Agency Oversight

• McCaskill drafting new IG bill with focus on small agencies

  Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told a panel of agency IGs that she's currently drafting legislation that would pool together resources and establish an IG office specifically for the dozens of small agencies that fall outside the scope of the 1978 IG Act.

  Congress

  April 10, 2014
• OSC targets Hatch Act violations at IRS, improper hiring at CBP

  A customer service representative at the IRS who repeatedly greeted taxpayers calling a help-line with a chant urging President Barack Obama's re-election in 2012 could now be facing significant disciplinary action, according to the Office of Special Counsel. It's one of three cases of improper political activity at the agency recently uncovered by OSC. Meanwhile, three career officials at Customs and Border Protection are under fire by OSC for allegedly manipulating the hiring process to install job candidates favored by political leadership into career appointments.

  Management

  April 09, 2014
• Does your company need a board of advisors?

  Stan Krejci of the SK Group discusses whether your company needs a board of advisers, and if so, how you should assemble one. April 7, 2014

  Amtower Off-Center

  April 07, 2014
• Issa threatens subpoena over real property data

  Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the chairman of the oversight committee, and John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the Government Operations subcommittee, want OMB to provide data to the committee on excess federal properties valued at $50 million or more. The committee has been seeking this information for more than two years, "yet these requests have consistently gone unfulfilled," Issa and Mica wrote in a March 24 letter to OMB Director Sylvia Burwell.

  Congress

  March 25, 2014
• Debra Roth, partner, Shaw, Bransford & Roth

  The strange case of Lois Lerner - a federal official pleading the fifth - and the IRS.

  Federal Drive

  March 20, 2014
• Dan Metcalfe, adjunct professor of law at American University

  Why can't the government do a better job at Freedom of Information Act requests?

  Federal Drive

  March 19, 2014
• Agency FOIA officers discontent with House reform bill

  The FOIA Act of 2014 would amend the Freedom of Information Act in 12 ways. It calls for the online portal and requires more oversight by agency inspectors general. But some agency FOIA officers say the bill only would improve the information disclosure process minimally.

  Congress

  March 19, 2014
• White House backs 13 recommendations to improve security clearance process

  Six months after 34-year-old IT contractor Aaron Alexis opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard killing 12 people, concerns about missed red flags in his background and gaps in the security clearance process are now turning into action. The Obama administration released the findings of a interagency review of the federal security clearance process Tuesday. Among the 13 recommendations for shoring up the system are continuously evaluating clearance holders rather than relying on infrequent check-ups and improving investigators' access to state and local police records.

  Defense

  March 18, 2014
• GSA appeals latest wrongful termination ruling

  Former GSA Region 7 Public Buildings Service Commissioner James Weller has been put on paid administrative leave during an appeal by the agency, which could take as much as a year.

  Management

  March 11, 2014
• Second former GSA official cleared of wrongdoing in conference scandal

  James Weller won his wrongful termination case before the Merit Systems Protection Board against GSA. The board ruled Weller deserves 19 months of back pay and to be put back in his former job as Region 7 PBS commissioner.

  Management

  March 06, 2014
• OSTP asks agencies for ‘bold, ambitious’ open government initiatives

  A new memo from CTO Todd Park requires agencies to update their open government plans by June 1. The plans should include new efforts as well as progress reports on current initiatives.

  Technology

  March 03, 2014
• Senate bill blocks background-check firms from reviewing own work

  The Preventing Conflicts of Interest with Contractors Act would block the Office of Personnel Management from contracting with companies to perform final quality reviews if those same companies are also responsible for conducting initial investigations. OPM Director Katherine Archuleta announced in early February that, going forward, only federal employees would conduct final quality reviews. The new bill writes Archuleta's decision into law. Otherwise it could be reversed by a future OPM director.

  Congress

  February 28, 2014
• Performance ratings: Let’s do something constructive for a change

  Some HR practitioners say the process of identifying some goals, setting multiple levels of achievement, then judging employee performance annually is a best practice. That may be true, but that doesn't mean it is a good practice.

  Management

  February 27, 2014
• 3 agencies reap benefits of shared support functions, report says

  In times of constrained budgets, agencies are cutting and consolidating services to save money and resources. Could it be the key to transforming government? A new report looks at what three agencies are doing right.

  Management

  February 26, 2014