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Civil servants who refuse to answer questions when called to testify before the House of Representatives or the Senate are not exercising civil service protections. They are exercising a constitutional right guaranteed to everyone, says Jeff Neal, senior vice president of ICF International.
The Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency is urging lawmakers to pass legislation restoring access to records and information for federal inspectors general.
The two-year budget deal is inspiring some lawmakers to push for making a biennial budget cycle permanent, with one year focused on appropriations and the second on oversight.
The measure would preserve VA employees' rights to appeal disciplinary decisions, while shortening the appeals process. VA leaders says they do not need another law, while the White House has threatened to veto the bill out of concern for employees' due process rights.
Republicans and Democrats agree on what the problem is at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The agency has been trying to repair the damage from a scheduling scandal for over a year. Federal News Radio's Emily Kopp tells In Depth with Francis Rose how Congress wants the agency to fix its problems. First, Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, explained what he thinks is the VA's most pressing problem.
The Library of Congress is collecting veterans' personal memories of war to create a unique telling of the nation's history. Bob Patrick, director of the Veterans History Project, shared details with Federal News Radio's Lauren Larson on In Depth with Francis Rose.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act scorecard and the governmentwide average is a “D.” Lawmakers and OMB expect agency scores to improve across the four metrics.
VA's Veterans First contracting program is making progress since a critical 2013 accountability report, but lawmakers say the agency could be doing more.
A pre-Christmas government shutdown could hurt Oklahoma, West Virginia and North Carolina more than Washington, D.C. Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says that's where feds really live, work and spend.
Budget constraints, IT management issues and a tight timeline could thwart the Census Bureau's ambitious redesign plan for the 2020 count. The bureau said it could save more than $5 billion during the 2020 Census cycle. Census' last count was the most expensive ever in U.S. history.
The two-year budget and debt deal President Barack Obama signed may bring some certainty to the government business and contracting space, especially if Congress passes an omnibus spending bill for the rest of this fiscal year. But shutdowns, continuing resolutions and other budget problems have left a lot of clutter on the contracting landscape. Michael Fischetti, a fellow and executive director of the National Contract Management Association, wrote about clearing out that clutter.
An old idea got an accidental tryout when Congress and the White House agreed on a two-year federal budget deal. Members from both parties say they'd like to make that idea permanent. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) is the chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. He's also a leading proponent of two-year budgeting. He joins the Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more on the budget deal.
Five Department of Veterans Affairs employees were in the hot seat this week as they answered questions on an alleged scandal involving senior officials using an agency program for their personal and financial benefit.
Customs and Border Protection would be another loser in the legislation before the House. Customs user fees would go to unrelated transportation projects instead.