Congress

  • Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is the leading force behind a bill that would reduce redundant or unnecessary reports by federal agencies. The 2014 Government Reports Elimination Act would modify or eliminate more than 50 reports that agencies produce annually for Congress. That bill has made its way through both the House and the Senate. Warner spoke with Tom Temin on the Federal Drive about the bill and the pressing issues Congress faces when it comes back after the November midterm elections.

    October 03, 2014
  • The Department of Defense expects a longer and possibly a more costly withdrawal of Army and Marine Corps equipment from Afghanistan than in Iraq, according to a Government Accountability Office report released on Tuesday.

    October 02, 2014
  • Vermont and Rhode Island lawmakers were among those in Congress who consistently voted in favor of federal workers and retirees, according to the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association's latest scorecard.

    October 02, 2014
  • OMB and Treasury are creating a roadmap on how to move forward with DATA Act implementation over the next 12 to 36 months. Meanwhile, congressional and executive branch auditors are part of the oversight process from the beginning.

    October 01, 2014
  • The Pentagon will begin a new fiscal year under yet another continuing resolution. When a budget finally is passed, Defense Department officials expect Congress to reject a significant number of proposals to cut DoD's own costs.

    October 01, 2014
  • Most members of Congress are not as cute as Bambi, but they do have some similarities to the four-footed animals that are overrunning the Capitol region, says Senior Correspondent Mike Causey.

    October 01, 2014
  • Doing away with DHS would result in a massive government reorganization that would most likely be even messier than the one that created DHS, says former DHS Chief Human Capital Officer Jeff Neal.

    October 01, 2014
  • The chairman of the Veterans Affairs subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations wrote a letter to Veterans Affairs Department Secretary Bob McDonald wanting more details on the actions it will take in light of the inspector general report involving the deputy chief procurement officer at the Veterans Health Administration and FedBid.

    September 30, 2014
  • Tomorrow is the anniversary of the government shutdown. This year that won't happen until at least Dec. 12, and most people on Capitol Hill (from both parties and both chambers) believe we won't see another shutdown for a long time. But Congress still has a way to go to get a deal done for the rest of fiscal 2015. On In Depth with Francis Rose, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer said he's not sure what to expect when Congress comes back after the election.

    September 30, 2014
  • President Barack Obama is going it alone for the time being. He's sending military resources to drop bombs and shoot missiles at the Islamic State line in Iraq and Syria. He's working largely without the counsel, much less consent, of Congress. Is there a big vacuum in Washington with Congress gone until after the mid-term elections? Or is there a streamlined operation without too much distraction? Justin Sink, White House correspondent for The Hill Newspaper, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with details.

    September 30, 2014
  • Most people expected Congress to completely leave Washington when both houses went into recess for the fall election. But two congressional committees will have at least a few members back in town this week. David Hawkings is Senior Editor at Roll Call, and writes the Hawkings Here blog. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he explained what they might be up to.

    September 29, 2014
  • Federal agencies are not using performance data to make better management decisions. The GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 required agencies to do that, and to document how they do it. The Government Accountability Office keeps score of which agencies actually use that information, and only two agencies are showing any improvement. Chris Mihm is Managing Director for Strategic Issues at the GAO. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he broke down the scores on performance data at your agency.

    September 29, 2014
  • The Defense Department is set to propose tighter rules that it says would close several loopholes in current regulations that are designed to protect service members from predatory lenders. This story is part of Jared Serbu's Inside the DoD Reporter's Notebook.

    September 29, 2014
  • Congress left town ignoring the Obama administration's request for more funding to deal with illegal immigration. Dana Leigh Marks is president of the National Association of Immigration Judges and an immigration judge in San Francisco. When we spoke with her at the peak of the surge across the Southern border in July, she described her work as handling death-penalty cases with traffic court resources. She gave an update on the situation on the Federal Drive with guest host Emily Kopp.

    September 26, 2014