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On Air: Federal News Network
Agency Oversight
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The IRS may encourage more people to blow the whistle on tax cheats under new rules that went into effect this week. A good tipster could receive up to 30 percent of the taxes and penalties the agency collects. Dean Zerbe, a partner at the law firm of ZFF & J, represents whistleblowers. As a Senate staffer in 2006, he wrote the whistleblower law for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Zerbe joined Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss how he thinks the new guidance will impact whistleblowers.
August 14, 2014 -
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The Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General almost tripled its goal to return $8 for every $1 spent on the agency. Between October 2013 and March 2014, the IG recovered millions in criminal convictions, audits and legal penalties, contributing to an overall 20-to-1 return on investment for American taxpayers. In part two of our special report, Rainmakers and Money Savers, Federal News Radio goes behind the scenes of the SSA OIG to examine the work federal employees are doing on a daily basis, resulting in billions of dollars going straight into the federal coffers.
August 13, 2014 -
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The spotlight is on the gederal government's Inspector General community. Coverage in the news media isn't common for IGs in government, nor is a chance to learn more about how they do their jobs. Brian Miller is former IG at the General Services Administration and Calvin Scovel is the Inspector General at the Transportation Department. Cal described the overall mission and work done by his office on In Depth with Francis Rose.
August 12, 2014 -
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The Inspector General Act gives IGs authority to obtain any information necessary for their investigations, but some agencies are giving IGs a hard time with their requests. Members of Senate and House oversight committees are calling on Shaun Donovan, the recently confirmed director of the Office of Management and Budget, to address the issue.
August 12, 2014 -
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Gina McCarthy, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is clarifying remarks she made on simplifying the federal firing process. The clarification comes after the American Federation of Government Employees challenged a statement she made in her recent testimony before Congress.
August 11, 2014 -
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A former immigration officer was convicted of four felonies: conspiracy to commit bribery and defraud the United States, bribery, conspiracy to witness tamper and witness tampering.
August 08, 2014 -
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In a letter to the leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, IGs from large and small agencies say constraints placed upon auditors from EPA, DoJ and Peace Corps represent a serious challenge to the authority of every IG.
August 06, 2014 -
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Among advocates of telework within the federal government, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is often seen as the gold standard. But over a period of about four years, one group of PTO employees -- mostly teleworkers -- literally got paid for doing nothing. And it wasn't a secret. Managers within the Patent Trial and Appeal Board even devised a special pay code for time when employees were on the clock but weren't working: "Other Time." Those findings are part of a new report from the Commerce Department Inspector General's office. Todd Zinzer is the Commerce IG; on In Depth with guest host Jared Serbu, he explained how widespread this problem was.
August 05, 2014 -
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USASpending.gov was supposed to be the go-to place for all federal spending. But after a couple of years of operation, it's only halfway there. The Government Accountability Office finds that agencies do a decent job of reporting contract spending. But when it comes to grants and awards, it's another story. Carol Cha is the director of information technology acquisition management issues at the GAO. She joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss the chief findings from her agency's audit.
August 04, 2014 -
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The Justice Department announced Friday that Hewlett-Packard Co. will pay $32.5 million due to allegations of overcharging the U.S. Postal Service.
August 04, 2014 -
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A Government Accountability Office probe of USASpending.gov, the government's awards website, found that while contracting information was generally correct, only 2-to-7 percent of awards listed on the site perfectly matched agency data. GAO recommended better record keeping policies be set by the Office of Management and Budget to avoid inconsistencies.
August 04, 2014 -
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Most members of the military become steeped in ethics and professionalism from the outset. But in an organization as large as the Defense Department, bad apples will sometimes turn up. Recently, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel appointed Navy Rear Adm. Peg Klein as his senior advisor for military professionalism, looking across all of the armed services. She gives Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive an inside look at her job.
August 04, 2014 -
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The Enhanced Security Clearance Act of 2013 requires the Office of Personnel Management to implement an enhanced security clearance system. Under the system, every security clearance gets two random audits over a five-year time period.
July 30, 2014 -
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Chief legal counselor to NSA says intelligence disclosures may have set back efforts to improve nation's cybersecurity posture because of increasing unease about public-private cooperation, and that it's time to reexamine the digital privacy trust relationship between government and the public.
July 28, 2014
