Budget

  • Budget cuts totaling $1.1 billion over the past five years impacted nearly every fact of the Internal Revenue Service's mission. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration says IRS officers answered 25 percent fewer taxpayer phone calls over past four years. And the agency closed 34 percent fewer cases. Computer network downtime topped nearly 66-thousand hours. Matthew Weir is an assistant IG for the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose about the kinds of work automated service collection contact representatives and field collection officers do and how it's suffered.

    July 09, 2015
  • Tune in to FEDtalk this week for a discussion with representatives of federal employee organizations on Congress. Guests will discuss legislation that affects the federal workforce and government, the recent Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breaches, budget reconciliation and the fate of this year's appropriations bills.

    July 09, 2015
  • The Internal Revenue Service has lost about 10 percent of its budget since 2010. The result of that -- according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration -- is that the IRS can't collect as much tax money as it should be collecting. Don Kettl is a professor at University of Maryland's School of Public Policy. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose that tax collectors have been unpopular for a long time.

    July 07, 2015
  • The government’s latest budget playbook, the Circular A-11, for the first time includes a specific mention of climate-smart buildings.

    July 06, 2015
  • Veterans Affairs faces a budget shortfall of more than $2.5 billion this year, mainly because of increased demand by veterans for health care. The problem is, three months still remain in the fiscal year. How do you deal with a situation like that? Simon Szykman is the chief technology officer in the Federal Services Division at Attain, and a former federal CIO. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with some advice for how senior leaders in a department can deal with a problem that affects them all.

    July 01, 2015
  • Congress is at a standstill on the appropriations bills agencies need to fund their budgets. But the holdup is not just because both chambers are in recess this week. And it's not just because of a disagreement over the numbers. David Hawkings, senior editor of Roll Call, writes the Hawkings Here blog. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose what's going on in the budget debate and the debate over the National Defense Authorization Act.

    June 29, 2015
  • Similar to the Office of Personnel Management, agencies are struggling to move off of previous generations of technology. Federal Chief Information Officer Tony Scott said the government is at a “critical inflection point” and needs to change its approach to buying and securing IT.

    June 29, 2015
  • Shutdown talk is coming back to Congress -- at least from some leaders like Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). The reason though is rather arcane. It\'s really about when another budget deal is made to avoid sequestration. Bob Tobias is a professor of Key Executive Leadership Programs at American University. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose what he\'s hearing from federal managers and workers about a rumored shutdown.

    June 22, 2015
  • Pentagon planners say they need $38 billion more in 2016 than they got in this year\'s budget if the department is to properly provide national defense. But recent reports from the Congressional Research Office and Government Accountability Office paint a different picture. So who\'s in the right? Jacob Marx is a defense analyst for the Project on Government Oversight. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to help sort through these conflicting reports.

    June 22, 2015
  • The Senate is on its third week of debate on the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act. Vendors will be happy about a provision that reauthorizes DoD\'s Rapid Innovation Program or Defense Innovation Initiative. Alex Rossino is a principal research analyst for Deltek\'s federal industry analysis team. He\'s looking at the NDAA and tells In Depth with Francis Rose about the research and development opportunities that look promising in fiscal 2016.

    June 18, 2015
  • The IRS would face even greater financial constraints and federal building construction would grind nearly to a halt under a $20.2 billion FY 2016 spending bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee.

    June 17, 2015
  • The federal government\'s official tally of the national debt is around $18 trillion. However some economists think the reality is darker. Boston University Professor Laurence Kotlikoff joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explain what he thinks the national debt really is.

    June 15, 2015
  • Civilian personnel cuts are on the table as Congress debates the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act and defense appropriations bills. The Office of Personnel Management says seniority is the first factor agencies should consider when making reductions in force. Justin Johnson is a senior policy analyst for defense budgeting policy at the Heritage Foundation. He tells with Francis Rose that DoD shouldn\'t decide who to cut based on how much experience they have, but how well they\'re performing.

    June 12, 2015