This report provides an update on issues affecting federal managers. As always, I encourage you to visit www.fedmanagers.org on a regular basis for more information on these and other matters.

Also, be sure to look for the monthly FMA Grassroots Update, where we offer links to action letters and FMA-PAC matters we do not address in the Washington Report. The grassroots newsletter is sent exclusively to non-governmental email addresses to avoid any Hatch Act violations. If you are not receiving it, contact the national office to provide your non-governmental email address.

Please feel free to provide feedback any time by emailing Greg Stanford at gstanford@fedmanagers.org or by calling the National Office at (703) 683-8700. Thank you for your membership in FMA. It’s an honor to represent your interests before Congress and the administration.

FMA members gathered in Alexandria, Virginia, for the association’s 85th National Convention & Management Training Seminar March 26-29, 2023. This year’s event included an open house of FMA’s national office, steps away from the hotel.

FMA National President Craig Carter gaveled in the convention and provided opening remarks. Members then heard from Susan Tsui Grundmann, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), for this year’s keynote address. Chairman Grundmann offered an inspiring and insightful talk about the important role of management in the federal workforce and how the FLRA works to govern labor relations for the 2.1 million non-postal federal employees in the United States.

Linda Lentjes of Chapter 396 (Naval Station Mayport), was recognized with FMA’s Manager of the Year award. She was presented with the award at FMA’s 85th Annual National Convention and Management Training Seminar.

Linda’s career with the Department of Defense has spanned more than 40 years, starting with the Department of the Army in Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, as a GS-2 temporary employee in the administrative field. She rose through the ranks and was selected for the position of Resource and Requirements Director/Comptroller with U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. FOURTH Fleet, Naval Station Mayport, Jacksonville, Florida in 2005, where she continues to work today in this leadership position. She embodies the Association’s mission at her agency, in her community, and as a leader within FMA.

On April 5, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) detailed its plans for using the $80 billion Congress provided the agency last year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The agency expects to add 30,000 new employees in the next two years and plans to spend the new resources on tax enforcement efforts, taxpayer services, technology improvements, energy security, and hiring and retention.

The strategic operating plan outlines five objectives, as follows:

1. Dramatically improve services to help taxpayers meet their obligations and receive the tax incentives for which they are eligible

2. Quickly resolve taxpayer issues when they arise

3. Focus expanded enforcement on taxpayers with complex tax filings and high-dollar noncompliance to address the tax gap

4. Deliver cutting-edge technology, data, and analytics to operate more effectively

5. Attract, retain, and empower a highly skilled, diverse workforce and develop a culture that is better equipped to deliver results for taxpayers

Danny Werfel was sworn in as Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner earlier this month, becoming the 50th commissioner to preside over the nation’s tax system. He was confirmed to the position by the U.S. Senate by a 54-42 vote on March 9. The IRS employs approximately 85,000 and collects approximately $4.1 trillion in tax revenue each year representing about 96% of the total gross receipts of the United States. He will be IRS Commissioner through November 2027.

Commissioner Werfel’s bio notes experience both inside and outside of government prior to his new role at the IRS. Most recently, he was the global leader of Boston Consulting Group's (BCG) Public Sector practice. He served seven months as Acting Commissioner of the IRS from May to December 2013. FMA members also know Werfel for his extensive experience at the Office of Management and Budget as a previous Controller, where he assumed the responsibility of Deputy Director of Management. He also served as Deputy Controller, Chief of the Financial Integrity and Analysis Branch, Budget Examiner in the Education Branch, and Policy Analyst in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OMB. He has also served as a Trial Attorney in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.

The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is down to two members, following the expiration of Tristan Leavitt’s term. The MSPB went without a quorum for five years and without any members for several of those years. It operated with a full board (three members) from June 2022 to March 2023. The Biden Administration has not nominated a replacement on the board for Leavitt.

Leavitt announced he will run for delegate in West Virginia’s 53rd District. The MSPB will maintain a quorum and be able to finalize cases while Leavitt’s seat is unfilled. However, the pace of resolving the backlog, which topped out at 3,500 when the board had no members, will slow considerably. The backlog had decreased by approximately 20 percent by the end of 2022.

A group of eight U.S. Senators and four members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kiran Ahuja seeking answers to the retirement backlog. The April 3 letter, which you can read here, was sent by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Reps. Robin Kelly (D-IL), Shontel Brown (D-OH), Annie Kuster (D-NH) and Mark Pocan (D-WI).

“We write to express our concern with the excessive delays federal retirees in our states are facing as they wait to obtain their hard-earned retirement benefits. It has been reported that average retirement processing times have been far above the agency’s stated goal of 60 days— instead often exceeding 90 days. We are aware of at least one case that has been in processing for fifteen months,” the members wrote.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo (M-23-15) on April 13 regarding organizational health and organizational performance. The memo, “outlines steps executive departments and agencies will take to ensure that agency decisions regarding work environments continue to improve organizational health and organizational performance,” wrote OMB Director Shalanda Young. “One year after agencies completed reentry, and with the planned conclusion of the public health emergency, it is the right time for agencies to assess their work environments, reflecting on what they have learned as they build routines for measuring and monitoring organizational health and organizational performance.”

“Agency workforces are generally expected to increase meaningful in-person work—that is in-person work that is purposeful, well-planned and optimized for in-person collaboration—while still using flexible operational policies as an important tool in talent recruitment and retention,” Young wrote. “Planning should recognize that some operating units have improved performance while using workplace flexibilities, while also optimizing in-person work and strong, sustainable organization health and culture. Emphasis on planning should be placed on agency headquarters and equivalents and customer-facing units and personnel, including in high impact service providers.”

On April 6, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kiran Ahuja announced the 2023 OPM Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (OPM FEVS) will be administered in early May. The FEVS gives feds an opportunity to express their views on their work environment and experience. Survey invitations will be sent in two waves over the course of two consecutive weeks in May.

“Assessing the employee work experience through the OPM FEVS is more critical than ever to achieve understanding of the new challenges employees and agencies face amidst this ever-changing work environment,” Ahuja wrote. “Recognition of changes confronting employees and agencies have driven the addition of content to recent administrations of the OPM FEVS such as resilience, innovation, customer responsiveness, autonomy; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA); and information sharing.”