Congress

  • Obama administration officials are painting a bleak picture of how federal agencies would fare under sequestration, the automatic budget cuts slated to go into effect in two weeks. The Senate Appropriations Committee heard testimony from several Obama administration officials about the consequences of the cuts, which are set to take effect March 1. However, Danny Werfel, controller of the Office of Management and Budget, emphasized to the committee that employee furloughs would not be immediate.

    February 14, 2013
  • A total of 30 programs, once again, are considered troubled, including two new areas. But, the Government Accountability Office removed the IRS' Business Systems Modernization program after 18 years on the list, and interagency contracting after 8 years.

    February 14, 2013
  • Despite a veto threat a year ago, House proponents of a cyber information sharing bill say productive talks now are underway with the Obama administration. Reps. Mike Rogers and Dutch Ruppersberger re-introduced the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) trying to address privacy and civil liberties concerns.

    February 14, 2013
  • The House Rules Committee voted to fast-track legislation extending the pay freeze for federal employees through the end of the fiscal year. Federal workers are now slated to get a 0.5 percent pay increase in March when a stopgap continuing resolution expired. However, the measure approved by the House Rules Committee, introduced by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), would block that increase.

    February 13, 2013
  • Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, and Federal Times reporter Stephen Losey will discuss sequestration and other issues affecting federal workers. February 13, 2013

    February 13, 2013
  • The U.S. Postal Service's worsening financial situation led Postmaster General Pat Donahoe to announce last week the agency would end Saturday mail delivery beginning in August. But lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee were divided over Donahoe's announcement. The postmaster general told the committee during a hearing Wednesday the decision was necessary to save $2 billion a year and to begin shoring up the service's funding shortfalls.

    February 13, 2013
  • AFGE, AFSCME rally against the potential cuts from sequestration as part of their week-long legislative conference. Union members are meeting with lawmakers to ensure they understand the broader impact cuts due to sequestration would have on the nation and the economy.

    February 13, 2013
  • Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) talks about his plans as the new chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Greg Kutz of TIGTA discusses new progress being made by the IRS in recruitment and hiring. Jennifer Martinez, staff writer at The Hill newspaper, discusses the new Executive Order on cybersecurity. Don Kettl of the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy offers insight on the State of the Union speech.

    February 13, 2013
  • Among the warnings the military's top uniformed officers delivered to the Senate Tuesday: Half of Marine Corps units will fall below readiness standards by the end of the year, the Army will have to curtail training for 80 percent of its ground forces and shipyards are already becoming short-staffed because of DoD's hiring freeze.

    February 13, 2013
  • Senior administration officials say the Executive Order is not a replacement for comprehensive cybersecurity legislation, but the start of a new conversation for how best to protect the nation's critical infrastructure. NIST released an RFI Tuesday as part of its effort to create a voluntary, flexible framework. And DHS will expand the number of companies the government shares classified and unclassified cyber threat information with through the Defense Industrial Base pilot.

    February 13, 2013
  • President Obama used his State of the Union speech Tuesday night to reiterate common management themes that have been part of the administration's push over the last four years.

    February 12, 2013
  • Politicians who are beating up on federal workers are doing a pretty good job of it. Friends of feds are few and far between, maybe even on the endangered species list, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. So what's next?

    February 12, 2013
  • Members of the House of Representatives who think their congressional districts are the polar opposite of Washington, D.C., would be wise run the numbers before they start slashing the pay of "bloated bureaucrats" and contractors who make up a big portion of their voting-age workforce, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    February 08, 2013
  • On this week's Bloomberg Government show, nine programs that make ideal targets for budget cuts. February 7, 2013

    February 07, 2013