Congress
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In 2016, the Government Accountability Office came down on the side of companies challenging federal procurement decisions more often than in any year in almost a decade, according to data the office sent to Congress Thursday afternoon.
December 15, 2016 -
Jeff Neal, former chief human resources officer at the Defense Logistics Agency, says the recently passed NDAA has implications for all federal employees.
December 14, 2016 -
Long speeches and piecemeal civil service reform mark the waning days of the 114th Congress.
December 12, 2016 -
The annual Defense authorization bill Congress sent to the President last week includes several provisions to redraw the Defense Department's organizational chart, including one that creates a powerful new Chief Management Officer whose primary job will be overseeing and reforming DoD headquarters functions.
December 12, 2016 -
The annual Defense authorization bill Congress sent to President Obama’s desk on Thursday will dramatically increase the role of the Pentagon’s youngest combat support agency.
December 09, 2016 -
The Pentagon said Wednesday that it expects to permanently stop collection procedures for the vast majority of National Guard soldiers who, according to various audits, got bonuses they weren’t technically entitled to between 2004 and 2011.
December 08, 2016 -
Advocates and defenders of the federal bid protest process received some welcome news last week as part of the House-Senate agreement on this year’s National Defense Authorization Act. The final deal stripped two key Senate provisions that were seen as hostile to the protest process.
December 05, 2016 -
Besides restructuring and bifurcating the large front office that’s currently responsible for both acquisition and R&D, the bill adds several new authorities that build on last year’s trend of letting DoD sidestep the traditional acquisition system.
December 05, 2016 -
The expected nomination of retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to become secretary of defense depends on a one-time change to federal statutes that require military officers to have been retired for at least seven years before becoming the civilian leader of the Pentagon.
December 05, 2016 -
The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental thinks it’s learned a thing or two about rapid acquisition over the year since its initial standup, and sees no good reason why the rest of the Defense Department can’t use the same techniques it’s put in place to award new contracts in 60 days or less.
December 02, 2016 -
The Defense Department’s top personnel official said Tuesday that the Pentagon used a flawed process when it decided to bar the nation’s largest for-profit college from military tuition assistance funds last year, and is drawing up new rules meant to be fairer to colleges while also ferreting out deceptive marketing processes.
November 30, 2016 -
Several key GOP members of Congress began to weigh in this weekend with strong disapproval over suggestions that Adm. Michael Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command, may be fired during the final weeks of the Obama administration.
November 21, 2016 -
If all goes according to plan, the Defense Department is a few weeks away from releasing new guidance on how it buys and builds business IT systems.
November 21, 2016 -
The Defense Department now has systems up and running that allow lenders to instantly verify a potential borrower’s military status at the same time his or her credit record is checked.
November 11, 2016 -
A few independent-minded centrists still exist in Congress, but they're starting to look like dodo birds, an endangered species. Everyone seems to want a Congress that gets things done, whatever that means. But without the dealmakers, getting things done will be more difficult than ever. Roll Call Senior Editor David Hawkings joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin with a preview of today's congressional elections.
November 08, 2016