On cspan three ondemand on cspan. Org or listen on the go on the cspan radio app. With the Senior Correspondent with the publication executive recently published a piece looking at federal employees were looking at how theyre being affected by covid19 good morning sir. Could you give us an update on where we are with positive cases . We have over 10000 thats growing pretty rapidly a lot around the front lines so their exposure is great and pretty elevated. Weve seen that climb it a pretty rapid rate. The Defense Department has a lot of positive cases, Veterans Affairs and healthcare employees have a lot of cases. The Postal Service is up there theyre up there every day interacting with customers and doing the rounds so that has left a fairly high exposure. We were talking about over 2 million federal employees here. I thats to be expected there would be someul cases. Youre talking say that top lines like thehe dod veterans Postal Service are their concerns there with the federal government . The emissions of these agenciesng are still being carried out. There certain rules that have gone into place and its varied by agencies to try to mitigate the impact of large numbers of employers being sick due to exposure. Weve seen agencies so they dont have a shortfall of workers there hiring new nurses and frontline medical staff to making sure employees who might have exposure still works there making sure they dont have symptoms and still working. Agencies are in some cases putting all their efforts into response efforts like Homeland Security department for example is taking a big role of screening and those who are coming back in place. Femas lien the charges a component of dhs how to coordinate all the shipments of ppe and things like that. A lot of the agencies around government are focused on response efforts. Some are still trying to carry out their normal duties for the Social Security administration and agencies like that. Theyre checking out the seniors and make sure the normal functioning of government is still conducted. As of april 2, 8500 of those infected with tsa were seeing fewer flights are there concerns overr flightsafety if you have that kind of number of employees at tsa specifically who have covid . Thats a case where in the beginning there was a concern, there is a lot of employees staying home. The agencies was allowing anyone who felt like they might be at a high risk and they didnt really need to prove it they just had to express to the supervisor they were not comfortable coming in. That left thousands of employees staying home. But at this point, the flight traffic is so low they have more staff than they need. Thosee going to work or working one or two days a week or even just a couple days every other week. Then theyll be placed on paid administrative leave to be home. They are sort of adjusting to the facts they are screening a small fraction of what they normally do. If talk to some tsa executives who say this just really nothing for us to do right now. I think they have covered their basis. Eric joining us for this conversation we have divided the lines differently if you want to give commentsmm on federal employees and heather being affected by covid if your federal employee two oh 2748000 is the number to call if you are a contractor for the federal government 202 7488001 all others 8002 can also text us and you can tweet us your questions or comments thereto. Find a contractor, eric how might being affectedd differently if im an actual employee of the federal government . Contractors are in some cases operating under a different set of rules. They wont necessarily be subject to the same leave policies that the government is implementing, which is not consistent across all agencies. In some cases lawyers are eligible federalal employees are eligible for things that contracts may not be. They are answering to a different boss in most cases. They have to follow their own companies guidelines. They might not be receiving of equipment that federal employees do although agencies reallyug struggle to get that sort of masks and things like that distributed at a rapid rate across the b board. So even though you work next to somebody might be subject to a different set of rules. I think the contractors are used to that theyre creating some weird dynamics in the office. If i am a federal employee and i can track covid19, am i required to stop working . M yes. Theoretically if you test positive you should be sent home immediately or told to stay home if you are already there. You will most likely have to take your own sick leave in order to continue getting paid. And if you dont you risk being placed on leave without pay. Some agencies are doing that differently so you are on administrative leave in therefore you dont take your own personal leave. But generally speaking, yes you do have to stay home and in some cases you willme be asked in every case eventually you will have to come back in some agencies will be more quickly than others. In some agency we see once your fevers been down for three days then you are askedve to come back in for some its a week or ten days so it depends where you are. You should not be working if you test positive. Then if other states are opening up their government there is a drive to open up a federal government and bring people back to work to offices at the not teleworking what are the concerns facing those facing that idea of coming back or wherever else there is a federal facility. There federal facilities around the country about 85 are outside the washington area. Thursday the federal government put out guidance about twoee weeks ago how agencies should be looking at their reopening. They differ a lot to local leaders they went agencies to start thinking about how they can bring employees back to the office but they are not prescribing necessarily when that should happen like you mentioned thats creating some concern there were they have to go back before before proper equipment can be provided in certain steps can be taken with social distancing that plays within the office ive talked it people take mass transit how did they get in . How they get exposed . Employees are still to get masks and other things they dont want to sit in a all the office all day wearing a mask. A lot of these workers have been doing their jobs just fine from home, they dont see that rush to get back into the office because they are still able to do anything anything and everything theyve had to do remotely. Thats creating concerns and some of these offices they are very crowded. There is no way to avoid staying 6 feet apart if your cubicle is right on top of another so to speak. Maybe we will see people going back in on a rotational basis half one we can have the other week things like that. I think we will see this in phases their deafening employees worried about what this will look like. Two again those federal employees if you want to ask questions or give comments for contractors to o2. [inaudible] to have a conversation with eric, government executive will start with bobby in illinois. Go ahead to your question or comment. Caller good morning my question was how, as far as federal employees is being affected . Can they take federal monies, just like the working public as far as people thats on unemployment thats trying to gett stimulus money or unemployment money how is that actually affecting federal employees as well if you can answer that question . Thats my first question. My other question is as far as done that take money from the taxpayer as well . C1 mr. Capps. Guest yes the stimulus payment that congress authorized thats been put into law the federal employees are qualified based on their salary, they would receive those payments. Theres also a carveout for them federal employees dealing with sick leave. So most federal employees shouldst be eligible for an extra two weeks of sick leave if they get sick due to the coronavirus. There has not been any cases of federal employees being laid off through a reduction forces a call in government so far so there should not be, at least not on any widespread scale unemployment uptick in unemployment amongst federal workers due to the coronavirus we seen in so many other sectors that weve seen around the country and the private sector the private sector is largely still working, still doing their job and not impacted in terms of unemployment. Steve went from joseph he will join us from bell california, go ahead. Caller good morning cspan. I think when everything. [inaudible] i think coronavirus showing the country is receiving people actually. Coronavirus showedho a real case of how disastrous it is for federal Law Enforcement for trump to deny the situation which. [inaudible] we are trying to save our own peoples lives. We have the highest number of affected people while we are suffering from the shortage of ppe. We are fictional. [inaudible] c1 those joseph m bell, california. The federal employee has to go to work placeso the issued and of ppe to take care of that employee . Caller no. Just depends what agency you are in, its Getting Better all the time in terms of access to ppe. However there is still agencies where they say you have to bring your own masks and things of that sort. I heard a lot about food inspection, meat plants were hotspots have developed in hundreds of plants employees have tested positive and is led to closures. There federal inspectors in every single one of those plants. Ive read about them and they were not being provided masks until just a few days ago. They just started providing masks there. That led to a lot of employees getting sick a lot of the federal inspectors getting sick. It va ive written a lot about shortages they are, employees were working in the emergency room getting one mask. Week. Or one. Shift and thats usually the more basic surgical mask enought, and 95. As the best way to prevent the spread of the virus. Irs recalled the bunch of employees and originally they were not provided masks but eventually irs secured that. Fema and thers health and Services Department we reported last week began shipments to ship them to agency needing them for employee use. As help in getting more that if its needed, it is not been across the board from the getgo and in some cases its been far short of that. Host will this is from Washington State will he will hear from dawn. Good morning. Caller thanks for taking her calls. Just wanted to say, i think we need to get back to life. Please get back to work, school, this is all going to go with federal workers in the top down. My dad always told me you shouldnt write a check to cant cash so its all going to run out and another time. Another caller just said it its all stuff being passed down from her hundreds of years of hard work. Host wont yourk like art guest to address and specifically . . Caller i just think we need all work together, we need to get this ppe under control. We have families of all color all creed that are dealing with this throughout the entire nation. If stores that have already shut down that are not coming back. Sue went okay thats donna Washington State the caller said its gotta start with the federal government getting back to work. Is that a likelihood the federal government will be back to full swing . Caller its a really interesting point because there is that feeling out there that the federal government will set the tone here. Obviously, i have talked to many employees who have raised this point. Obviously President Trump has been pushing the notion we need to reopen the country as he says, everybody back to work who has been at home. And what does that mean . Will the use federal government as the guinea pig here. What weve seen so far is more that the federal government will follow the guidelines set by governors and state Health Officials and leaders. There is not yet been a drive to make the federal government set the tone for everybody else. It has been more what is going on in your area for your facility is felt the guidelines that are being set in thatar area. That could change, there could be a nationwide push some agencies are starting to recall their employees. All agency state open only some made employees continue going to their normal workstations because of the nature of their work they had to be there, tsa we talked about earlier, ba, their mission requires employees to be there they cannot work remotely. But other than that it has been sort of a slow, small number that have come back into theirk offices. We are still waiting to see that ramp up. Host heres what the union that represents federal employees said going back to more than usual. This is universal testing for covid19 using science based standards for worksites treating all workers eat and rent equal with her terms of exposure. Theres adequate protection of supplies removal of symptomatic employees and those in contactem with effective workers with any and all bargaining obligation. That is a long list. Whats the likelihood the union will get all that . The long listed somewhere we are pretty far from checking all of those boxes. I would say its on likely we have for example universal testing before employees go back to offices. That would be ideal obviously, we just have not ramped up the capacity for that yet in this country. I dont know when that would happen if ever, i dont think that would be a prerequisite in terms of what this administration is looking for to get employees back. I think some of that stuff we are seeing and will continue to see sitting employees home when they test positive. Isolating employees have had exposure doesnt happen every agency we talked about the va. I think in normal Office Settings that can be a policy thats implemented. Providing appropriate masks and things like that, for starting to see that more and more like i described. Some of these requirements or requests unions are asking for, i think will be implemented. Theres been an adversarial relationship between two sides. How this is only i bargained over, they have not always agreed on even what should be negotiated over the last fewia years. Ive see the unions when lookout for their members. So that could lead to some tension. Host going to wisconsin, david hello. Caller good morning how are you doing . Fine go ahead. Caller like to stress the point of gloves course she got the nurses gloves, i am talking about a nice pair of knit gloves you can buy anywhere from two to 12 having rubber on the outside you can use hand cleaners with them, or just spray them with lysol they are very handy, very comfortable and can be worn long term. Believe the virus will keep spreading into we wear gloves to protect ourselves and masks to protect others. And get back to work. Got it. See when thats david wisconsin we have a viewer that asks this. Has worker productivity been effective working from home . Is there with measuring if productivity remains the same . Guest i think some of this will take some time to measure it was a retrospective look some early cases productivity stayed where it was her going up. Even with the Social Security administration they were reducing their backlog. Premature everyone from the agencies working for home. Theres a lot of cases built up checks and eligibility and some agencies that wont be possible. Ib where there is administrative hearings that have to happen, some of those are happening over zoom and other things like that. They cannot happen when they are not meeting in person. Some cases that will lead to more backlog piling up. What were hearing and seeing their continuing to focus on their mission to get the job done. Thereve been some cases at the irs for example were lots of employees tens ofmp thousands perhaps were not set up for they did not have agency laptop or they did not have proper equipment. Theyre actually not even working it alright others talk to some employees its been weeks now theyve been home, theyey said im ready and willing to telework if youll let me but they have not been set up for that. The Defense Department and other agencies around government there are certain rules about classified information or you have to be in a certain protected facility and able to look at the documents and they dont have that set up foron home. So some of that work is either not being conducted the employees have to still go in and in order to do that. That has created some complications as well with normal workflow. F like i said, for the most part the work is getting done. Host this is from marilyns, gloria good morning you are all with our guest. Caller good morning. I wasnt sure you were talking to me. My name is gloria, i am very comforted by the fact that america seems to be going with the experts, i am so proud of our governor, my governor especially. No Governor Hogan if i ever got to shake his hand i would say hes almost persuaded me to it be a republican. Im not serious they have to do something about the white house. I dont think we know enough about the virus to be rushing people back to work. I understand it is a multi faceted problem but the tweety bird in the white house has to learn to understand that his next campaign to remain president , and i hope he doesnt, he hasnt such astronomical harm. Host call overtime up the federal workers specifically jeff a question for ouret gas . Caller the specific out ask our gas is if people are forced back to work too soon, be the federal employees, momandpop businesses, whatever, what is the cost if we wind up losing everything weve gained . We dont have enough testing, we dont have enough masks, we dont have enough of anything. Why are we even suggesting to go back into emergency by putting people in harms way . Guest there certainly a risk of going back to soon. We weve seen in federal offices and of course in places across the country where employees have had to continue working. We know hotspots can develop. None of us are immune to that. There could be that possibility after few weeks they realize its not safe and have to close again. This administration would really not like to see that happen. But you cant rule it out many of these offices are crowded, theres hundreds or thousands of employees. Some especially in headquarters in d. C. , theyre of of thousands of employees goingen into them and funneled into smaller entranceways often in common areas. Theres only so many you can do to spread out and make sure employees rick if youre writing to an elevator things of that nature. There is a concern about reenteringe too soon. Weve talked about with the unions are looking for before that happens. Some of the demands they are making. All of those will beth met. Once agencies really start to bring employees back, will keep an eye on certainly the government will be keeping an eye on it theres uptick in cases. Host over the last couple of weeks for the subsets of the pandemic has been the discussion about the effect of the early president s perspective on the postall ceservice. What are the concerns with the Postal Service at this time . Guest the Postal Service is dealing with the crisis on multiple fronts. With talked at the very beginning about a large number of employees themselves have contracted the virus. Although not a huge percentage based on the amount and size of their workforce. Theyre also facing a financial crisis based on this. The Postal Service has been dealing with Financial Issues for about a dozen years now. Thats when it really started to hit at least. Where they have been losing money year after year. Some of this is based on certain constraints placed on them by congress and how they have togrpe operate. Largely a lot of it is based on the fact their Business Model is changing and evolving. People dont send as much mail as they used to. That is all being exacerbated at this crisis with the economic fallout from the pandemic is being felt all across the country people are sending less mail and that is hurting the agency. They anticipate sends of billions of dollars in losses. On the huge mail volume decreased due to pandemic. Theyre asking congress for financial assistance. The Postal Service is not received any appropriations from congress, essentially none. They are all funded by you sending mail and and sending packages and things like that. So they want financial assistance, they want a loan, they want a cash injection, they want projects with Capital Investments to be funded. That amounts to 75 billion theyve asked for. The president has been there he reluctant to acquiesce to that. Democrats in congress are pushing to accept that sort of assistance but republicans in the white house are pushing back. President trump, the issue hes pushing for years as the Postal Service should raise the rates instead of getting more money in their mix of thoughts on what that would mean for the agency. So far theyre sorted but a standstill theres expected to be a push in the next bill Congress Passes to include the Postal Service to help alleviate some of these concerns. But the president , so far says its a no go for him. Others are pushing for more comprehensive reform. Its the Postal Service to get the sort of appropriation. Systemic eric is with the exact lives Senior Correspondent for the government. Thank you for your time sir. Thanks for having me. Stu maxey spent washington journal life every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up Tuesday Morning we will discuss Supreme Court oral arguments on cases involving President Trump finances with Washington Post reporter robert. Discussions about reopening the u. S. Economy during the covid19 pandemic. watch cspans washington journal live at seven eastern on Tuesday Morning, joined the discussion. Tonight here on cspan2 the communicators is next with microsoft president brad smith. That is followed by vermont senator Ernie Sanders speaking to the Washington Post about the Coronavirus Response and the 2020 president ial election. Later the Supreme Court hears oral argument in two cases in the first dealing with criminal jurisdiction over indian lands and the other involving the role of federal courts and discrimination cases by employees of religious institutions. Cspan has unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the sipping court and publicpolicy events from the president ial primary during the impeachment process. And now the federal response to the coronavirus. You can watch all of cspan Public Affairs programming on television, online or listen on the free radio app. Be a part of the National Conversation through cspans daily Washington Journal Program or through our social media feeds. Cspan, created by americas Cable Television company as a Public Service and brought you today by your television provider. Brad smith, microsoft president , what is your premise of your new book, tools and weapons . Guest Digital Technology has both become a tool and a weapon. Its creating all benefits but all kinds of challenges as well and we have to grapple with both sides of that equation we want