House passes Defense authorization bill
October 8th, 2009 | Defense | Posted by Steve Losey
The House just approved the 2010 Defense authorization bill, which would (among other things) kill the National Security Personnel System. The Senate won’t vote on the bill until Friday at the earliest, and could wait until next week to consider it.
You can read more about the bill here, here and here.
Tags: Defense Authorization, NSPS
NSPS update 2: Intel system suspended as well
October 7th, 2009 | Defense | Posted by Steve Losey
It looks like the Defense Authorization Bill is going to throw a monkey wrench in the intelligence community’s pay for performance system as well. The bill (all 1,492 pages of which can be read here — skip to page 780 for the NSPS provisions) would suspend the Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System for everybody except employees at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, who have had that system for the last decade, until the end of 2010. And since the IC’s system is based in part on that system, that’s going to slow Chief Human Capital Officer Ron Sanders’ efforts to pay spies, analysts and other intelligence employees based on how well they perform. The bill says the Pentagon, OPM and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence should study the system.
Other things I noticed:
- The bill guarantees nobody will have their pay reduced in the move back to the General Schedule or their original system. (pg 782)
- It calls for Defense Secretary Robert Gates to set up “a fair, credible, and transparent performance appraisal system for employees” that is linked to bonuses and other performance-based actions. The system should ensure ongoing feedback and dialogue between supervisors, managers and employees, and set timetables for review, the bill says. And it calls for expanding training, counseling and mentoring opportunities for employees. (pg 784)
- It’s possible that whatever performance appraisal system DoD ends up with might not be that different from performance appraisal under NSPS. The NSPS review panel that in August harshly criticized it as systemically flawed and recommended it be “reconstructed” also praised its performance appraisal system. So the Pentagon could stick with that and build a new system around it.
- Gates has six months after the bill is passed to start shifting employees out of NSPS. (pg 781)
- He also has six months to propose a new personnel system that fixes the problems with NSPS, and explain why he doesn’t want to shift employees back to the General Schedule. Congress would have to approve the new proposal as part of the fiscal 2011 Defense Authorization bill. (pg 792-795)
- I just got of the phone with Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., who counts many DoD employees as his constituents. He said that one of the biggest problems with NSPS was the political baggage that came with it — unions felt former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld shunned them when NSPS was being crafted and were outraged that the Pentagon attempted to limit collective bargaining rights as part of NSPS.
- Moran said “I wouldn’t be at all surprised” when I asked if he thinks the Pentagon might try to propose a new personnel system to replace NSPS. Moran noted that President Barack Obama supports the concept of pay for performance, and thinks that some aspects of NSPS will return. But he said as Obama crafts a new pay-for-performance system — whether at DoD or governmentwide — he will likely engage unions and employees more than the Bush administration did, which will give him a better chance of succeeding.
NSPS repeal update: Return to GS by 2012
October 7th, 2009 | Defense | Posted by Steve Losey
Here’s a few new details on the Defense Authorization Bill’s repeal of the National Security Personnel System that lawmakers on a House-Senate conference committee have agreed upon:
- All 205,000 employees currently under NSPS will be transferred back to their original pay system by Jan. 1, 2012, according to a statement from Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y. The bulk of NSPS employees were originally under the General Schedule system.
- American Federation of Government Employees President John Gage — who in June compared NSPS to Dracula — thinks the Defense Authorization Bill will be the final stake in the heart of the program.
- But it’s not a done deal yet. Army Times reporter Rick Maze tells me that other issues could scuttle the authorization bill. Rick said that one provision in the bill, which would authorize more spending for Joint Strike Fighter engines, could get the whole thing vetoed. Also, Republican opposition to a Hate Crimes Prevention Act rider could trip the bill up in the Senate.
- And Gage told me that the bill provides one slim chance for the Defense Department to save NSPS. According to Gage, language in the authorization bill says that if the Pentagon manages to “reconstruct,” or radically overhaul, NSPS to Congress’ satisfaction within a certain time period, and if Congress passes a bill saying it’s satisified with the NSPS reconstruction, the system could be saved. But, of course, that’s an awful lot of “ifs,” and at this point, it’s not looking good for NSPS.
- Gage said that new department-wide flexibilities on hiring, assigning personnel and appraising employee performance will be subject to collective bargaining.
Keep watching www.federaltimes.com for more information.
Tags: Congress, Defense Authorization, John Gage, NSPS
COLBERT treadmill arrives at space station
September 1st, 2009 | NASA | Posted by Steve Losey
NASA's official Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, or COLBERT, patch
What may be the most expensive consolation prize in NASA history will soon be aboard the International Space Station. A $5 million treadmill named for political satirist and faux TV pundit Stephen Colbert will be one of the first items unloaded this afternoon from a cargo container docked at the station, according to the Associated Press.
The Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, now as elevated as its namesake’s ego, will soon be used by astronauts to stay healthy and strengthen their muscles in the zero-G environment.
Earlier this year, NASA started an online poll allowing Web site visitors to vote on a name for the space station’s latest module, Node 3. But NASA also allowed visitors to write in their own suggestion. That’s when Colbert implored the viewers of his Comedy Central program “The Colbert Report” to write his name in. And boy, did they — members of the Colbert Nation cast more than 230,000 votes for their hero, far more than the second-place choice, “Serenity.” *
Though Colbert won the vote fair and square, NASA instead chose to name Node 3 “Tranquility,” in honor of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. Colbert was, of course, outraged at the subversion of democracy. But when astronaut Sunita Williams told him that a treadmill would instead bear his name, he quickly changed his tune. Video of the announcement after the jump:
 Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: fun, NASA, Space Station, Stephen Colbert
Obama again calls for 2.0 percent pay raise
August 31st, 2009 | Pay & Benefits | Posted by Steve Losey
President Barack Obama today sent a letter to Congress reiterating his call for a 2.0 percent pay raise for federal employees in January.
Obama said that the ailing economy, increasing demands on the federal government and the ongoing terrorist threat are straining the federal budget. And since the federal government’s attrition continues to be relatively low, Obama said it will be tough to justify a larger pay raise.
The letter is something of a formality. In the unlikely event that Congress forgets to pass a federal pay raise, last year’s increase in the Employment Cost Index (which was 2.9 percent) would automatically become the average pay raise for federal employees unless the president sends Congress a letter setting an alternative pay raise.
But while it’s doubtful that Congress will cede its raise-setting power, Obama’s letter could give more strength to the House lawmakers who in July approved a 2.0 percent pay raise next year. The Senate, on the other hand, is pushing for a 2.9 percent raise.
National Treasury Employees Union National President Colleen Kelley, however, is not happy:
John Gage wins third term as AFGE president
August 28th, 2009 | Unions | Posted by Steve Losey
The American Federation of Government Employees yesterday re-elected John Gage to a third three-year term as national president.
“There is much to do on behalf of federal workers,” Gage told delegates to AFGE’s national convention in Reno after he was sworn in Aug. 27. “Our focus is now on the midterm congressional elections and making sure the American people have the public services they deserve. We plan to help elect a Congress with men and women who are actually responsive to the needs of the American people, particularly the nation’s working families.”
Delegates also re-elected J. David Cox as national secretary-treasurer, and chose Augusta Thomas to be their new national vice president for women’s and fair practices department. Andrea Brooks, AFGE’s former national vice president, passed away on April 26.
Fed Times on the air: Interview with News Channel 8
August 27th, 2009 | Defense | Posted by Steve Losey
I paid a visit to the Washington-area cable program Federal News Tonight last evening to talk about the future of the National Security Personnel System. Take a look:
I usually appear once a month on Federal News Tonight to discuss the latest in federal personnel matters, and from here on in, we’ll be posting my interviews the following morning. Keep checking back for more.
Tags: Federal News Tonight, NSPS, Stephen Losey
NSPS chief Bunn to be HR director at DLA
August 25th, 2009 | Pay & Benefits | Posted by Steve Losey
The Pentagon said today that Brad Bunn, the program executive officer for the beleaguered National Security Personnel System, will be moving to the Defense Logistics Agency to be its human resources director.
The move was announced hours after the Defense Business Board issued a final report recommending the Pentagon “reconstruct” NSPS. Bunn’s move means that new blood will oversee the effort to break the mammoth, highly controversial pay-for-performance system down to its core elements and build it up again.
'Frustrated' unions say failure to kill NSPS 'illogical,' 'baffling'
August 25th, 2009 | Pay & Benefits | Posted by Steve Losey
The American Federation of Government Employees wasted no time in firing back at the Defense Business Board task group’s final report on the National Security Personnel System, and its recommendation to rebuild — but not abolish — the controversial system. In a letter sent to the task group less than an hour after the report was posted online, AFGE President John Gage said the decision to drastically reform NSPS left the union “perplexed, angered and frustrated:”
The recommendation to keep NSPS is illogical and does not flow from your findings. The task group has miscalculated the intensity of hatred toward this system. [...] We wonder why DoD isn’t holding those responsible for NSPS accountable and terminating them for this colossal failure. Instead, the task group asks them to try again, while the employees continue to suffer and many good employees lose money. [...]
The evidence of complete failure and serious injustice to many loyal, hard-working DoD employees is overwhelming. It leads to no other conclusion that termination.
Tags: AFGE, National Security Personnel System, NFFE, pay for performance
CIA Director Panetta on his way out?
August 24th, 2009 | Intelligence | Posted by Steve Losey
CIA Director Leon Panetta
ABC News today reported that strife is growing between CIA Director Leon Panetta, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, and the White House, and said Panetta might not be at Langley for much longer. The CIA and Obama administration are officially denying any shakeup, but ABC says Panetta let loose a profanity-laced tirade at the White House last month over the Justice Department’s possible investigation into CIA torture of terrorism suspects and threatened to quit. And that’s not all:
In addition to concerns about the CIA’s reputation and its legal exposure, other White House insiders say Panetta has been frustrated by what he perceives to be less of a role than he was promised in the administration’s intelligence structure. Panetta has reportedly chafed at reporting through the director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, according to the senior adviser who said Blair is equally unhappy with Panetta.
“Leon will be leaving,” predicted a former top U.S. intelligence official, citing the conflict with Blair. The former official said Panetta is also “uncomfortable” with some of the operations being carried out by the CIA that he did not know about until he took the job.
[...] Six other current and former senior intelligence officials said they too had been briefed about Panetta’s frustrations in the job, including dealing with his former Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives.
One of the officials said the White House had begun informal discussions with candidates who were runners-up to Panetta in the CIA director selection process last year.
One of the candidates reportedly has begun a series of preparatory briefings.
Tags: CIA, Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence, Intelligence, Leon Panetta, White House