According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), more federal employees retired in 2013 than in the past several years. The number of government employee retirement applications received last year was 114,697. In a fascinating detail, the number of retirement applications has been so high that OPM has published statistics about the backlog of retirement […]

With the holiday recess fast approaching, congressional negotiators were closing in on an agreement to avoid another government shutdown. But they faced a last-minute outcry from House Democrats demanding to extend federal jobless benefits as part of any deal. Read More  

Even on vacation, we instinctively reach for our phones to scroll through messages, making sure the world continues to function in spite of our absence. And to lessen the blow upon our return. If you’ve been checking all along, you know what you’re in for once you’re back at your desk. Furloughed federal workers had no […]

Wednesday’s deal to end the government shutdown included back pay for federal employees who were not paid during stalemate, providing compensation for workers who were taken off the job or had to work without pay during through no fault of their own. Read More

“There are no winners here,” President Obama said at the White House late Thursday morning. “These last few weeks have inflicted completely unnecessary damage on our economy.” See Video

Negotiations to end the U.S. government shutdown, now in its third week, were making significant progress in the Senate just days before the government exhausts its ability to borrow more money to pay its bills. Click for updates

When Washington is in crisis and every other option has fallen to pieces — whether on rescuing Wall Street, rewriting national security rules or agreeing on a budget — Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are usually the ones who put it all back together. Read More

House Republicans have submitted a revised short-term proposal to raise the federal debt ceiling and reopen the government, offering President Obama another option Friday as he hosted Senate Republicans at the White House in an effort to build on the first signs of bipartisan progress on the issues. Read More

Although the federal government’s partial shutdown is costing Metro about 20 percent of its normal ridership and “a few hundred thousand dollars a day” in fare revenue, the transit system’s top official said no drastic service cuts are in the offing – not yet, anyway. Read More

House Republican leaders said Thursday they will offer a temporary increase in the federal debt ceiling in exchange for negotiations with President Obama on longer-term “pressing problems,” but they stopped short of agreeing to end a government shutdown now in its 10th day. Read More

With financial markets reflecting growing concern about the potential for a U.S. default, the White House on Wednesday announced a series of meetings with lawmakers from both parties to focus on the government shutdown, looming debt crisis and festering fiscal stalemate. Read More

House Republican leaders pressed demands Tuesday for negotiations with Senate Democrats and President Obama over bills to fund the government and raise the federal debt limit, but they declined to lay out what they are seeking in the proposed talks. See Video