Congress
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From catfish inspections to military uniforms, redundancy problems within government agencies span virtually every major department and agency across government, according to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro. The latest report from Dodaro's Government Accountability Office brings the number of redundant or inefficient mission areas within agencies to 162.
April 09, 2013 -
Absent structural changes, the combination of 10-year budget caps Congress has already approved and rising growth in personnel costs mean DoD would be able to sign paychecks, administer healthcare benefits and not much more.
April 08, 2013 -
The U.S. Postal Service continues to insist changes are necessary to help deal with budget woes in the face of congressional resistance. The Postal Service also is accelerating the closure of 53 mail processing plants.
April 01, 2013 -
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has written to Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry, saying the office should take steps to offload federal workers and contractors who don't show up for work, aren't performing official duties or "are simply not working at all." In the letter, Coburn, the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said doing so could prevent the need to furlough critical employees under sequestration.
March 29, 2013 -
Furlough notices will now be sent to employees in early May. Actual furloughs will begin in mid-to-late June, placing most Defense civilians on unpaid leave roughly one day per week for the final seven pay periods of the fiscal year.
March 29, 2013 -
Under the law, the President was supposed to submit a budget by Feb. 4. White House aides said deliberations over spending and sequestration in the past few months delayed the release of Obama's blueprint.
March 28, 2013 -
A new report says a law requiring the online posting of senior federal executives' financial information would likely impinge on employees' privacy and wouldn't do much to deter conflicts of interest. The National Academy of Public Administration was tasked by Congress with studying the STOCK Act — short for "Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge" — in response to concerns about privacy and identify theft.
March 28, 2013 -
Senior Executives Association President Carol Bonosaro joins host Bill Bransford to discuss some of the challenges facing senior executives in the federal government. March 22, 2013
March 22, 2013 -
The FEHBP Drug Integrity, Transparency and Cost Savings Act would give OPM more oversight of contracts and pricing methods. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) said the bill would save the government billions.
March 22, 2013 -
The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service announced last month it would end Saturday delivery of first-class mail. But a new legal decision from the Government Accountability Office seemed to offer more questions than answers.
March 21, 2013 -
The House voted today to approve a measure to fund federal agencies through the remainder of fiscal 2013. The bill averts a government shutdown but extends the freeze on federal employees' pay through the end of 2013. The bill now heads to President Barack Obama for his signature.
March 21, 2013 -
VA officials still insist the 630,000 disability claims waiting to be processed will be eliminated by 2015. But so far, numbers are headed in the wrong direction and House Veterans Affairs Committee members are losing patience.
March 21, 2013 -
Veterans service organizations say despite attempts at improvement, the Department of Veterans Affairs' verification process for veteran-owned small businesses is still barring legitimate firms from contracts with the department, while doing little to deter actual fraud.
March 20, 2013 -
Real reform for the U.S. Postal Service may be gaining some steam in Congress. Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas), the new chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees the Postal Service, tells Federal News Radio, House leadership sees room for compromise with Democrats when it comes to figuring out ways to get USPS back in the black. Farenthold supports the Postal Service's plan to eliminate Saturday mail delivery.
March 19, 2013 -
DoD said it is tightening-up governance over its large business IT systems, looking for indicators of future failure and forcing resource sponsors to justify their needs before projects begin. Elizabeth McGrath, DoD's deputy chief management officer, told House lawmakers the Pentagon is working on data quality and changing business processes to avoid previous problems.
March 15, 2013