Government

Jo Freeman writes: Her first passion was cheerleading, which she pursued in high school and college. In many ways, she spent her life as a cheerleader, first for her team, then for her causes. Her second passion was leadership. She served as president of Tuskegee Institute’s student government and chose her successor when the rules did not permit her re-election. Gwen liked being in charge. Gwen had a talent for making friends, from the President of Tuskegee Institute, to Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, Bettina Aptheker and many lesser knowns. They opened doors, helping her find jobs, travel to interesting conferences in far away places and serve on boards. She did make a few enemies, but there appear to be remarkably few. more »

As the nation's largest employer, the federal government employed about 2.7 million workers in 2019. Although the pay gap between men and women in the federal workforce is smaller than it is for the entire US workforce and has narrowed over time, studies show that pay disparities continue to exist. GAO was asked to explore the current status of pay equity in the federal workforce. This report examines how the pay gap between men and women in the federal workforce has changed since 1999, and what factors account for any remaining gap; and the extent to which OPM and EEOC have monitored and taken steps to address the pay gap in the federal workforce, including assessing potential disparities in promotions; among other objectives. more »

President Donald Trump has spent four years trying to undermine the Affordable Care Act. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to bolster the law and give states new tools to expand coverage. Among them: more money and additional guides to help people buy health insurance on the ACA exchanges; support for states that want to allow more people onto Medicaid rather than fewer; and a crackdown on health care plans that don’t offer the minimum benefits required by Obamacare.   President Donald Trump has spent four years trying to undermine the Afforda… more »

Q: And will the decisions that are being made in this transition period — like the vaccine distribution plan — in any way limit the options of a new administration? Fauci: No, I don’t think so. I think a new administration will have the choice of doing what they feel. But I can tell you what’s going to happen, regardless of the transition or not, is that we have people totally committed to doing it right that are going to be involved in this. So I have confidence in that. Q: When do you think we’ll all be able to throw our masks away? Fauci: I think that we’re going to have some degree of public health measures together with the vaccine for a considerable period of time. But we’ll start approaching normal — if the overwhelming majority of people take the vaccine — as we get into the third or fourth quarter [of 2021]. more »