Congress
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Both chambers of Congress are back at work. One of the focal points of concentration this week will be agency appropriations bills. David Hawkings is Senior Editor at Roll Call. He told Francis Rose on In Depth the pressure to make progress on spending bills is coming from the calendar.
June 16, 2014 -
"Inside the DoD's Reporter's Notebook" is a biweekly feature focused on news about the Defense Department and defense community as gathered by Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu. In this edition, DoD kicks off its "superior supplier" program, and DoD asks Congress to stop pushing acquisition reforms.
June 16, 2014 -
The House and Senate have both passed bills to shore up the Veterans Affairs Department. Now they are in conference to reconcile. The final bill would give veterans more opportunities to seek care outside of VA hospitals, while beefing up the VA's own medical staff. The Congressional Budget Office has scored the VA bill and estimates the expense of the additional care would be about $50 billion. Yevgeniy Feyman, fellow at the Manhattan Institute, joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss whether all the money will help.
June 13, 2014 -
Does an upset in a political primary in Richmond, Virginia, mean permanent political gridlock in Washington? According to some pros, everything changed last Tuesday, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
June 13, 2014 -
After six years, the Department of Homeland Security decided in April to abandon its strategy to upgrade biological weapon detection equipment in large U.S. cities. But there is no backup plan so far, and the current system won't last much longer. To date, DHS says it has actually expended only $61 million on Biowatch 3, and officials told the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday that they are moving quickly to come up with a new acquisition plan.
June 11, 2014 -
Leaders of both the House and Senate pledge to move quickly on legislation to help the Veterans Affairs Department treat the more than 100,000 vets who are either waiting months for medical appointments or have been unable to see a doctor. At a House hearing late last night, a top VA official apologized for the delays, calling them indefensible. Martin Matishak, staff writer at The Hill, joined Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss prospects for legislation and VA's future.
June 10, 2014 -
Congress is back at work, after its most recent vacation, and members are filled with righteous indignation. Fortunately for federal workers, it isn't directed at their pay, benefits or retirement package, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
June 10, 2014 -
Jenny Mattingley hosts a roundtable discussion of legislation on Capitol Hill that impacts federal workers. June 6, 2014
June 06, 2014 -
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Gen. Joe Dunford is the new Marine Corps commandant nominee, and Rear Adm. Walter Carter Jr. has been nominated to lead the U.S. Naval Academy.
June 06, 2014 -
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the ranking member of the Finance Committee, is calling on President Barack Obama to nominate a permanent director for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The top spot at the patent agency has remained vacant since former director David Kappos departed the agency in February 2013. In a letter to President Barack Obama and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Hatch said the vacancy "hampers the agency's ability to influence policy and make long-term plans."
June 03, 2014 -
Reps. Grace Meng and Tim Walberg introduce a provision in the Defense authorization bill to require GAO to study the impact of strategic sourcing on small businesses. GSA also is facing more than two dozen protests over its current and future office supplies contracts and now OASIS.
June 03, 2014 -
Congressional report points to misuse of TSA's "sensitive security information" designation for unclassified agency data.
May 30, 2014 -
The 2013 FISMA report to Congress shows the Veterans Affairs Department continues to struggle with cybersecurity and has more than 6,000 items on its plans of actions and milestones and continued weaknesses in access and configuration management controls. VA CIO Stephen Warren details several initiatives to address many of the 35 recommendations.
May 30, 2014 -
HR 4031 waits for a vote in the Senate after the House passed it last week. It would give the secretary of Veterans Affairs the power to fire senior executive service members for performance issues. Jeff Neal, senior vice president of ICF International and former chief human capital officer at the Department of Homeland Security, says the simple language of the bill could turn into a huge headache for the entire department.
May 29, 2014 -
The Sept. 30 deadline for Congress to deliver a complete fiscal 2015 budget plan is still about four months away. But with a lengthy summer recess spanning nearly the entire month of August, that leaves fewer than 40 working days for the appropriation committees on Capitol Hill to finalize agency spending levels. That has some budget watchers already raising the possibility of a stopgap continuing resolution to fund government operations.
May 29, 2014