Another Warning of a Retiring Workforce

For its report, the Federal Acquisition Institute gathered data on seven occupations that make up substantial parts of the acquisition workforce and counted 125,779 federal employees as holding contracting and contract-related jobs.

To Appeal, or Not

The Bush administration will wait until next month before deciding whether to appeal a federal court ruling that has blocked workplace rules at the Department of Homeland Security that unions contend would gut their bargaining rights.

The department lost in U.S. District Court last year and before a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in June. The judges faulted the department for failing to ensure collective bargaining rights for employees.

The department will not seek a rehearing before the full appeals court, said Larry Orluskie , a spokesman. Instead, he said, the government "has reserved its decision as to whether or not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court."

The deadline for filing an appeal at the Supreme Court is Sept. 25, Orluskie said.

New at OPM and EEOC

Kerry B. McTigue , a partner in a Columbia, S.C., law firm, joins the Office of Personnel Management this week as the agency's general counsel, an agency spokeswoman said.

McTigue is a 1996 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law and his practice has included employee benefits, procurement, technology, product liability and pharmaceutical and medical device litigation.

Ronald S. Cooper has been sworn in as the general counsel at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a four-year term. He was a partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he worked for 34 years, specializing in employment litigation.

Stephen Barr's e-mail address isbarrs@washpost.com.