In the federal government, nearly everything is referred to by initials. It is not only easier and quicker to use initials, but it also helps to confuse people outside the agency or government, which can be useful to people in the know. For example:

In government you don’t fire or layoff people, you RIF them. RIF, of course, standing for reduction-in-force, which also sounds better.

A LEO isn’t a sign of the zodiac. LEOs are people who are under the law enforcement officers retirement program.

Paying somebody $25,000 to leave or retire from the government isn’t a buyout. It’s a VSIP, which those-in-the-know know means voluntary separation incentive payment. Why say it with one word when you can use four? Ditto for VERA, which is the shorthand way of letting people retire sooner than normal. Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. VERA, get it?

A WIG in government isn’t something you wear. In Uncle Sam lingo, a WIG is a within-grade (longevity) pay raise. And the beat goes on.

So, with that background., let’s consider your latest STD threat.

STD, in govtalk, stands for Sequestration Threat Detected. Sequestration is a legislative time-bomb that imposes automatic spending cuts in so-called “discretionary spending caps” if the House version of next year’s spending bill win out over the Senate’s. Those cuts could come when/if Congress passes all the spending bills individually (highly doubtful) or in some kind of omnibus bill and the House levels stay in place. The Senate’s version of the bills are below the discretionary spending caps outlined in the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act. What’s more likely to happen is some sort of compromise and an increase of the discretionary caps.

Federal News Radio’s Jason Miller explained where we are now in this report.

Although both Republicans and Democrats have used, and also denounced sequestration, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward (of Watergate fame) tracked it back to the White House. In a Feb. 22, 2013 story in the Washington Post, headlined “Obama’s Sequester Deal-Changer,” which, the story said, set the legislative stage for “the ugly and largely irrational federal spending cuts set by law” to begin that week.

Since 2013, Congress and the White House have avoided doing anything that would trigger sequestration. But it could be a problem — forcing everything from program cuts, hiring freezes and even shutdowns — in the fast-approaching 2017 fiscal year.

There is very little feds can do about the potential sequestration train wreck. An official of a federal management group said, “The hope is that with the election right around the corner, Congress will do whatever it takes to avoid anything that would trigger a government shutdown.” He said he expected yet another CR (continuing resolution) that would allow agencies to keep spending (and operating) at current levels.

He noted that CRs “have become the norm in recent years,” as Congress routinely fails to do one of its basic jobs which is to keep the government running.

Nearly Useless Factoid

By Michael O’Connell

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was captain of his college fencing team.

Source: IMDB

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.