Defense Department
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In responding to a list of wartime contracting changes Congress ordered last year, agencies cited many advances, but acknowledge challenges remain. Recent audits show major problems in how the Defense and State departments, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, continue to spend billions of dollars in Afghanistan.
July 18, 2013 -
Dan Doney, the new chief innovation officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency, talks about the agency's plan to change the way it interacts with industry and brings innovation to government.
July 17, 2013 -
The Military Justice Improvement Act would shift the decision to prosecute sexual assault cases from the chain of command to independent military lawyers. A recently released DoD IG report also recommends changes in the investigation process.
July 17, 2013 -
Watervliet Arsenal is celebrating its 200th anniversary as the premier manufacturer of cannons and mortars for the military. Federal News Radio Anchor Tom Temin visited the arsenal for an up-close look at what goes on behind the scenes.
July 17, 2013 -
Furloughs for some 650,000 Defense Department civilian employees kicked in last week.Still, about 15 percent of the civilian workforce is exempt from furloughs. In this Q&A, Pat Tamburrino, chief of staff to the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, discusses federal furlough exemptions and DoD decision-making.
July 16, 2013 -
The General Services Administration plans to award the $60 billion multiple award contract for complex professional services by October. Concerns again arise over whether there are too many multiple award contracts.
July 12, 2013 -
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel put the ball in Congress' court this week when he released details of how the Pentagon would manage billions of dollars in cuts if sequestration continues into fiscal 2014 and beyond. But, there's not yet anything close to a winning strategy in Congress to avert or replace the automatic budget cuts.
July 11, 2013 -
House Armed Services and Veterans Affairs committees inserted a provision in the fiscal 2014 Defense Authorization Bill requiring DoD and VA to have an interoperable health record system by 2017. Agency officials say they already are and will continue to share health care data, but having one integrated, interoperable health care management system is no longer necessary.
July 11, 2013 -
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a letter to Congress that if spending caps continue under sequestration, marked cuts in DoD's budget would possibly lead to reductions in force. Hagel also said there could be severe cuts in operations and maintenance.
July 10, 2013 -
House members with constituents impacted by budget cuts to the Patent and Trademark Office and Department of Defense are taking steps to ease the effect of sequestration and furloughs.
July 08, 2013 -
Approximately 85 percent of the Defense Department's civilian workforce -- more than 650,000 employees -- will be staying home Monday, as the first of DoD's cost-cutting furlough days goes into effect. The furloughs were put in place to offset automatic, across-the-board spending cuts implemented by sequestration. DoD estimates the furloughs will save between $1.9 billion and $2.1 billion.
July 08, 2013 -
On this week's Capital Impact show, Bloomberg Government analysts will discuss how the Berry Amendment is affecting troop supplies, what's ahead for Congress when its members return from vacation, and the lobbying activities of companies that supply goods and services associated with the July 4th holiday. July 4, 2013
July 04, 2013 -
Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed DoD's cyber posture at a recent Brookings Institution event. Dempsey says part of the planning process is forcing DoD leaders to look outward at the changing world.
July 03, 2013 -
The Defense Information Systems Agency is targeting the third or fourth quarter of 2014 for full operational capability of its cloud broker service. DoD components will use automated tools to choose cloud computing services from DoD, other agencies or private providers.
July 03, 2013 -
The DoD Special Missions Wing in Afghanistan does not have adequate personnel to man its existing and planned aircraft fleet, according to an audit from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The air wing only has one fourth of the recruits needed to achieve full strength to be able to handle 48 newly purchased aircraft.
July 02, 2013