Congress

  • On this week's Bloomberg Government Capital Impact show, analysts will discuss how the fiscal cliff crisis is impacting businesses. Also, what does the future look like for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae? December 13, 2012

    December 13, 2012
  • As planning begins for sequestration, the military may have to cut billions more than previously imagined. DoD, like all agencies, is waiting for instruction from the OMB on how to reduce their budget.

    December 13, 2012
  • Many in government are worried about the threat of sequestration, the across-the-board budget cuts set to take effect in January unless Congress and the White come up with an alternative deficit-cutting plan. But federal employee groups and sympathetic lawmakers are also concerned about such alternatives -- if they contain changes to federal employee pay or compensation. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and a slate of federal-employee unions and groups are warning of such proposals in the deficit talks to replace sequestration.

    December 12, 2012
  • Dr. A. Hunter Fanney talks about a house the NIST Engineering Lab is using to study green technologies. Dr. Cheryl Martin discusses the Energy Department's recent round of grants to foster new technology. Financial Planner Arthur Stein discusses the impact of FERS over the last 25 years. Pete Kasperowicz of The Hill newspapers reviews upcoming legislation on Capitol Hill.

    December 12, 2012
  • The agency developed a playbook to help officials keep their processes and procedures unpredictable. Deputy Administrator John Halinski said TSA is using a risk-management approach to protecting transportation systems. GAO said DHS as a whole is doing a better job using risk to make decisions.

    December 12, 2012
  • A bipartisan group of senators has written to top Army officials to express concern about delays in the suspension and debarment process that leave the service open to contracting waste and fraud. In a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno, the senators questioned "significant time lapses" between referrals for suspension and actual debarment of contractors in Afghanistan.

    December 10, 2012
  • Senate-passed annual authorization bill for DoD would require a 5 percent cut in non-uniformed employees. Chief management officers from two military services say mathematical cuts to a workforce that's "under siege" would be unwise.

    December 10, 2012
  • Sens. Mark Warner and Bob Corker and Rep. Chris Van Hollen all believe there is at better than a 50 percent chance Congress and the White House will agree on a budget reduction plan before Jan. 1. But federal pay and benefits, and contract spending remain on the table to be part of the cuts.

    December 06, 2012
  • The Senate approved a $631 billion annual defense policy Tuesday that would require the Defense Department to reduce its civilian workforce by 5 percent over the next five years and impose a strict cap on government-funded contractor salaries. With the White House threatening to veto the Senate version its current form, the bill now heads to a House-Senate conference committee where differences between the two chambers' bill will be hammered out.

    December 05, 2012
  • Rep. Darrell Issa said agencies need a lot more agility in their IT spending, but a lack of budget authority and a proliferation of accountability among bureau-level CIOs gets in the way.

    December 04, 2012
  • The next couple of weeks will be make or break time for federal workers and retirees as Congress flounders for a way to put the brakes on before the government goes off the infamous fiscal cliff. Among the endangered species: your future retirement benefits, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    December 04, 2012
  • Jim Bradley of the GPO talks about The Plum Book. Administrator John Pistole discusses new security measures at the Transportation Security Administration. Dr. Patricia Hayes wants female vets to know VA is the right place for their healthcare needs. The Potomac Institute's Mike Sweetnam says the government's hodgepodge approach to cybersecurity is no way to prepare for a cyberwar.

    December 03, 2012
  • On Friday, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill updating the Hatch Act, the law that restricts the political activities of federal employees.

    December 03, 2012
  • Faced with declining resources, the Internal Revenue Service has diverted resources from elsewhere inside the agency to try and head off skyrocketing cases of identity theft stemming from tax refunds.

    November 30, 2012