Congress

  • IRS employees join other members of the National Treasury Employees Union for a week of lobbying Congress to support a funding increase. But will lawmakers listen?

    February 03, 2015
  • "Slow and disjointed" is how Senator Dianne Feinstein, former chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, described the federal document declassification process. But a routine inspector general report found no violations within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Such reviews are required under a law called ROCA, the Reducing Over-Classification Act. The review only recommended "refinement." Charles McCullough is the Intelligence Community's Inspector General. He joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss the report and how some of the other intelligence agencies stacked up next to DNI.

    February 03, 2015
  • The White House budget request for 2016 is out, and it includes a 1.3 percent pay raise for federal employees. But Congressional Republicans are warning it will be dead on arrival. David Hawkings, senior editor of Roll Call, tells In Depth with Francis Rose about his view of the budget from Capitol Hill.

    February 02, 2015
  • Bid shopping is back on the radar screens of agencies across government. Prime contractors usually only do 10 to 40 percent of the work on federal construction projects. The Government Accountability Office says some of their subcontractors are accusing them of manipulating their agreements to pay them less and pocket the difference. Marie Mak, director of acquisition and sourcing management issues at the GAO, tells In Depth with Francis Rose how often prime contractors use bid shopping.

    February 02, 2015
  • he good news (for some) is that the much-leaked budget will be presented in full today to Congress and the media. The other sure thing is that it is DOA, as in Dead On Arrival, says Senior Correspondent Mike Causey.

    February 02, 2015
  • The Office of Personnel Management has given Federal Agency Skills Team (FAST) the job of putting in place a standard and repeatable methodology to identify and mitigate skills gaps governmentwide.

    January 30, 2015
  • The nine-member Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission submitted 15 recommendations to bring effectiveness and efficiency, and that would protect, maintain and improve benefits for the service members.

    January 30, 2015
  • By JOSH LEDERMAN and ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring an end to “mindless austerity,” President Barack Obama called for a surge in government spending Thursday, and asked Congress to throw out the…

    January 30, 2015
  • Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch won two key Republican endorsements Thursday en route to likely confirmation as the first black woman in the nation's top law enforcement job.

    January 29, 2015
  • Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the new chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said his committee has more work to do before it draws up a broad acquisition reform package. But one element will be a more full-throated role for the uniformed military.

    January 29, 2015
  • Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told the House Armed Services Committee that a bunch of incremental changes could help DoD find success with its acquisitions more often. The seven legislative proposals address redundant documents and processes that the military needs help from Congress to get rid of and give program managers more time.

    January 29, 2015
  • Confronting skeptical Republicans, attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch pledged a new start with Congress and independence from President Barack Obama Wednesday, even as she defended the president's unilateral protections for millions of immigrants in the country illegally.

    January 29, 2015
  • Julie Perkins, partner at Shaw Bransford and Roth will answer your questions about phased retirement, and Federal Times Senior Writer Andy Medici will give us an update on a new round of legislation that affects federal workers. January 28, 2015

    January 28, 2015
  • Bonuses went to some employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs who later got caught up in the wait time scandal, and other incidents at the agency. The congressman who sponsored the bill that makes it easier to fire SESers at VA wants to go after those bonuses now. Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) is chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said seeing results from the VA Management Accountability Act of 2014 (the firing bill that President Barack Obama signed late last year) won't happen overnight.

    January 28, 2015