Congress

  • Defense industry executives criticize the impending sequestration, which they say would lead to the loss of more than 1 million defense-related jobs.

    September 11, 2012
  • Lawmakers returned to Washington, D.C., this week with a packed agenda. Topping the list of priorities is hammering out final details of a stopgap spending measure to keep the government running beyond the end of the fiscal year -- Sept. 30. Amid the election-year politicking, the list of unfinished business also includes legislation to restructure the financially ailing U.S. Postal Service and a cybersecurity bill that aims to safeguard the nation's critical infrastructure. Perhaps looming largest of all is what Congress plans to do about automatic, across-the-board cuts, known as sequestration, set to take effect Jan. 2. Failure to avert the cuts could send the country over a "fiscal cliff," budget experts warn.

    September 10, 2012
  • The administration is considering using an executive order to promote and encourage critical infrastructure providers to improve their cybersecurity. The draft EO, which Federal News Radio obtained details of, mirrors major sections of the second version of the Lieberman- Collins comprehensive cyber bill.

    September 07, 2012
  • The White House plans to deliver a report to Congress late next week detailing how automatic, across-the-board cuts, set to take effect in January, will affect specific programs. The report is required under the Sequestration Transparency Act, which Congress overwhelmingly passed this summer and which the President signed on Aug. 7. The law directed the President to issue the detailed report within 30 days of signing it - a deadline that came this week and went unmet.

    September 07, 2012
  • On this week's Bloomberg Government Capital Impact show, analysts will discuss three companies that may benefit from sequestration, rules that could slow the adoption for electronic health records, and the latest on Dodd-Frank. September 6, 2012

    September 06, 2012
  • In a routine pre-hearing briefing call, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee staff members asked Brian Miller about his staff's decision to knock on a GSA employee's door after 11 p.m. at the SmartPay conference last month. Miller and acting GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini are scheduled to testify Sept. 12 before the committee on changes the agency has made in light of the conference spending scandals.

    September 06, 2012
  • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said he needs congressional approval to manage cybersecurity on the electric grid.

    September 06, 2012
  • Federal News Radio's Jason Miller will talk about a recent confrontation between a GSA official and an agent in the Inspector General's office. Steve Losey and Andy Medici from the Federal Times will discuss the pay debate and other issues affecing federal workers. September 5, 2012

    September 05, 2012
  • On this week's Bloomberg Government Capital Impact show, analysts will discuss the GOP convention in Tampa, preparations for sequestration, and what caused the budget crisis. August 30, 2012

    August 30, 2012
  • The General Services Administration projects it will save $11 million from April to September from reforms to employee travel and agency conferences. Since April, GSA canceled 47 conferences.

    August 29, 2012
  • The Republican Party officially unveiled national party platform Tuesday, revealing its plan to downsize the federal workforce, trim federal benefits and privatize airport screeners. The party's platform calls for a reduction in the federal workforce by at least 10 percent through attrition, says federal pay and benefits should be aligned with the private sector and calls for reforms to the U.S. Postal Service.

    August 28, 2012
  • The Veterans Affairs Department wants a contractor to review the agency's conference planning and conference acquisition policies, according to a request for information. The solicitation comes weeks after revelations that VA had spent $5 million two conferences last year.

    August 28, 2012
  • Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), whose district in the Washington, D.C., suburbs is home to many federal employees, said he understands the frustration voiced by federal unions about a de facto extension of the federal pay freeze. Sarbanes said too often lawmakers used federal pay and benefits as a "piggybank" in deficit- reduction efforts.

    August 27, 2012
  • Jenny Mattingley hosts of roundtable discussion of legislation pending in Congress that affect federal workers. August 24, 2012

    August 24, 2012