In an Oct. 9 letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinskei, Sen. Susan Collins requested the agency disclose whether employees responsible for planning the two conferences held in Orlando, Fla., last summer, also worked on other conferences. In addition, Collins said she wants to know how much conference planners earned in bonuses and other awards for their work.
Jon Etherton, president of Etherton and Associates Inc., will talk about the congressional process and how its affecting acquisition. October 9, 2012
Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the ranking member of the Senate committee, called on VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to fire his chief of staff, John Gingrich after an inspector general report said he failed to ask the right questions before approving two training conferences. The conferences costs $6.1 million, with as much as $762,000 in questionable spending.
Agencies now face stricter rules for issuing and tracking government charge cards under a new law President Barack Obama signed Friday. The Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012, introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and a bipartisan group of co-sponsors in 2011, passed the House in August.
Congress has a lot of unfinished business to tackle during its lame duck session expected in November. The House Intelligence Committee chairman thinks new threat information could push cyber legislation up the priority list.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is calling on the Department of Veterans Affairs to not follow through on a directive that will go into effect on Friday that would prevent funding for service dogs to help veterans with mental disabilities.
Worried about Congress changing your retirement benefits? If so, that should be the least of your worries, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
President Barack Obama signed a continuing resolution Friday to fund government operations through March 27, 2013. The legislation represents a 0.6 percent across-the-board increase above fiscal 2012 levels. It also extends the federal pay freeze.
The House voted unanimously today to pass a Senate bill delaying implementation of sections of the STOCK Act that would require the posting of some federal employees' financial information on the Internet. The bill also requires a study of the effects of posting feds' financial disclosures online.
What do Uncle Sam and horror-movie star Freddy Krueger have in common? Not much, fortunately. But that could all change if an 8 percent cut kicks in Jan. 3 forcing furloughs curtailed services that impact everything from tax returns and Social Security claims to airline travel, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
On this week's edition of Bloomberg Government's Capital Impact show, analysts will discuss the deficit's impact on Medicare and Medicaid, the costs of requiring capital buffers on money market funds. Plus, what legislation will Congress tackle in its lame-duck session? Setember 27, 2012
For the second time in as many months, the cash- strapped U.S. Postal Service says it will default on a required payment to fund future postal retirees' health benefits. The announcement comes after the agency similarly missed a $5.5 billion payment last month, and as longterm legislative solutions languish in Congress.
On the Federal Drive show blog, you can listen to the interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day and links to additional resources.
No matter who wins the Presidential election, non-career officials who might one day serve in either an Obama or Romney administration will face a cumbersome appointment process that is just starting to be reformed. Linda Springer, who served as the head of the Office of Personnel Management during the George W. Bush administration told In Depth with Francis Rose the onerous Senate confirmation process for political appointees has been a longstanding issue.
For the first time, review panels will question not just new IT projects, but also money spent on maintaining older technologies. The changes are part of an overhaul Congress ordered the Pentagon to implement with regard to how it handles investment review boards, the internal overseers that federal agencies use to greenlight spending for business IT systems.