Congress
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IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government that budget and staffing reductions are impacting the agency's core missions of customer service and tax collection. The agency projects it will only be able to answer 61 percent of phone calls this year, meaning some 20 million phone calls will go unanswered. Meanwhile, taxpayers attempting to reach IRS offices are facing wait times that stretch past 20 minutes.
February 27, 2014 -
The Senate subcommittee with oversight of the federal workforce will take up the issue of federal-employee compensation and sinking employee morale. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), the subcommittee chairman, said at the National Treasury Employees Union's annual legislative conference that the hearing would focus, in part, on making sure federal pay stays competitive with the private sector.
February 26, 2014 -
Defense Department officials said reducing and realigning bases and depots will help them achieve more savings that can be put toward readiness. Acting Defense Deputy Secretary Christine Fox said this round of BRAC would be different than in 2005.
February 26, 2014 -
Just a day after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel proposed reductions in military end-strength and shrinking compensation costs as part of next year's budget plan, a slate of nominees to lead key offices at the Pentagon faced congressional scrutiny.
February 25, 2014 -
The Pentagon says its spending plan acknowledges defense spending is on a downward trajectory, and reduces force structure in order to balance other priorities such as readiness. If sequestration stays in place, the calculus will change, Defense officials say.
February 25, 2014 -
Rep. Jeff Duncan releases a discussion draft of a bill to add more discipline and oversight to the Homeland Security Department's acquisition process.
February 25, 2014 -
An administration official confirmed the decision to ask Congress in the fiscal 2015 budget request expected on March 4 for another slight increase.
February 24, 2014 -
As part of its "Stop Government Abuse Week," lower chamber lawmakers will vote on 12 bills this week to help bring more accountability and transparency to the government. An updated version of the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act is expected to be among them.
February 24, 2014 -
Senior Executives Association President Carol Bonosaro, and Federal Timres reporters Sean Reilly and Andy Medici, will discuss legislation introduced in the U.S. House, that would make it easier for agency leaders to fire senior executives. February 19, 2014
February 19, 2014 -
More than 100 members of the House and a dozen outside groups have signed on to a letter to President Barack Obama from Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) requesting that the upcoming White House budget not include a proposal to alter the way retirees' cost-of-living adjustments are calculated. The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, the American Federation of Government Employees and the Military Officers Association of American have signed on in support of the letter.
February 19, 2014 -
President Barack Obama signed the OPM IG Act into law this week. The law provides the agency's top watchdog with an additional source of funding to conduct audits and investigations of the security-clearance process.
February 13, 2014 -
In a new report to lawmakers, the White House determined discretionary spending fell $2 billion below the Budget Control Act caps.
February 13, 2014 -
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee gave its stamp of approval Thursday to a sweeping overhaul of the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service. In a bipartisan 9-1 vote, the committee approved the 2014 Postal Reform Act and sent the measure to the Senate floor. The bill, which is the brainchild of Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), presents a laundry list of proposals to revamp the financially troubled Postal Service.
February 06, 2014 -
John Koskinen, sworn in as IRS commissioner in late December, has been meeting with frontline employees and crunching numbers for the last several weeks. He told Congress Wednesday that every corner of the agency is underfunded, and as a direct result, the Treasury is collecting fewer dollars than it should.
February 06, 2014 -
The Army's audit arm finds huge accountability holes in a years-long program that recruited 130,000 soldiers. The program most likely violated federal law from the get-go, officials say.
February 05, 2014