Management
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Of the 24 CFO Act agencies — those required to have audited financial statements — about half failed to comply with the law on improper payments, according to a preliminary analysis of the IG reports by the accounting firm Grant Thornton. The low scorers include the agencies that misspent the most money: the departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, Agriculture and the Social Security Administration.
June 08, 2015 -
A new bill would let companies challenge the agency through an administrative process that promises to be simpler and cheaper than litigation. Witnesses at a congressional hearing said they feared new size standards would alter competition for $200 billion in small-business set asides.
June 08, 2015 -
Secretary of the Army John McHugh notified President Barack Obama that he planned to step down no later than Nov. 1.
June 08, 2015 -
The National Institutes of Health Clinical Center has suspended operation of its Pharmaceutical Development Section in Bethesda. The move follows an inspection by the Food and Drug Administration that was prompted by a whistleblower. Inspectors found a series of operating and handling deficiencies, including experimental drugs contaminated with fungus. Dr. Lawrence Tabak joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on what NIH found and what it\'s doing to fix the problem.
June 08, 2015 -
In Senate hearings regarding the recent breach of the Get Transcript system last week, IRS officials said they were \"reviewing options\" to make their online services more secure. They did not mention the agency already has asked vendors for bids on a wide array of new authentication services.
June 08, 2015 -
National Academy of Public Administration President and CEO Dan Blair, NAPA Director of Project Development Joe Mitchell, and NAPA Fellow David Chu will discuss academy\'s current projects and initiatives. June 5, 2015
June 05, 2015 -
The Defense Department cut 37 billion dollars in seven months during the 2013 sequester. The Pentagon says in some cases, automatic budget cuts cost DOD more money in the long run than they saved. But the Government Accountability Office says the Pentagon could do more to learn from the past so it doesn\'t repeat the same mistakes. Johana Ayers is the director of defense capabilities and management issues at GAO. She tells In Depth with Francis Rose, what the Pentagon has done so far, to learn about the impact of sequestration.
June 05, 2015 -
Health and Human Services\' Buyer\'s Club celebrated its one-year anniversary earlier this week by releasing a major solicitation. The request for proposal marks a growing recognition that improving the federal acquisition process is possible. Mark Naggar is the program manager for the HHS Buyer\'s Club. He tells Executive Editor Jason Miller about how his organization is helping the Office of Population Affairs reform how it buys technology. Naggar says few agencies are particularly good at carrying out IT projects involving services.
June 05, 2015 -
The Department of Health and Human Services\' Buyers Club released a major solicitation for website development services using an agile development process. Mark Naggar, the program manager for the Buyers Club, said the two-stage methodology focuses on user needs first and foremost.
June 05, 2015 -
The Department of Veterans Affairs says it has made significant gains over the past several months in paying its health care vendors on time. Providers tell a different story, and say the department routinely fails to comply with the Prompt Payment Act.
June 05, 2015 -
Syria\'s four-year civil war leaves at least 7.6 million people without a home or sufficient food. Rob Thayer, the team leader of the Syrian food assistance program at the Office of Food for Peace at USAID, works with the United Nations World Food Program and other humanitarian partners to send and distribute more than $1.1 billion worth of food to Syrian refugees and displaced families within Syria. He and his team are finalists for a Service to America medal in the national security and international affairs category. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose about the challenges of entering this kind of humanitarian crisis.
June 04, 2015 -
In the Defense budget debate, $38 billion is on the line. It could end up in the Overseas Contingency Operations budget, or it could end up in the base budget, and it could get cut. If the money stays, one place or another, most of it would go to operations and maintenance programs. Cameron Leuthy, a senior budget analyst with Bloomberg Government, tells In Depth with Francis Rose who could win big in the budget stakes.
June 04, 2015 -
Multiple sources confirm that West left the agency recently, but it\'s unclear why.
June 04, 2015 -
Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser retired from government Wednesday. One Congresswoman has been investigating him for alleged misconduct for three years.
June 04, 2015 -
Two senior Veterans Affairs officials in the Philadelphia office are suspended. The move comes after an audit found they charged subordinates money to attend a work-related party featuring psychic readings. Both are on the VA payroll while an internal review determines any disciplinary action. Cheri Cannon is a partner at the law firm Tully Rinckey. In this week\'s Legal Loop, she joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on this case.
June 04, 2015