FCW Insider: June 16

Georgia's primary stumbles highlight anxiety over election readiness

Long lines, backlogs of absentee ballots and unfamiliarity with newly purchased voting and election technology have lawmakers worried about repeats in November.

Landmark Supreme Court ruling extends workplace protections to LGBT employees

The ruling gives state, local and private sector workers the same civil rights protections available for years to federal employees.

Connolly asks IGs to review agency reopening plans

The Government Ops chairman also wants the Pentagon's watchdog to probe a civilian federal worker's death from COVID-19.

HUD and GSA make cloud and CX awards

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is pushing ahead with modernization plans via the Centers of Excellence program housed at the General Services Administration.

Quick Hits

*** Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate introduced a bill designed to mandate oversight of trillions of dollars in COVID-19 recovery spending. The Coronavirus Oversight and Recovery Ethics Act of 2020 would cement the role of Inspectors General to conduct oversight of spending and would also prohibit conflicts of interest, increase disclosure of aid recipients and protect whistleblowers.

*** A bipartisan group of 30 senators are looking to continue support for telehealth under Medicare, even after the coronavirus pandemic is over.

"Americans have benefited significantly from this expansion of telehealth and have come to rely on its availability. Congress should expand access to telehealth services on a permanent basis so that telehealth remains an option for all Medicare beneficiaries both now and after the pandemic," the lawmakers told Senate leaders in a June 15 letter.