The House Armed Services Committee voted Wednesday to carve out the Air Force's current space missions and turn them over to a new U.S. Space Corps. But several members objected, saying the full committee has never even held a hearing on the issue.
At the confirmation hearing for Patrick Shanahan, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman admonished the nominee for deputy Defense secretary to resubmit his written answers with more detail, saying that the Senate will not serve as a "rubber stamp" for Defense nominees.
The Senate has confirmed six officials to serve in Pentagon leadership positions within the past month. But for 35 of DoD's 53 politically-appointed jobs, there still is no nominee.
The Pentagon's new comptroller says the department will meet it statutory deadline to become "audit ready" by the start of Fiscal 2018. But there's little chance DoD will pass an audit in its first year.
Defending his department’s $52 billion budget increase for the first time on Capitol Hill this week, Defense Secretary James Mattis ran into heavy skepticism from the committee members who might normally be his most natural allies for a Pentagon plus-up.
Bipartisan legislation would require DoD to disclose cyber operations, capabilities to Congress. Advocates say it brings notification requirements in line with what's required for more traditional military operations.
One way Congress might improve is if it upgraded the way in which it communicates to the public. Congressional agencies like the Government Accountability Office and the Government Publishing Office have made tangible modernizing strides in recent years.
Heather Wilson, the newly-confirmed Secretary of the Air Force, wants to know whether her service’s acquisition professionals are actually using legislative provisions meant to help the Pentagon speed up and simplify the acquisition process
Congress is back from its Memorial Day recess. It has a large and growing list of issues to deal with. So what it does indicates what it won't do. Joining Federal Drive with Tom Temin with the outlook for the opening to a long summer, Roll Call Senior Editor David Hawkings,
While technology is embraced nearly everywhere, Congress is still a paper-based institution. Seamus Kraft is among those working to expose Congress’ technological handicaps and promote ways to make government more open, accessible and efficient.
While much of the recent attention has fallen on the president’s proposed budget, Congress has still been introducing and passing legislation. Here are a few bills worth knowing about that might have slipped through the cracks.
The Army chief of staff wants a new assessment of the $6 billion WIN-T program, hopefully in time to influence the 2018 Defense authorization bill. He worries the system is too vulnerable in real-world battle conditions and is based on outdated technology.
The Navy's 2018 budget doesn't even begin to build the 350-ship fleet officials say is needed. Instead, it prioritizes readiness over growth.
VA says it wants to significantly expand the health care services it offers through telehealth technologies — voice, video, instantaneous record-sharing — but it's hampered by state laws that require providers to be licensed in the same states as their patients.
The Defense Department's Strategic Capabilities Office has managed to successfully transition all six of the weapons systems it's developed into programs of record that are now controlled by the military services. The secret to its success, according to the SCO's director, is its insistence on prototyping.