consumers can fight back.

The post How to go RoboCop on those robocalls first appeared on Federal News Network.

The second of two large spending packages keeps agencies funded for the rest of 2024. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

The post Senate passes $1.2 trillion funding package in early morning vote, ending threat of partial shutdown first appeared on Federal News Network.

Former Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma has died. He was 89. The family says in a statement that the Republican had a stroke during the July Fourth holiday.

The post Former US Sen. Jim Inhofe, defense hawk who called human-caused climate change a ‘hoax,’ dies at 89 first appeared on Federal News Network.

President Joe Biden giving up his reelection bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris makes her the prohibitive favorite to be nominee in November.

The post Democrats promise an ‘orderly process’ to replace Biden. Harris is favored, but questions remain first appeared on Federal News Network.

The Secret Service's director says the roof where a shooter opened fire at Donald Trump's rally was identified as a potential vulnerability before the event.

The post Secret Service director, grilled by lawmakers on the Trump assassination attempt, says ‘we failed’ first appeared on Federal News Network.

Kimberly Cheatle, who had served as Secret Service director since August 2022, faced growing calls to resign.

The post Secret Service director steps down after assassination attempt against ex-President Trump at rally first appeared on Federal News Network.

A chief architect of Project 2025, Russell Vought is likely to be appointed to a high-ranking post in a second Trump administration.

The post Russell Vought, a Project 2025 architect, is ready to shock Washington if Trump wins second term first appeared on Federal News Network.

Tim Gribben, the commissioner of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, said the bureau refined and reframed its progress statement for the first time since 2018.

The post Fiscal Service using death data to reduce improper payments first appeared on Federal News Network.

Newer technologies like automation and AI may offer new solutions to this age-old cybersecurity problem, but they can also be double-edged swords.

The post Endpoint proliferation exacerbates old cybersecurity problem: data integration first appeared on Federal News Network.