Congress

  • Legislation passed by the House creates a social media working group for the Department of Homeland Security, and adds in requirements and accountability processes to improve interoperability across the agency.

    July 09, 2014
  • A new bipartisan report from the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations called the Air Force's now-canceled Expeditionary Combat Support System "one of the most egregious examples of mismanagement by the DoD in recent memory." But the failure of ECSS may not be an aberration, the report suggested. Other enterprise-resource planning programs in the department are at risk of falling victim to the same fate.

    July 09, 2014
  • The Senate's to-do list this week includes the next steps on information technology contracting reform and enhancing the role of the Chief Information Officer at federal agencies. But the Senate is playing catch-up: the House has already passed its version of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act. Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) is a cosponsor of FITARA. He explained on In Depth with Francis Rose what he likes about the Senate version and what he wants to change.

    July 08, 2014
  • Congress returns this week to confront a number of issues that need immediate action. President Obama is asking for an additional $2 billion to help deal with the flood of unaccompanied minors. And time is ticking away for lawmakers to replenish the Highway Trust Fund, which is set to run out of money at the end of August. The Hill's White House Correspondent, Justin Sink, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to give a round up on what's going on this week.

    July 08, 2014
  • The Defense Department isn't following one of its own roadmaps. Back in 2012, defense planners devised a plan for protecting bases and installations from the potentially damaging effects of climate change. That's all started to affect DoD's planning, but there's a lot more to do. Brian Lepore is the director of Defense Capabilities and Management at the Government Accountability Office. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss what the roadmaps mean.

    July 08, 2014
  • The appropriations process was supposed to be easier this year compared to last, because lawmakers had signed off on a bipartisan deal that set top-line spending levels for the next two years. But action in both the House and the Senate appears to have largely stalled.

    July 07, 2014
  • Congress needs to pass twelve annual spending bills -- which set agency funding levels -- before the end of the fiscal year on September 30th. The House passed five of those bills so far. The Senate hasn't passed any. The appropriations process was supposed to be easier this year compared to last year. That's because lawmakers have already agreed on a bipartisan budget deal that sets topline spending figures for the next two years. Philip Joyce is a professor of public policy at the University of Maryland. In an interview with Web Writer Jack Moore, he said agencies should still plan for a continuing resolution.

    July 07, 2014
  • The House is beating the Senate five to nothing in the race to pass next year's appropriations bills. The topline spending amounts for federal agencies are already set, but even so Congress isn't exactly sprinting to finalize the budgets. But the clock is still ticking and September 30th is only about three months away. David Hawkings is Senior Editor of Roll Call. He explained where Congress stands in the appropriations process on In Depth with Francis Rose.

    July 07, 2014
  • The Pentagon says it's time to trim down the size and the cost of its headquarters staff around the world. The Government Accountability Office says the size of the overall workforce at the Pentagon's combatant commands doubled over the past decade. Overall spending to support the command headquarters grew by almost $1 billion, too. John Pendleton is director of defense capabilities and management of the GAO. He explained DoD's reduction plan and recommended ways to shrink the workforce on In Depth with Francis Rose.

    July 07, 2014
  • Under the Obama administration's strategic sourcing cross-agency priority goal, new commodity managers will oversee "hallways" for information technology, administration and human resources across government. The hope is that the managers and their teams of experts will be able to offer guidance and best practices to agencies when it comes to strategic sourcing.

    July 03, 2014
  • The Government Printing Office its employees Tuesday that it planned to request authority from Congress and the Office of Personnel Management to offer buyouts and early outs to 1,850 of its employees. The agency aims to reduce its workforce by 100 positions or 5 percent.

    July 01, 2014
  • The pictures are both heartbreaking and maddening. Thousands of minors pouring over the Mexican border into the United States, and causing havoc for guards and other federal employees. A new House bill would let the President appoint dozens of new immigration judges to help keep up with the flow of humanity. Cristina Marcos, a staff writer for The Hill Newspaper, joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss the bill's prospects and potential benefits.

    July 01, 2014
  • Congress is on its Independence Day holiday, and yet it still has a lot of work left on the table for when it comes back. David Hawkings, senior editor at Roll Call, writes the Hawkings Here blog. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose why there still hasn't been a lot of movement on appropriations bills.

    June 30, 2014
  • The latest check on the Defense Department's push to full audit readiness uncovers a domino effect of problems. The Government Accountability Office says DoD didn't follow a plan to improve how it tracks contract payments. Asif Khan is Director of Financial Management and Assurance Issues at the GAO. Khan told In Depth with Francis Rose that because the Pentagon missed some steps of the plan, it's dealing with even more problems that could keep the agency from meeting an important deadline.

    June 30, 2014