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Government watchdog groups are calling on congressional committees to release the names of Trump political appointees who have burrowed into career civil service positions over concerns they may attempt to sabotage the Biden administration.
Former President Donald Trump signed an executive order in October that stripped career civil servants of employment protections and opened the door for political appointees to burrow into career positions inside the government. The move came as Trump Cabinet members like Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged staffers to be the resistance to the incoming Democratic administration. President Joe Biden rescinded the order in his first days in office, but it remains unclear how many such appointees may have burrowed into career positions inside their departments.
Government Executive
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The administration needs a strategy that empowers employees and helps agencies deliver on their missions. Matthew T. Cornelius |
Executive Director, Alliance for Digital Innovation
We’re approaching an anniversary nobody wants to celebrate a year of COVID-related lockdowns and forced remote work for millions of employees. While bumpy in the early weeks, the majority of organizations have survived some have thrived during total telework.
Studies show productivity is up and communication has improved. Many employees have grown accustomed to working from home and aren’t likely to go back into the office full-time even after vaccines are widely administered. These findings are especially true for the civilian federal employees and contractors that make up the vast majority of the government workforce.
February 25, 2021
Officials at the congressionally funded international broadcaster Voice of America quietly rehired an executive this week who had recently been put on administrative leave for misconduct and slated for firing over multiple whistleblower allegations of misconduct, fraud, and false education credentials, as well as a damning Office of Personnel and Management report.
John Lippman, acting VOA director of programming, announced that former Persian Division Director Setareh Derakhshesh Sieg would return as special assistant to the director of programming and director of program review.
Sieg’s return to the VOA comes shortly after she was placed on administrative leave at the beginning of January by former Deputy Director Elizabeth Robbins while under investigation for “multiple forms of misconduct.” The misconduct allegedly included allowing certain staff to “charge excessive overtime,” engaging in “potentially fraudulent expenditures,” abusing governmen