Congress
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A coalition of more than two dozen federal-employee unions and advocacy groups is calling on budget negotiators to come up with a way to undo the across-the-board sequestration budget cuts that are poised to slash agency spending by billions more this year. But following three years of a pay freeze and the recent 16-day government shutdown, the groups are equally adamant that changes to federal employees' pay and benefits should be off the table.
November 08, 2013 -
The heads of DoD's military services say they were able to somewhat blunt sequestration's impact during its first year by using several one-time tactics. But they say the consequences of sudden reductions will get worse in 2014 and beyond.
November 08, 2013 -
Former top staffers say current members of Congress no longer have a stake in any particular appropriation or authorization bill making its way through the legislative gauntlet — one reason why DoD and the rest of government continue to stumble from one continuing resolution to the next.
November 07, 2013 -
At his nomination hearing before a Senate committee Tuesday, President Barack Obama's pick to serve in the Veterans Affairs Department's No. 2 management slot pledged to tackle a host of challenges plaguing the department. Sloan Gibson, the president and CEO of the nonprofit USO, told members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee if confirmed to be the VA's deputy director he would tackle the longstanding backlog of disability claims and will work to find common ground with the Defense Department on a new strategy for a joint electronic-health records system. The committee also considered the nominations of Linda Schwartz to be the assistant VA secretary for policy and planning and Constance Tobias to serve as the chair of VA's Board of Veterans' Appeals.
November 06, 2013 -
Pentagon leaders have spent the past two years warning Congress that sequestration would severely hamper the ability to deploy military forces to contingencies around the world. With no apparent relief in sight from the cuts, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said it's time to start thinking about making the best of a bad situation.
November 06, 2013 -
When House and Senate lawmakers kicked off formal budget negotiations this week for the first time since the government shutdown ended, both Republicans and Democrats said replacing sequestration, the blunt across-the-board budget cuts, with an alternative plan would be a top priority. The sticking point remains how to pay for it. Federal-employee unions and advocacy groups fear federal pay and benefits will once again be on the table.
October 31, 2013 -
The 62-35 vote comes more than five months after President Barack Obama nominated the former Labor Department chief of staff and Obama reelection campaign official to serve as the next head of the agency.
October 30, 2013 -
For the first time since the government shutdown ended two weeks ago, House and Senate lawmakers are sitting down at the table to negotiate about the fiscal 2014 budget. At the top of the agenda will be what to do about the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration that have ensnared what remained of the traditional budget process this year. However, budget experts and insiders say sequestration is likely to stick around -- at least in some form -- and about the best agencies can hope for is a small-bore deal that grants them some greater flexibility in implementing the cuts, these experts said.
October 29, 2013 -
With the partial government shutdown behind them, members of Congress are working on several bills that impact the federal workforce, including a resolution that supports ending the federal pay freeze and a bill that tackles the claims backlog at Veterans Affairs.
October 29, 2013 -
Virtually every one of DoD's acquisition programs took a hit from sequestration in the first year of sequestration, officials from each of the military services told lawmakers this week. But the next few years of the 10-year spending restrictions could be much more painful, especially if Congress doesn't return to the process of enacting regular appropriations bills.
October 25, 2013 -
Financial planner Arthur Stein will discuss what you can do to protect your assets in the event of another government shutdown, and Sean Reilly will talk about the possibility of another shutdown, and what's ahead for feds. October 23, 2013
October 23, 2013 -
Top politicians have vowed there will be no more shutdowns. But they've said that before, including as recently as this month, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. So what can you do if there's a repeat performance?
October 23, 2013 -
Eighty-three percent of respondents to a Federal News Radio online poll said morale at their workplace is now worse than before the shutdown. Another 5 percent of respondents said they didn't feel personally affected but the morale of their co-workers had worsened. Federal workforce experts and employees, themselves, say the the two-week government shutdown has opened up a rift of resentment between groups of federal employees which, in part, is fueling the morale drain.
October 22, 2013 -
Much of the shutdown news focused on its impact on Washington and shuttered national parks. But many smaller communities have taken a deeper, more permanent hit, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
October 21, 2013 -
Beth Cobert is on the job as the deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget. The Senate confirmed Cobert and 24 other nominees late Wednesday night.
October 18, 2013