Congress

• Bill would ensure blue-collar feds get 1 percent pay raise in January

  A new bill introduced this week by Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) would ensure blue-collar federal employees receive the same scheduled pay increase in January as General Schedule employees. White-collar GS employees are due to get a 1 percent pay raise in January, under a plan announced in August by President Barack Obama, who has authority to set GS pay levels. However, pay raises for wage-grade or hourly employees require separate legislation. With no action by Congress, pay for these employees would remain flat.

  Congress

  November 22, 2013
• How Congress lost its tech groove at the corner of CitiBank and a fruit basket

  Congress, as an institution, doesn't appear to have the technological skills and knowledge to ask the right questions when it comes to increasingly complex agency IT programs. The congressionally-chartered Office of Technology Assessment was defunded in the mid-1990s and former staffers say its absence is sorely felt today. Many people say the time is right for a reboot of the OTA. This article is part of the Federal News Radio special report, A New Era in Technology.

  Congress

  November 21, 2013
• 3 takeways from HealthCare.gov IT hearing; First task order for continuous monitoring is out

  In this week's edition of Inside the Reporter's Notebook, Executive Editor Jason Miller shares news and buzz in the acquisition and IT communities that you may have missed.

  Congress

  November 15, 2013
• Postal Service posts $5B loss; CFO says USPS in ‘precarious position’

  Postal officials called on Congress to lift a 2006 congressional requirement that it make annual $5.6 billion payments to cover expected health care costs for future retirees.

  Budget

  November 15, 2013
• Senate proposal lops off FERS pensions for new hires

  A new bill introduced by a trio of Republican senators would end the defined benefit portion of FERS coverage for new federal employees hired within six months of the bill's passage. Sponsors of the bill say the Public-Private Employee Retirement Parity Act would align federal retirement benefits more closely with those earned in the private sector.

  Congress

  November 15, 2013
• CBO: Congress could wring $300B in deficit savings from federal pay, pension changes

  A new Congressional Budget Office analysis of proposed deficit-reduction efforts contained half a dozen proposals affecting federal employees, including reducing annual pay raises, requiring federal employees to contribute more toward their pensions and reducing the size of the federal workforce through attrition. All told, such proposals would reduce federal outlays or increase revenues by $308 billion, according to CBO estimates.

  Congress

  November 15, 2013
• Federal IT officials shirk responsibility for HealthCare.gov problems

  The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee pressed federal Chief Information Officer Steve VanRoekel, federal Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, Department of Health and Human Services CIO Frank Baitman and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services deputy CIO Henry Chao to acknowledge the oversight failings, and for someone to declare they were in charge of the program.

  Congress

  November 14, 2013
• Lawmakers raise cybersecurity concerns about HealthCare.gov

  The troubled HealthCare.gov website has been the subject of at least one attempted but unsuccessful cyber attack, according to one of the of the Homeland Security Department's top cyber officials. Lawmakers at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing said the consolidation of personal information and the glitch-prone website are cause for concern.

  Congress

  November 13, 2013
• More oversight needed to achieve billions of dollars in IT savings

  The Government Accountability Office looked at two initiatives that are supposed to help get information technology spending under control. GAO found that both initiatives are coming up short.

  Federal Drive

  November 12, 2013
• White House considering options after Issa subpoenaes federal CTO Park

  Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is compelling federal CTO Todd Park show up Wednesday for a hearing before the Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the IT oversight problems of the HealthCare.gov website.

  Congress

  November 11, 2013
• DoD finalizing major rewrite of acquisition guidance

  Reworked guidance is the first update to key Defense Department instruction since 2008. Internal attempt to streamline the system is leading department officials to seek legislative changes to make the military acquisition process less complex.

  Budget

  November 11, 2013
• Lawmakers question DHS’ awards under the EAGLE II contract

  Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), chairman of the subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency, wrote a letter to DHS Chief Procurement Officer Nick Nayak earlier this week questioning the agency's entire solicitation process.

  Congress

  November 11, 2013
• Mikulski seeks two-year sequestration solution

  Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, took to the Senate floor this week calling on House-Senate budget negotiators to look at replacing the across-the-board sequestration cuts for at least two years.

  Budget

  November 08, 2013
• Fed groups: Pay and benefits should be off the table in budget talks

  A coalition of more than two dozen federal-employee unions and advocacy groups is calling on budget negotiators to come up with a way to undo the across-the-board sequestration budget cuts that are poised to slash agency spending by billions more this year. But following three years of a pay freeze and the recent 16-day government shutdown, the groups are equally adamant that changes to federal employees' pay and benefits should be off the table.

  Budget

  November 08, 2013