Federal Employees

WASHINGTON -- Officials at the Woodlawn-based Social Security Administration informed employees they do not anticipate furloughs when across-the-board federal budget cuts go into effect, the union that represents many of those workers said Thursday. The announcement came days before $85 billion in budget cuts known as sequestration were expected to take effect on Friday -- cuts that the Obama administration has warned could lead to government-wide furloughs. Acting Social Security Administration commissioner Carolyn Colvin informed employees in a meeting on Thursday that furloughs would be avoided.

Dr. Joshua Zimmerberg says he's careful not to publicly disclose any personal information that could be of use to identity thieves. But soon, he might not have any choice but to have his finances published on the Internet for the world to see. Zimmerberg, a researcher and manager at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, is one of 28,000 federal employees in the executive branch who come under last year's Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge...

A bipartisan group of governors expressed concern Saturday over the impact looming federal budget cuts will have on their states but had few ideas for how to break the latest fiscal impasse gripping Congress. Most of the nation's governors, including Maryland's Martin O'Malley, are in Washington attending a meeting of the National Governors Association - an annual gathering that this year happens to fall just days before $85 billion in across-the-board federal spending reductions are set to begin.

Mika J. Cross, a human resources manager for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, sometimes uses a laptop issued by the agency. But she is far more likely to check email or collaborate with colleagues on one of her two personal computers. As someone who frequently works from home, she finds using her own technology more convenient. "It allows for greater flexibility," said the 39-year-old Waldorf woman, who oversees a program that helps employees balance work and personal commitments.

If Congress fails to deal with the looming threat of sequestration, March 1 will be devastating for millions of Americans. That will be the day that automatic, across-the-board spending cuts begin to take effect - cutting $1.2 trillion from defense and nondefense programs over the next 10 years. Sequestration was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, but the American Taxpayer Relief Act delayed it until March 1. Time is running out, and we must find a way to work together to reduce our deficit and avoid sequestration.

The House of Representatives voted Friday to block a half-percent pay raise ordered by President Barack Obama for federal employees, the latest move by GOP lawmakers to trim budget deficits by attempting to cut the size of the government. The proposal, which was approved on a 261-154 vote, would save $11 billion by continuing a two-year-old pay freeze for federal workers through the end of the year. The outcome of the pay dispute will affect about 300,000 federal workers who live in Maryland.

President Barack Obama begins his second term with a solid record of accomplishments related to the federal workforce, but with more crucial questions facing federal employees than at any time in the past four years. Although Obama didn't mention federal workers specifically in his inaugural address last week, he closed with words that could have a special meaning for them: "With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.

Even as Congress and the White House appeared to be at a standoff over the fiscal cliff last month, lawmakers and the president were able to agree on at least one thing: an update of the Hatch Act. The 1939 law prohibits federal employees and certain state and local workers from engaging in partisan political activity on the taxpayer's dime. Violators typically have faced two types of penalties - both severe. Congress passed bipartisan legislation in December that broadened the range of penalties and loosened the rules so that most state and local government workers - including those in the District of Columbia - can run for partisan elective office.

Congressional Republicans are stepping up their rhetoric on federal employee pay, positioning the issue as a central bargaining chip in negotiations next month over raising the debt ceiling and keeping the government open. House GOP leaders will hold a vote this week on legislation to overturn an executive order President Barack Obama signed last month to provide a 0.5 percent pay increase to the federal workforce - the first raise since the administration imposed a government-wide pay freeze in 2010.

Congressional action to avert a "fiscal cliff" of higher taxes and across-the-board federal budget cuts means that government agencies will avoid many dreaded spending reductions — at least for now. But "now" is no more than two months. The future remains uncertain for federal employees because the legislation, passed less than 24 hours into 2013, delays the budget reductions known as sequestration only until early March. "Really, do we have to go through that again?" asked an exasperated Gregory J. Junemann, president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers.