Congress
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Congress is on its Independence Day holiday, and yet it still has a lot of work left on the table for when it comes back. David Hawkings, senior editor at Roll Call, writes the Hawkings Here blog. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose why there still hasn't been a lot of movement on appropriations bills.
June 30, 2014 -
The Competitive Service Act of 2014 would let agencies share information about potential job candidates when they are trying to fill similar needs.
June 27, 2014 -
Army Corps of Engineers faces billions of dollars in backlogged projects. With little hope of additional funding from Congress, officials are looking for alternative ways to finance the public infrastructure they're charged with maintaining.
June 27, 2014 -
The head of the Army Corps of Engineers says the nationwide network of civil works infrastructure his agency manages is falling apart. The Corps doesn't have enough money coming from Congress to fix the problems, so it's looking for new ways to pay for the work it needs to do. Federal News Radio's DoD Reporter Jared Serbu has the details. Read Jared's related article.
June 26, 2014 -
The nomination of Shaun Donovan to be director of the Office of Management and Budget as well as a variety of bills dealing with federal IT reform and cybersecurity updates crowded the docket of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee business meeting Wednesday.
June 26, 2014 -
Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-Okla.) investigation into Veterans Affairs hospitals reveals widespread manipulation, criminal activity and poor management.
June 25, 2014 -
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee members will introduce and markup the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 Wednesday. The bill would require OMB to rescind a major section of Circular A-130 in order to fix long-standing complaints with FISMA's reauthorization requirements.
June 24, 2014 -
Your agency's funding bill may be among the spending vehicles that appear to be stalling out in Congress. The Senate's effort to get several bills through in a package has hit a roadblock. David Hawkings is Senior Editor at Roll Call and host of the Hawkings Here blog. He detailed the stops-and-starts of the agency budget process on In Depth with Francis Rose.
June 23, 2014 -
The House of Representatives passed a bill that would cut more than $300 million from last year's Internal Revenue Service budget. This adds to the tension between Congress and the IRS over lost emails.
June 23, 2014 -
Despite reports of delayed patient treatments, falsified records and preventable veteran deaths, the Department of Veterans Affairs said all of its 470 senior executives have been rated "successful" over the past four fiscal years. The ratings have sparked outrage among members of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, whose chairman called the performance rating and bonus system at the VA "outlandish."
June 20, 2014 -
Maybe the United States was never really finished in Iraq. Regardless, events of the past two weeks have returned that nation to a front and center position for Congress and the administration. Paul Bremer was U.S. Presidential envoy to Iraq in 2003 and 2004. A career diplomat, he was thrust into the spotlight as temporary head of the Iraqi government after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Most of the questions this week have been about military options now that the government is under threat. Bremer joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss how this situation affects the State Department both here and in Baghdad.
June 20, 2014 -
Last week, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve legislation designed to help solve long wait times at VA medical facilities. The longer-term fixes included more funding to hire health care providers and lease more VA operated facilities. For the shorter term, the McCain-Sanders bill also expands VA's authority to send its patients to outside providers -- including private clinics, but also facilities run by other agencies, including the Indian Health Service and the Defense Department. Retired Vice Adm. Norb Ryan is the president of the Military Officer's Association of America. He spoke with Jared Serbu on In Depth about the plusses -- and as MOAA sees it -- some of the minuses of the bill.
June 18, 2014 -
Federal Chief Information Officer Steve VanRoekel says good management policies should be enough to improve how agencies buy, operate and deliver technology.
June 17, 2014 -
The mid-term elections are upon us, and some people are complaining about political fatigue and gridlock. But for federal and postal workers — and retirees — these may be the good old days, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
June 17, 2014 -
With an employment drop over the past year, agencies must adopt a "less with less" mentality, according Bob Tobias, director of Key Executive Leadership Programs at American University. He says executives must be honest with Congress about their limited capabilities.
June 16, 2014