Congress
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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 -
When it comes to the federal workforce, the competing House and Senate budget plans differ greatly in tone and style. But when it comes to making the federal government run more efficiently and finding cost-savings in federal operations, the two plans are more alike than you might think.
March 14, 2013 -
Now that sequestration is here, normally upbeat federal agencies are putting their worst foot forward, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. The mantra is unhappy days are here again. They are telling people what they won't be able to do for them, the services they will be missing and how things can only get worse.
March 14, 2013 -
Senate Democrats and Republicans released a 2013 government funding bill Monday that includes language to extend the federal pay freeze through the end of the calendar year, while providing additional funding for domestic priorities like health research and highway projects.
March 12, 2013 -
Congressman Frank Wolf, whose subcommittee handles NASA's budget, said whistleblowers have reported a foreign national connected to an 'entity of concern' was allowed to exfiltrate sensitive data to China. The FBI is investigating the allegations.
March 08, 2013 -
Congress missed the deadline to avert sequestration last week. And now a deadline to prevent a government shutdown at the end of the month is barreling toward lawmakers. But members of both chambers and from both sides of the aisle say they're confident they can work out a deal to keep the government running.The likely sticking point is how the the automatic budget cuts, known as sequestration, will continue to play out. House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R- Okla.) discuss the continuing resolution and sequestration on In Depth with Francis Rose.
March 07, 2013 -
The fiscal 2013 spending bill doesn't remove the requirement for the Postal Service to deliver first-class mail six days a week. Other provisions in the bill povide a boost in funding DHS cyber, DoD acquisition and VA IT spending.
March 07, 2013 -
The Protecting America's Civilian Employees Act would require the Office of Management and Budget to submit a plan to Congress on how they would cut spending without harming the federal workforce.
March 07, 2013 -
In his final report to Congress, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen's conclusion was all too clear: Since the invasion a decade ago this month, the U.S. has spent too much money in Iraq for too few results.
March 06, 2013 -
The lower chamber's bill would significantly soften the blow against DoD and potentially eliminate current plans such as civilian furloughs because of the automatic budget cuts. The remainder of the government would remain under both sequestration and a full-year continuing resolution.
March 06, 2013 -
Over the past few years, unimplemented agency inspector general recommendations that could potentially save the government billions of dollars have piled up. Now, with $85 billion in automatic budget cuts kicking in, lawmakers on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are telling agencies there's no excuse for them to further delay implementing the cost-saving measures and best practices identified by their IGs.
March 05, 2013