Congress
-
A staunch defender of federal employee issues will leave after 23 years in the House of Representatives.
January 15, 2014 -
OMB reported agencies avoided spending $3 billion on travel and conferences in 2013 as compared to 2010. Senate lawmakers are concerned how to ensure agencies don't slide back into old habits of lavish spending on conferences.
January 15, 2014 -
The House gave a boost to the Office of Personnel Management inspector general's office Tuesday, voting to provide the agency's auditors with access to new funding to conduct investigations. In a unanimous vote, the House approved the bipartisan OPM IG Act, introduced by Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) and co-sponsored by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass). The Senate approved a nearly identical measure, introduced by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), in October.
January 14, 2014 -
After a month of negotiations, the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees unveiled a massive $1.1 trillion spending bill this week funding the government for the remainder of fiscal 2014. From federal pay and benefits to a further decline in the Internal Revenue Service's budget, read about three key takeaways of the bill.
January 14, 2014 -
Thanks to some surgical budget-cutting by Congress and the White House, Uncle Sam now has a three-tiered retirement plan: First-, second- and third-class where the service is the same but the price tag is higher for some than others.
January 14, 2014 -
Republican leaders plan to pass a short-term funding bill this week to extend by three days the deadline for wrapping up a massive, $1 trillion-plus catch-all spending bill covering funding for the rest of the year. The short-term measure would give lawmakers until midnight next Saturday to pass the larger funding bill. The current stopgap funding bill expires at midnight on Wednesday.
January 13, 2014 -
On this week's Capital Impact show, Bloomberg Government analysts will discuss what's ahead for Congress in 2014, and the potential impact of the contract compensation cap. January 9, 2014
January 09, 2014 -
Sen. Tom Coburn told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Thursday that Congress isn't doing its job and that's the root cause of much of the waste in government. Rep. Darrell Issa promised to work with Coburn and Sen. Tom Carper on legislation to reduce overlapping programs.
January 09, 2014 -
Army's top uniformed official said the Ryan-Murray budget agreement is a partial remedy to the difficulties the Army has had in training and equipping its troops. But undoing the damage of sequestration will take at least another six years.
January 08, 2014 -
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has filed a lawsuit against Katherine Archuleta, the head of the Office of Personnel Management, seeking to overturn an OPM regulation that allows lawmakers and their staffs to continue receiving government contribution toward their health insurance premiums. Under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, lawmakers and their staffs were booted from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), under which the government typically kicks in about three-fourths of the cost of federal employees' premiums, and required to purchase health insurance on the federal exchange.
January 06, 2014 -
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has already set about implementing a plan to cut $1 billion from the Defense Department's budget by consolidating and reorganizing top Pentagon offices, but lawmakers want to hold his feet to the fire. The final version of the National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress Dec. 19 enshrines DoD's ambitious cost-cutting and streamlining plan into law.
January 02, 2014 -
On this week's Capital Impact show, Bloomberg Government analysts participate in a roundtable discussion of the budget deal, the Volker Rule, and Bitcoin. December 26, 2013
December 26, 2013 -
John Hudak and Phil Wallach with the Brookings Institution will discuss the top federal government issues in 2013, and what's ahead in the new year. December 20, 2013
December 20, 2013 -
On this week's Capital Impact show, Bloomberg Government analysts will discuss how the budget deal will affect next year's government funding,and how budget cuts are affecting U.S. defense industrial capabilities. December 19, 2013
December 19, 2013 -
Audits find contract security personnel, which make up the vast majority of the Federal Protective Service's workforce, receive no meaningful training on how to deal with armed attackers. And many operators of X-ray machines and metal detectors at building entrances likely have never been trained to properly use them.
December 18, 2013