Congress
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Lawmakers have about 23 real work days left before the end of the fiscal year to pass USPS reform, comprehensive cyber, DoD authorization and all the 2013 spending bills. Experts hold out little hope even after the passage of the FDA bill and the expected approval of the highway legislation.
June 27, 2012 -
Five Republican senators have introduced a bill that would require companies that store your personal information to report any security breaches to you as quickly as possible.
June 25, 2012 -
Acting administrator Michael Huerta had few answers for members of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee concerning the FAA's lack of progress on pilot training and safety regulations. Huerta said the final directive is expected to be out by October 2013. He also said the NextGen system is making progress and establishing important baselines.
June 25, 2012 -
National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins and members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee on Health shared concern about effects of potential sequestration on the agency, specifically in the area of funding grants.
June 22, 2012 -
The Office of Management and Budget has reiterated to lawmakers that the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration will apply to wartime funding. In a June 15 letter, to Rep. Buck McKeon, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Jeff Zients wrote that the Budget Control Act allowed no "flexibility" to exempt Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), from sequestration.
June 22, 2012 -
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said he'd be "very careful" about assigning blame for the attacks on Iran's nuclear program. Half of what's been reported in the media on the matter is untrue, he said.
June 22, 2012 -
The top Republican on the Armed Services committee signaled Thursday that there's room for compromise toward a deal to avoid automatic budget cuts at the end of this year. But not everyone's sure the negative effects of sequestration can be avoided, or even that Congress would reach a deal.
June 22, 2012 -
The Financial Services and General Government spending bill seeks to cut $2 billion from the president's request. The bill says nothing about granting feds a pay raise in 2013. The House committee follows the lead of Senate appropriators, which also remained silent on the issue.
June 21, 2012 -
Benjamin Friedman, a CATO Institute research fellow, said sequestration prevents intelligent spending cuts, but that doesn't necessarily mean DoD lacks room to make smarter ones.
June 21, 2012 -
Members of Congress, nervous about the economy and the upcoming November elections, have volunteered to tighten their own money belts. But in the process they may have turned thousands of top-paid federal workers into identify-theft targets, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
June 21, 2012 -
Lawmakers at a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held at the Georgetown Heating Plant, blasted the General Services Administration for its handling of excess federal properties.
June 20, 2012 -
The largest federal contractor is struggling to prepare for about $1 trillion in cuts that are due to take effect in January. Retiring-CEO Robert Stevens said agencies will ask vendors to modify contracts and that in turn will drive up the costs of those programs. Lockheed Martin already is taking steps to reduce its spending by consolidating facilities and reducing staff.
June 20, 2012 -
The 34-page guideline details how lawmakers can use performance information to ensure agencies are meeting their missions.
June 19, 2012 -
Senators Claire McCaskill and Jim Webb gain bipartisan support on legislation designed to decrease wasteful spending. Some provisions in the bill regarding accountability have been strengthened.
June 18, 2012 -
The Homeland Security Department showed lawmakers and staff how easy it is to create a spear phishing attack against a federal employee using free, open-source tools. The agency also said the Einstein 3 program is under development and will rely on vendors to provide intrusion prevention services. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said he expects the cyber bill to go to the Senate floor for debate no later than July.
June 14, 2012