Congress

  • By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Advocates for greater openness in government were frustrated after Congress failed to update the Freedom of Information Act despite bipartisan support in the House and Senate. Without…

    December 13, 2014
  • By DONNA CASSATA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress on Friday sent President Barack Obama a massive defense policy bill that endorses his stepped-up military campaign of air strikes and training of Iraqis and moderate…

    December 13, 2014
  • The goal of S. 1691, or the 2014 Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act, is to address and streamline Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUO), the extra pay agents receive when their work demands they remain on the job beyond scheduled hours.

    December 12, 2014
  • By DAVID ESPO and ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Swapping crisis for compromise, the House narrowly approved $1.1 trillion in government-wide spending Thursday night after President Barack Obama and Republicans joined forces to…

    December 12, 2014
  • As a matter of "caution," the Office of Management and Budget discussed shutdown contingencies with agencies today as Congress continues to debate a bipartisan budget deal. Federal funding runs out at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

    December 11, 2014
  • Whether or not North Korea was behind the recent cyber attack on Sony Pictures, its level of sophistication suggests it was sponsored by a country, not a group of hackers. And the FBI believes the same attack could just as easily have penetrated most sophisticated networks, including government ones.

    December 11, 2014
  • What federal employees should know about the $1 trillion, 1,603-page spending bill for fiscal 2015.

    December 10, 2014
  • By ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional aides say a final agreement has been sealed on a massive $1.1 trillion government-wide spending bill that would prevent a government shutdown and fund most of…

    December 10, 2014
  • By DAVID ESPO and ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Key lawmakers weighed legislation to permit a reduction of benefits for up to 1 million retirees at economically distressed multiemployer pension plans, officials said…

    December 09, 2014
  • The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act is still attached to the 2015 Defense authorization bill the House passed and the Senate will debate this week. The latest version of FITARA looks a bit different than the original. Still, the new bill would hand civilian agency CIOs more authority, prioritize hiring of specialty IT experts and maximize use of data centers. Trey Hodgkins is Senior Vice President of Public Sector at the Information Technology Alliance for Public Sector, a division of the Information Technology Industry Council. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss what we can expect from the compromise version of FITARA.

    December 08, 2014
  • A budget battle is still waging in Congress. This time, it's President Barack Obama's immigration order that could led to a government shutdown. But an omnibus spending bill is now gaining traction in the House. It funds most agencies for a full year but gives the Homeland Security Department funding for a few months. That gives Congress time to revisit the President's immigration policy when Republicans take over the Senate next year. Tom Shoop, editor-in-chief of Government Executive magazine, tells In Depth with Francis Rose why this situation isn't anything new.

    December 05, 2014
  • The House and Senate Armed Services committee members agreed to keep a pared down version of the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act in the final National Defense Authorization Act.

    December 03, 2014
  • By DONNA CASSATA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on a $585 billion defense policy bill that provides funds to expand the U.S. mission in Iraq to counter Islamic…

    December 02, 2014
  • Congress comes back to work today to wrap up the 113th Congress. No one thinks streamlining oversight of the Homeland Security Department is one of the things they'll address in the lame duck session, but many people think it's something they should address -- at least soon. Janet Hale is one of those people. She's former Under Secretary for Management at DHS. On In Depth with Francis Rose, she explained how we got here.

    December 01, 2014