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☆ Clear lets people skip the line at the airport. California lawmakers want to change it
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Clear is a service that lets people skip the security line at airports with nothing but a biometric scan and $189. Clear, a publicly-traded security company, lets members jump the line at airports, sports, concerts and other venues. About 10% of California travelers are Clear members, according to a legislative analysis of the bill. The bill, which appears to be the first in the United States, won’t block Clear at California airports, Newman said. But Clear, and major airlines like Delta, California airports, and business groups like the California Chamber of Commerce oppose the bill.

Persons: Gavin Newsom, ” Sen, Josh Newman, ” Newman, Newman Organizations: New, New York CNN, Transportation Committee, California, Assembly, Gov, Transportation Security Administration, TSA, CNN, Travelers, ” Clear, Association of Flight, American Federation of Government Employees, California Chamber, Commerce, Airports, Committee Locations: New York, California, haves, United States, Delta

☆ Biden administration bolsters protections for federal workers, getting ahead of potential Trump moves
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Betsy Klein | Tami Luhby | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Washington CNN —The Biden administration has finalized a new rule bolstering protections for career federal workers, marking a move to preemptively halt or significantly slow any efforts by former President Donald Trump, should he win in November, to reduce or alter the federal workforce. Critics warned that the order would allow the president to fill the federal workforce with his loyalists. Trump’s executive order created a new classification of federal employees titled “Schedule F” for employees serving in “confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating positions” that typically do not change during a presidential transition. It strengthens and clarifies existing rights for career civil servants by making clear that civil service protections cannot be taken away from employees unless they give them up voluntarily. “The threat of a politicized civil service is too great, and too real, for this to be the end of our efforts,” he said in a statement.

Persons: Washington CNN —, Biden, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Trump, ”, Bitsy, ” Skerry, “, Skerry, Gerry Connolly, Connolly, Brian Fitzpatrick, Biden’s, ” Everett Kelley, Doreen Greenwald, CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi, Kevin Liptak Organizations: Washington CNN, “, Public Citizen, Customs, US Postal Service, Biden, CNN, Trump, Management, Virginia Democrat, Technology, Government Innovation, Republican, American Federation of Government Employees, District of Columbia, National Treasury Employees Union Locations: Washington ,, Virginia, Pennsylvania

☆ US poor face economic hit as shutdown, childcare cliff, student loans converge
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

A separate benefits program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), will continue as normal for the month of October but could be affected afterward, officials say. U.S. officals say Small Business Administration loans may be delayed and up to 10,000 children could lose access to Head Start, the federal program for preschool children from low-income families. The AFL-CIO estimates that more than 3 million children will lose access to quality childcare and thousands of providers will be forced to close, lay off childcare workers or reduce slots for children. STUDENT LOAN DEBT REPAYMENTSA three-year moratorium on student loan repayments ends on Oct. 1 after the U.S. Supreme Court in June blocked the Biden administration's plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt for 43 million borrowers. Student loan repayment resumption "will be more challenging for the lowest-income groups," Bank of America said in a recent research report, because they saved less during the moratorium than higher-income groups.

Persons: Sarah Silbiger, Joe Biden, Biden, Patty Murray, Rosa DeLauro, Liz Pagel, Andrea Shalal, Heather Timmons, Timothy Gardner Organizations: U.S, Russell Senate, REUTERS, Rights, Republican, American Federation of Government Employees, SNAP, Women, Assistance, Democratic, AFL, Century Foundation, Supreme, Student, Protection, Bank of America, Thomson Locations: Russell, Washington , U.S, TransUnion

☆ Opinion: Government shutdown means Congress gets paid while most federal workers don’t
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Cristian Arroyo-Santiago | Opinion Rob Rosenthal | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The great majority of our almost 4 million federal employees would be furloughed without pay. But strikingly, one group of federal employees would not stop receiving their paychecks: members of Congress. Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution requires that members of Congress be paid while in office. What would it mean if those members of Congress who forced a shutdown of the government faced the same economic consequences as the average AFGE employee? The division between making the plan and living the plan is not inevitable or universal.

Persons: Rob Rosenthal, John E, Andrus, ” Everett Kelley, AFGE, ”, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Volodymyr Zelensky, Pell, aren’t Organizations: Wesleyan University, CNN, Transportation Security Administration, TSA, Federal Drug Administration, Occupational Health, Safety Administration, Environmental, Agency, Parks, SNAP, WIC, American Federation of Government Employees, Pew Research Center Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Kyiv, America

☆ Analysis: A messy government shutdown is the last thing the economy needs
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Against this precarious backdrop, Washington is on the verge of a messy shutdown of the federal government. A shutdown probably won’t wreck the economy, especially if it’s short. And if it a shutdown lasts long enough, it could, along with these other headwinds, do some real damage. The US Travel Association estimates the domestic travel economy would lose as much as $140 million a day from a government shutdown. “Uncertainty regarding federal operations will likely persist for the next few months.”Given all the other obstacles facing the economy, chaos in Washington is the last thing the economy needs.

Persons: New York CNN —, ”, Greg Valliere, Joe Brusuelas, Goldman Sachs, —, Uncle Sam, Mark Zandi, don’t, ” Zandi, AGF’s, “, ” Moody’s Organizations: New, New York CNN, UAW, Big Three, Federal, Federal Reserve, AGF Investments, RSM, American Federation of Government Employees, TSA, US Travel Association, Companies, Moody’s, AAA, Goldman Locations: New York, Washington, United States

☆ Government shutdown 'a detriment to our economy'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Reuters Editorial | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PoliticsGovernment shutdown 'a detriment to our economy'PostedEverett Kelley, National President of The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) said on Wednesday (September 27) that employees represented by the labor union are bracing for a government shutdown while hoping its averted before Sunday (October 1).

Persons: Everett Kelley Organizations: Government, National, The American Federation of Government Employees

Across the country, federal workers still stung by the memories of past government shutdowns are grimacing and bracing for another potential extended closure. Johnny J. Jones, secretary-treasurer of the TSA workers unit within the AFGE, said even a temporary loss in pay is a massive disruption for government workers who live paycheck to paycheck. LaPointe, a mother of four who is also a union leader for 30,000 Social Security workers through AFGE, said a shutdown would be “a catastrophe" personally. A Partnership for Public Service survey ranks the Social Security Administration last among agencies in the “Best Places to Work” government-wide index. “We don’t often feel like it’s worth it to be federal employees at the time of a shutdown,” LaPointe said.

Persons: — John Hubert, Steve Reaves, Jessica LaPointe, she's, “ We’re, ”, Hubert, “, Washington gridlock, we've, Tom Vilsack, Johnny J, Jones, ” Jones, LaPointe, ” LaPointe, Reaves, — Organizations: WASHINGTON, Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, Social Security, Disney, TSA, American Federation of Government Employees, Democrats, White House, USDA, Social, Republicans, Public Service Locations: Fort Lauderdale , Florida, Madison , Wisconsin, Washington, AFGE

The Office of Management and Budget reminded senior agency officials Friday to update and review shutdown plans. Those plans can vary from shutdown to shutdown. The nearly 4 million Americans who are federal employees will feel the effect immediately. Essential workers will remain on the job, but others will be furloughed until the shutdown is over. For many of them, a shutdown would strain their finances, as it did during the record 35-day funding lapse in 2018-2019.

Persons: “, ”, Doreen Greenwald, Everett Kelley, Pell, disbursing Pell, It’s, treasurers Organizations: CNN, Management, National Treasury Employees Union, American Federation of Government Employees, Transportation Security Administration, Social Security, TSA, of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve, Business Administration, Futures, US Centers for Disease Control, Drug Administration, Safety, Health Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, ”, Smithsonian, National, National Archives, National Park Service, of Education, Federal Student Aid, Federal, Department of, Assistance, SNAP, US Department of Agriculture, Women, of Housing, Urban Development, Commission, Research, NOAA, Oceanic, Administration, National Science Foundation, Peace Corps, State Department, Defense Department Locations: United States, America, Washington, DC, shutdowns

Career civil servants include professional staff across the government who stay on when the presidency changes hands. Portraying federal employees as unaccountable bureaucrats, the Trump team has argued that removing job protections for those who have any influence over policymaking is justified because it is too difficult to fire them. Critics saw the move as a throwback to the corrupt 19th-century patronage system, when all federal jobs were partisan spoils rather than based on merit. Congress ended that system with a series of civil-service laws dating back to the Pendleton Act of 1883. Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, described Schedule F as “the most profound undermining of the civil service in our lifetimes.”

Persons: Trump, —, Critics, Everett Kelley Organizations: Trump, American Federation of Government Employees Locations: Pendleton

☆ Ron DeSantis is eyeing cutting Social Security for people 'in their 30s and 40s' — but 'totally not' for seniors
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ron DeSantis told Fox News he would consider cutting Social Security for younger Americans. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have sparred over changes to Social Security. DeSantis' campaign did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on how the candidate would reshape Social Security. "Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security," Trump said in a January video. Save Social Security, don't destroy it."

Persons: Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, Kevin McCarthy, Donald Trump, Trump, Julie Tippens Organizations: Fox News, Social Security, Service, GOP, Republicans, Social, Medicare, Security, Social Security Administration, American Federation of Government Employees, SSA Locations: Wall, Silicon, Florida

☆ Social Security recipients could face 'a rapid increase of wait times' to receive benefits if Congress fails to increase funding for the program, according to the union representing its workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

House Republicans are proposing funding cuts for the Social Security Administration. The union said Social Security recipients could face longer wait times to receive benefits. The union warned that the already underfunded agency could see its standing issues, like long wait times for accessing benefits and long lines at its offices, only worsen. "If you read our Commitment to America, all we talk about is strengthening Medicare and Social Security." Aside from Social Security, lawmakers could be facing a budget showdown this fall over a number of contentious issues.

Persons: —, Julie Tippens, AFGE, Kevin McCarthy, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Sanders Organizations: Republicans, Social Security Administration, The American Federation of Government Employees, Social, Service, American Federation of Government Employees, Labor, Health, Human Services, Education, Security, GAO, SSA, Management, Social Security, Medicare, Federal, Aid, Democratic Locations: Wall, Silicon, America

☆ Exclusive: Staff at top U.S. farm research center file complaint alleging unsafe work conditions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Leah Douglas | Thomson Reuters | Washington-Based Award-Winning Journalist Covering Agriculture | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

The Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) near Washington D.C. is the largest research facility owned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and has long been the flagship of U.S. farm research. “Our employees’ health and well-being is our top priority," a spokesperson at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), which oversees BARC, told Reuters. STAFF CUTSFounded in 1910, the BARC facility spans nearly 7,000 acres in Prince George’s County, Maryland, near the nation’s capital. The unreliable conditions are affecting research outcomes, making it at times impossible to complete experiments or replicate their findings, said two research employees. On February 22, several BARC employees met with Thomas Shanower, the director of USDA’s Northeast Area, a division that oversees 15 research centers, including BARC.

☆ Social Security is in the 'worst public service crisis in memory,' labor union says. What it may take for services to improve
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Social Security beneficiaries who call the agency's toll-free number may face hold times of more than 30 minutes. Long lines and shortened hours are common at many of the agency's field offices where beneficiaries may seek in-person assistance. Moreover, applicants for disability benefits face waits of more than six months for decisions from the agency, a panel of experts from the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 40,000 Social Security Administration employees, said Monday. The service delays facing the program's approximately 67 million beneficiaries are signs of "an agency in crisis," according to Rich Couture, Council 215 president at the American Federation of Government Employees. AFGE leaders spoke out about the Social Security Administration's diminishing services amid funding constraints that have lasted for more than a decade.

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