Congress

• Bills aim to fix construction contracting potholes for small businesses

  House Small Business Committee members introduce two bills to ban reverse auctions in many cases and mandate a two-step process to evaluate design and build procurements.

  Congress

  July 19, 2013
• Lawmakers target government waste and inefficiency in slew of new bills

  Eighty-one members of Congress introduced a nine-bill package addressing everything from strategic sourcing to cutting federal employee travel to improving energy use of federal buildings.

  Congress

  July 19, 2013
• Contracting dollars in border security

  This week on the Capital Impact radio show, Bloomberg Government examines the law that requires the Defense Department to buy American when outfitting troops. Plus, which contractors will benefit the most from passage of an immigration bill?

  Budget

  July 19, 2013
• GSA, Treasury officials decry House committee budget shortfalls

  Top officials at the Treasury Department and the General Services Administration say budget cuts being considered by House lawmakers - and that have since adopted by the House Appropriations Committee - would erode their agencies' missions. In sharply divided vote mostly along partisan lines Wednesday, the committee approved the fiscal 2014 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill.

  Budget

  July 18, 2013
• DoD, State see light at end of wartime contracting reform tunnel

  In responding to a list of wartime contracting changes Congress ordered last year, agencies cited many advances, but acknowledge challenges remain. Recent audits show major problems in how the Defense and State departments, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, continue to spend billions of dollars in Afghanistan.

  Congress

  July 18, 2013
• Postal Service reform making significant progress in House

  In the past few weeks, competing draft proposals have been circulating on Capitol Hill. But at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Wednesday, Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) took a step toward compromise. Issa agreed to make changes to his draft plan, including adopting several measures proposed by Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) in postal reform legislation he separately introduced Wednesday.

  Congress

  July 17, 2013
• CMS, IRS promise to meet cybersecurity requirements to protect Affordable Care Act data

  While leaders at CMS said the hub connecting personal information stored in the health insurance marketplace to multiple agencies will be ready by the Oct. 1 deadline, legislators are concerned with how well CMS is securing individuals' personal information from cyber threats.

  Congress

  July 17, 2013
• House proposal gives VA’s budget process a facelift

  House Veterans Affairs Committee Ranking Member Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) introduced a bill to establish quadrennial reviews and a five-year plan for VA's budget. The bill also would designate a chief strategy officer to oversee budgetary planning.

  Budget

  July 17, 2013
• Military sex assault bill gains steam in Congress

  The Military Justice Improvement Act would shift the decision to prosecute sexual assault cases from the chain of command to independent military lawyers. A recently released DoD IG report also recommends changes in the investigation process.

  Congress

  July 17, 2013
• Archuleta makes case to senators to be next OPM director

  Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee members pressed Katherine Archuleta on her qualifications, how she will address the retirement claims backlog and on the use of official time. Archuleta appears headed down the path toward confirmation.

  Congress

  July 17, 2013
• House again aims to merge E-Gov funding

  The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government passed the fiscal 2014 appropriations bill with a provision to merge the E-Government Fund and the Federal Citizen Services Fund to create an Information and Engagement Fund for citizens. Appropriators also would cut the total request for the merged funds by about $15 million.

  Budget

  July 16, 2013
• Bill turns up heat on agency use of strategic sourcing

  A group of Democrats and Republicans, called the No Labels Caucus, plans to introduce nine bills this week focused on government effectiveness and efficiency. The strategic sourcing legislation would require agencies to save at least $10 billion a year. Senators say agencies need the right incentives to buy smarter.

  Congress

  July 16, 2013
• Labor’s FECA benefits proposal gets push back from House

  Members of the House have doubts about the Labor Department's proposal to set a uniform benefit rate for FECA beneficiaries. A GAO study found that such propositions will decrease benefits to injured workers with dependents. FECA benefits would also align more closely with Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) benefits once injured workers reach retirement age.

  Congress

  July 11, 2013
• Will DoD’s 2014 sequestration plan jolt Congress into action?

  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel put the ball in Congress' court this week when he released details of how the Pentagon would manage billions of dollars in cuts if sequestration continues into fiscal 2014 and beyond. But, there's not yet anything close to a winning strategy in Congress to avert or replace the automatic budget cuts.

  Budget

  July 11, 2013