Budget

  • August is hot in DC, Atlanta, Houston, St. Louis and Cincinnati and lots of other places too. But those of us inside the Beltway get a break you don't...that's because for the next month...until after Labor Day, tens of thousands of the people who at times make this such a toxic town are away — back with the folks who sent them here in the first place.

    August 06, 2012
  • Agencies should not change their spending plans for this year or next, but need to start assessing which programs would be impacted by automatic sequestration cuts if Congress doesn't cancel them, OMB acting Director Jeff Zients told Congress Wednesday.

    August 02, 2012
  • When you think of the good old days do you think of your childhood, or maybe when you were in high school or college? For some people, like those who work for or are otherwise linked to Uncle Sam, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says the good old days may be as recent as this time last year when we thought times were tough.

    August 02, 2012
  • Ever watch an inept team of trainees assemble then take apart an explosive device? If not, move to D.C. or watch live coverage of Congress on TV. With Congress, you get the political version which, more often than not, ends in a whimper rather than a bang, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    August 01, 2012
  • Faced with congressional inaction in averting looming across-the-board cuts that take effect in January, the Office of Management and Budget will begin meeting with agency leaders to discuss how the cuts will be implemented. In a memo to agency heads, OMB Director Jeff Zients said his office will consult with agencies to determine which budget accounts and programs are exempt from sequestration.

    July 31, 2012
  • The top Republican and Democrat on Capitol Hill have announced an agreement to keep the government running on autopilot for six months when the current budget year ends on Sept. 30. The announcements by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and GOP House Speaker John Boehner are aimed at averting any chance of a government shutdown this fall. The leaders said an official vote on the bill won't come until September.

    July 31, 2012
  • Good news, bad news. The good news is that the end of the world — in your case, maybe extended furloughs or even a layoff — is likely to be extended. Things are currently scheduled to go boom early next January. But there are signs that Congress may delay the day of reckoning until March or April of 2013. Now your only worry is the Mayan calendar, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    July 31, 2012
  • Small and medium-sized contractors and suppliers receive 75 percent of appropriated dollars for defense or military programs. But these small businesses, who lack the lobbying power of top- tier defense contractors, may suffer more from sequestration than big companies.

    July 30, 2012
  • Defense industry executives have spent the last few weeks warning that across-the-board budgets cuts that go into effect in January, could force them to issue notifications to employees in the fall to warn of impending layoffs. However, in a new memo issued Monday, the Labor Department said the lack of clarity about how the cuts would be applied means it would be "inappropriate" to issue Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notifications.

    July 30, 2012
  • The U.S. Postal Service is bracing for a first-ever default on billions in payments due to the Treasury, adding to widening uncertainty about the mail agency's solvency as first-class letters plummet and Congress deadlocks on ways to stem the red ink. With cash running perilously low, two legally required payments for future postal retirees' health benefits - $5.5 billion due Wednesday, and another $5.6 billion due in September - will be left unpaid, the mail agency said Monday.

    July 30, 2012
  • Panelists are former Energy CFO Owen Barwell and Treasury Department's Nani Coloretti.

    July 27, 2012
  • Legislation forcing the White House to explain how the across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration will affect individual agencies is now waiting for President Barack Obama's signature. The Senate unanimously approved the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012 Wednesday, which requires the administration to detail within 30 days how the $1.2 trillion over 10 years in automatic cuts will be applied. The House passed its version of the bill last week in a 414-2 vote.

    July 26, 2012
  • Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the furloughs would address tighter budgets caused by sequestration. He also discussed other possible effects, including reductions in contracting. Wednesday's hearing represented the first time members of Congress have closely examined the effects across-the-board spending cuts could have on civilian agencies.

    July 26, 2012
  • The Navy's chief information officer released an abbreviated business case analysis template in an effort to encourage IT industry personnel to propose ideas focused on cost savings. The CIO must continue to decrease IT spending by 25 percent over the next four years.

    July 24, 2012