Congress

  • The Defense Department issues far more sole source contracts than any other agency. Full and open competition is supposed to be the holy grail of awarding Federal contracts. Figuring out when sole source contracts are OK and when they're not is drawing attention from Congress. Belva Martin, director of Acquisition and Sourcing Management Issues at the Government Accountability Office, tells In Depth with Francis Rose about a new report that says little competition isn't always a good thing.

    April 21, 2014
  • In the past three years, federal workers have gotten one raise, valued at 1 percentage point. Now a 3.3 percent increase in 2015 could be in the cards, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. So what are the odds? Can you say slim-and-none?

    April 21, 2014
  • Federal Managers Association President Pat Neihaus, and Andy Medici and Nicole Blake Johnson from the Federal Times will give us an update on a number of different pay issues affecting feds. April 16, 2014

    April 16, 2014
  • The Government Accountability Office will take a close look at the morale of federal government employees. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) ask for a full review of federal workforce trends from the GAO. And the Office of Personnel Management will soon have a better idea of feds' job satisfaction. It's sending the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey later this month. Pat Niehaus, national president of the Federal Managers Association, tells In Depth with Francis Rose a solution for your agency's morale problems is coming from the inside.

    April 15, 2014
  • Forty-one agencies don't have designated inspectors general of their own, according to Senate Financial and Contracting Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). She's sponsoring a bill that focuses on these small agencies that don't have the budget or resources for their own IG. Beryl Davis, director of financial management and assurance issues at the Government Accountability Office, testified recently before the subcommittee. She tells

    April 14, 2014
  • Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told a panel of agency IGs that she's currently drafting legislation that would pool together resources and establish an IG office specifically for the dozens of small agencies that fall outside the scope of the 1978 IG Act.

    April 10, 2014
  • Personnel costs take up a larger share of Customs and Border Protection's budget than ever before. More than 70 percent of the agency's Fiscal 2015 budget request will go to compensation. Some members of Congress are worried those rising costs will crowd out CBP's ability to deliver high-priority IT projects and fulfill its mission. In our Congressional Spotlight, Rep. David Price (D-N.C.), ranking member of the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, tells In Depth with Francis Rose the problem CBP has is two-fold.

    April 09, 2014
  • The Defense Department's overall budget will shrink by a combined $900 billion by fiscal year 2021, according to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno. He tells the Senate Armed Services Committee how the Army will absorb more than $260 billion in cuts during that span. On Pentagon Solutions, Odierno says the Pentagon is creating a Total Army Solution for the looming budget cuts.

    April 09, 2014
  • Three years after the Government Accountability Office first reported that federal agencies were managing a maze of potentially duplicative federal programs, the watchdog agency has added nearly a dozen more areas to its tally of duplication and overlap. GAO's latest report identifies a total of 26 areas for potential cost-savings, ranging from fragmented operations to out-and-out copycat programs being run by multiple agencies.

    April 09, 2014
  • Government auditors have taken a look a federal spending and programs. The Government Accountability Office's latest annual report to Congress repeats earlier findings. Namely, agencies have plenty of opportunities to get rid of programs that are fragmented, overlapping or duplicative. GAO identified 15 new opportunities for cost savings and revenue enhancement. Nicole Clowers, director of financial markets and community investment issues at the GAO, discussed the report with Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp.

    April 09, 2014
  • The IRS says six of its 19 information technology programs are running below cost and ahead of schedule. The agency says the others are experiencing cost overruns and schedule delays. But the IRS might not know if that's actually true. Dave Powner, director of Information Technology Management Issues at the Government Accountability Office, told In Depth with Francis Rose that GAO is looking at whether or not the IRS is accurately reporting its progress or lack thereof.

    April 08, 2014
  • The Republican-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is starting over on postal reform legislation and taking as its template a surprising source — the White House's fiscal 2015 budget request. Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told members of the committee and the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget that he intends to "embrace to the greatest extent possible" the entire slate of legislative proposals for overhauling the Postal Service included in the President's budget request.

    April 08, 2014
  • Congress has a full to-do list this week. Lawmakers must pass agency funding bills and come to a conclusion on the gas tax. But how much can the divided House and Senate accomplish before lawmakers leave Friday for a two-week break? Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp posed that question to Bob Cusack, managing editor of The Hill.

    April 08, 2014
  • SBA said GSA's impact analysis failed on two main accounts. SBA said it disagreed on GSA's claim that OS3 is a follow-on contract to OS2 and therefore is not a consolidation of contract requirements subject to the provisions of the Small Business Act. SBA also said GSA's argument that it is "contrary to law" to provide an economic analysis on the consequences of small business on a consolidated contract is wrong.

    April 07, 2014