Congress

  • Rulemaking. The government does lots and lots of it. But because the power to regulate is the power to destroy, rulemaking has rules. And like all agency activities, it requires congressional oversight. The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress asked the Government Accountability Office for ideas on how to improve rulemaking oversight.

    January 10, 2024
  • Border. Budget. Border. Budget. If Congress sounds like a broken record, well it is. With two weeks to go before government funding lapses for many agencies, Congress did something to move the ball forward on Sunday. The Federal Drive with Tom Temin gets the latest from Bloomberg Government deputy news director Loren Duggan. 

    January 08, 2024
  • In today's Federal Newscast: Some TSP participants can expect some information about recalculated life expectancy numbers. The VA plans new research using psychedelics to treat PTSD and depression. And billions in cuts to the IRS have just been accelerated.

    January 08, 2024
  • Congressional leaders have reached an agreement on overall spending levels for the current fiscal year that could help avoid a partial government shutdown later this month. House Speaker Mike Johnson is hailing the agreement in a letter to colleagues as “the most favorable budget agreement Republicans have achieved in over a decade.” President Joe Biden says the agreement is one step closer "to preventing a needless government shutdown and protecting important national priorities.” Lawmakers needed an agreement on overall spending levels so that appropriators could write the bills that set line-by-line money for agencies. Funding is set to lapse Jan. 19 for some agencies and Feb. 2 for others.

    January 07, 2024
  • In today's Federal Newscast: Rocks are falling from the ceiling at an IRS underground storage facility. A full-year Continuing Resolution could require big cuts to agency discretionary budgets. And the latest skinny on Fat Leonard.

    January 05, 2024
  • Whether Congress passes a 2024 budget or not, federal agencies will continue to engage in contracting. That will mean continued protests by disappointed bidders. You can learn a lot from protests that have already been settled.

    January 04, 2024
  • Happy New Year. The government-shutdown deadline is just a couple of weeks away. Some things never change. For a deeper look at what a second session of a troubled Congress is likely to do, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with WTOP Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller. 

    January 02, 2024
  • An update to the long-running cloud-computing security program known as FedRAMP, has entered a new phase. Comments closed Friday, and now the authorities at the General Services Administration and Office of Management and Budget are percolating.

    December 27, 2023
  • The Office of Management and Budget detailed to agencies in new FAQs why the short-term continuing resolution will not require cuts as called for under the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

    December 26, 2023
  • The Government Accountability Office, the chief oversight arm of Congress , has a new chief scientist. He joins the agency after having been chief scientist at Noblis, a nonprofit research and consulting institute with many federal clients.

    December 21, 2023
  • The National Defense Authorization Act, which Congress finished just days ago, moves the marker on several matters peripherally connected to the armed forces. Covington and Burling attorneys Alex Hastings and Michelle Pearce dropped by the Federal News Network studios in Chevy Chase, Maryland to talk with the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. 

    December 19, 2023
  • The State Department processed over 24 million passport books and cards in fiscal 2023 — a new record. And it's back to processing passport applications within 6-8 weeks for routine service.

    December 18, 2023
  • They somehow cobbled together two consecutive continuing resolutions. Now members of Congress aren't sure what will happen when the current one expires. At least one Democrat in leadership predicts a shutdown next month.

    December 18, 2023
  • The House has passed a defense policy bill that authorizes the biggest pay raise for troops in more than two decades. Supporters overcame objections from some conservatives concerned it didn’t do enough on cultural issues, such as restricting the Pentagon’s diversity initiatives and gender-affirming health care for transgender service members. The Senate had already overwhelmingly passed the bill on Wednesday, so now it goes to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law. One of the most divisive aspects of the bill is a short-term extension of a surveillance program aimed at preventing terrorism and catching spies. Opponents of the extension wanted changes designed to boost privacy protections for Americans.

    December 14, 2023