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The Air Force's top officer says Congress needs to allow his service to make the painful decision to retire entire fleets of aircraft in order to cope with budget cuts. Gen. Mark Welsh says if the money has to come from somewhere else, all the alternatives would jeopardize the Air Force's core missions. More from Federal News Radio's DoD reporter, Jared Serbu.
A new procurement ombudsman is closing the communications gap between the General Services Administration and its vendors. Creating the ombudsman job is one of several ways GSA is trying to be more responsive to its government and industry customers. Jeff Koses is GSA's senior procurement executive. In part two of executive editor Jason Miller's interview with GSA looking at industry communications, Koses discusses the new initiatives.
At the IRS, $2.8 million worth of bonuses went to employees disciplined for misconduct. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Inspector General's office at the IRS, says the payments are legal, but the payments look like they go against the IRS mission to ensure integrity in tax administration. The IRS is supposed to fire employees who don't pay their taxes, but that's separate from the bonus payment system. Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says he doesn't quite understand the IG's report.
The military's Vice Chiefs of Staff tell Congress the pressure they're under because of budget cuts and the potential return of sequestration in Fiscal 2016 is killing their ability to fight two wars. But Congress doesn't appear to want to pull back on capability, only on money. Mackenzie Eaglen, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, writes in US News and World Report about why the chiefs are so concerned about the funding curve. She tells In Depth with Francis Rose, too much mission and too little money worries the Vice Chiefs of the military.
Following a year of widespread budget uncertainty, federal contract spending fell by 11 percent, according to a new analysis by Bloomberg Government. All told, agency contract spending tumbled from $516.3 billion in fiscal 2012 to $462.1 billion last year, the report found.
Dennis McGinn, assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and environment, says the pursuit of renewable energy is not just about the Navy "going green." It supports the mission.
President Barack Obama wants the government to lead by example. He asks agencies to triple their use of renewable electricity sources by 2020 and get at least one-fifth of their energy from renewables. Willie Taylor, director of the Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance at the Interior Department, explained to Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp how his agency plans to meet the goal.
It's that time of year again, when Bloomberg Government ranks the top 200 federal contractors. Which ones made it through 2013's ups and downs intact? Which ones thrived? Evan Croen, director of government sales research with Bloomberg Government, explained the 2013 contracting environment to Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is a young, small agency with a big mission. It seeks to help countries climb out of poverty. Its principles should sound familiar: Use evidence, focus on results, be transparent. Time and again, the White House has asked all agencies to apply those principles to their own work. But putting them into practice can require tradeoffs. Sarah Jane Staats, senior policy adviser for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, told Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp how the agency applies its principles day to day.
Budget cuts have left the IRS high and dry. The Government Accountability Office says the agency has absorbed $900 million in cuts over the past four years. At the same time, the agency is failing to keep up with a growing source of tax revenue: large partnerships. Congress has raised concerns about the extent to which the IRS is able to audit these entities. Jim White, director of tax issues at the GAO, told Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp about the partnerships.
The Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp discuss throughout the show each day. The Newscast is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com users more information about the stories you hear on the air. In today's news, Director of Intelligence James Clapper orders employees to avoid the media, and the administration reopens the flow of foreign aid to the Egyptian military.
Ojas Rege, vice president of Strategy for MobileIron, will explain how his company can help your agency develop its mobile strategy and manage its mobile devices. April 22, 2014
Bloomberg Government analyst Brian Friel will talk about last year's largest multiple award contracts and trends in contract usage for big Macs. April 22, 2014
A new effort at the General Services Administration will try to keep contracting decisions in the hands of contracting officers and keep management in the right oversight role. A report by the GSA Inspector General's office in 2013 said management interfered with decisions by contracting officers. Tom Sharpe is the commissioner of GSA's Federal Acquisition Service. He tells Executive Editor Jason Miller in an exclusive interview about the steps he's taking to strike the right balance between management and contracting officers.