Congress

  • 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
  • \"We can\'t just put a smiley face on everything and say it\'s good,\" said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who led two days of hearings on agencies\' attempts to fulfill Freedom of Information Act requests. He vowed to push reform legislation through Congress.

    June 03, 2015
  • A powerful House lawmaker vows to remove barriers for firing federal employees who have broken the most serious of rules. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, questions the rationale for keeping egregious violators on the payroll. Federal News Radio\'s Executive Editor Jason Miller joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with details about Chaffetz\'s plans.

    June 03, 2015
  • Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he will introduce legislation to let agencies dismiss federal employees more quickly if they undeniably break laws or agency policies. He also wants to give agency IGs more authority to go after feds who retire instead of facing accusations.

    June 03, 2015
  • Etherton and Associates President Jon Etherton and Tom Sisti, senior director and chief legislative counsel for SAP, join host Roger Waldron to talk about a growing movement on Capitol Hill for acquisition reform, and lessons learned from previous reform efforts. June 2, 2015

    June 02, 2015
  • Commentary: Strategies, lessons learned won\'t be necessary if Congress does what everyone knows is the responsible thing to do.

    June 02, 2015
  • The IRS, its inspector general and private security experts told the Senate Tuesday that the security protections that hackers overcame to steal data on more than 100,000 taxpayers have outlived their usefulness. The challenge now is finding an alternative that\'s more secure, but not so complicated that no one will use it. Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu has the details.

    June 02, 2015
  • The administration criticized the House appropriations framework that would implement sequestration funding levels for non-Defense agencies, while using Overseas Contingency Operations funds to pay for base Defense spending.

    June 02, 2015
  • A bill in the House aims to reform the way the General Services Administration (GSA) handles real estate. The Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act would realize billions in savings by enabling GSA to better facilitate consolidations, reduce space and negotiate the best possible office space lease deals. It would also bolster security at federal buildings. Re. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) is chairman of the House Subcommittee for Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management, and a co-sponsor of the bill. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explain why such a pilot program was important.

    June 02, 2015
  • New legislation on Capitol Hill would prevent federal employees from \"double-dipping\" in the event of a government shutdown, says Senior Correspondent Mike Causey

    June 02, 2015
  • Four Republican congressmen urged President Barack Obama to nominate a new inspector general at the Interior Department. Interior\'s last permanent IG stepped down in 2009.

    June 01, 2015
  • Congress is back today, and the month of June is a busy one. The House will start to consider 12 different agency spending bills, starting with the Commerce-Justice-Science measure. David Hawkings, senior editor at Roll Call, writes the Hawkings Here blog. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose about the first moves the House Appropriations Committee will likely take.

    June 01, 2015
  • President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order giving agencies the ability to recommend economic sanctions against cyber attackers and their supporters. As the President signed this latest order, Congress seems closer than ever to passing a cyber information sharing bill.

    April 02, 2015
  • Sen. Bob Menendez, the son of Cuban immigrants who rose to become one of the highest-ranking Hispanic members of Congress, was charged Wednesday with accepting nearly $1 million in gifts and campaign contributions from a longtime friend in exchange for a stream of political favors.

    April 02, 2015
  • The Veterans Affairs secretary has picked a White House veteran to be his new chief of staff, replacing Joe Riojas. Riojas has been with VA since 2009 and is leaving government.

    April 01, 2015