Government Accountability Office
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The Veterans Health Administration has an elaborate planning process to come up with its strategic goals. Great, but headquarters might be getting in the way of the medical centers and other providers actually carrying them out. Debra Draper, director of health care issues at the Government Accountability Office, shares more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.
December 12, 2016 -
There are still struggles with parts of the DATA Act implementation, but Treasury and Office of Management and Budget officials say they are working with large agencies and federal auditors to problem solve ahead of the May 2017 deadline.
December 08, 2016 -
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released its third report card on agency progress in implementing the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) and found 12 improved their grades, 11 stayed the same and one dropped.
December 07, 2016 -
Legislation in 2008 put the government-backed secondary mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship by a new agency. Eight years later, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is still conserving Fannie and Freddie. Now the Government Accountability Office is urging Congress to force everyone to clarify their goals here so a lingering situation can get off the dime. For more, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turns to Lawrance Evans Jr., director of financial markets and community investment issues at GAO.
December 05, 2016 -
Advocates and defenders of the federal bid protest process received some welcome news last week as part of the House-Senate agreement on this year’s National Defense Authorization Act. The final deal stripped two key Senate provisions that were seen as hostile to the protest process.
December 05, 2016 -
Six years after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion, the Interior Department agencies responsible for overseeing the oil and gas industry have made progress of their own. They've taken several measures to make sure they can hire and retain the people they need to carry out the oversight function. But Interior still has trouble knowing for sure whether the measures are effective. Frank Rusco, director of Natural Resources and Environment Issues at the Government Accountability Office, shares the details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.
November 29, 2016 -
The Defense Department has cited lower health care costs as one of the benefits of the $58 billion in contract awards it issued in July to manage its TRICARE health care system. But in at least one of the two contracts, price wasn’t the driving factor.
November 28, 2016 -
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked the Government Accountability Office to review potential conflicts of interest, possible violations of security protocol and issues of transparency and logistics of President-elect Donald Trump's transition. Meanwhile, two other lawmakers are once again raising concerns about the potential for political appointees to "burrow in" to career positions.
November 23, 2016 -
Six years after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion , the Interior Department agencies responsible for overseeing the oil and gas industry have made progress of their own. They've taken several measures to make sure they can hire and retain the people they need to carry out the oversight function. Frank Rusco, director of Natural Resources and Environment Issues at the Government Accountability Office, tells Federal Drive with Tom Temin that Interior still has trouble knowing for sure whether the measures are effective.
November 18, 2016 -
Katherine Siggerud, the managing director of congressional relations for the Government Accountability Office, is one of 50 new fellows in 2017 at the National Academy of Public Administration.
November 16, 2016 -
The Government Accountability Office has denied nine out of nine bid protests filed by health insurers who came out on the losing end of the Defense Department’s $58 billion in contract awards to run the military's managed health care system.
November 15, 2016 -
The Veterans Health Administration has no shortage of ideas for how to reorganize and improve mission delivery, namely better health outcomes for veterans. What it cannot seem to do is get the changes done in an organized way. Debra Draper, director of health care issues at the Government Accountability Office, offers her insight on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.
November 07, 2016 -
Companies can no longer protest civilian agency task orders, which is an odd situation given that Congress retained the ability of defense contractors to protest to the Government Accountability Office task orders larger than $10 million. The House would restore things, the Senate would not. Terry O'Connor, director of government contracts at the law firm Berenzweig Leonard, joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain what contractors can do.
October 27, 2016 -
If the Defense Department is getting financial savings from its contracted work, it either doesn't know or just isn't reporting it. Nor has the department developed a plan for getting more efficiency out of its staff and contractors. A lot of work yet to be done. Brenda Farrell, director of defense capabilities and management issues at the Government Accountability Office, talks to Federal Drive with Tom Temin about GAO's latest work on civilian workforce costs
October 26, 2016 -
Three experts develop 12 recommendations based on interviews with CIOs and senior IT managers to measure all seven facets of the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act.
October 24, 2016