The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee pressed federal Chief Information Officer Steve VanRoekel, federal Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, Department of Health and Human Services CIO Frank Baitman and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services deputy CIO Henry Chao to acknowledge the oversight failings, and for someone to declare they were in charge of the program.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is compelling federal CTO Todd Park show up Wednesday for a hearing before the Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the IT oversight problems of the HealthCare.gov website.
The chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent letters to Verizon Enterprise Inc., Google, Microsoft, Oracle and Expedia asking if they are part of the administration's "tech surge" to fix the Affordable Care Act portal.
In a letter to federal CIO Steve VanRoekel and federal CTO Todd Park, Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairmen want documents and information on whether the program went under a TechStat review and whether the White House made decisions that impacted the use of federal IT best practices.
House leaders say the DATA Act has a good chance at becoming law this session. Support for the bill from the Senate and the White House seems to be increasing.
Current and former Obama administration officials' use of personal email addresses and secret, secondary email accounts to conduct official business came under scrutiny Tuesday at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said her use of a secret account was to do her job more efficiently.
Federal CIO Steve VanRoekel offered the administration's first public comment since the major IT reform bill passed the House as part of the 2014 Defense Authorization bill. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) offered a blunt warning to the White House if it does not support the legislation.
Federal CIO Steve VanRoekel is testifying this morning before the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on the progress of several IT reform initiatives. He says agencies are on track to close or consolidate more than 850 data centers in 2013.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released long-anticipated legislation Friday aiming to reform the finances of the ailing U.S. Postal Service. Issa updated an earlier discussion draft of his bill with several proposals originally floated by Democrats.
House Republicans said IRS official Lois Lerner waived her right to remain silent by giving an opening statement in her hearing. Lerner still may testify before Congress with a variety of consequences.
USPS issued final determinations Wednesday to close three Capitol Hill post offices by July 21, which is expected to save about $2 million over the next 10 years. That's only a drop in the bucket in the agency's stretched-thin budget, but top House Republicans on the Administration and Oversight and Government Reform Committees hailed the move for sending a strong message.
A new commission, proposed by David Walker, former U.S. comptroller general, would recommend ways to streamline government by removing duplication and extraneous spending from government agencies. Federal-employee unions criticized the proposal and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee lawmakers expressed skepticism that such a proposal could gain congressional approval.
The first major IT reform bill in a decade has cleared the first of three hurdles to become law. The bill would empower CIOs by reducing the number of people with that title to one per agency, and give that person authority over the IT budget and personnel decisions.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) released a draft postal reform bill that supports ending Saturday mail delivery and would modify how the agency pre-funds retiree health-care payments that now threaten to sink the agency into financial insolvency. Congressional postal reform efforts have remained dormant so far this year, even as the Postal Service's financial outlook has worsened.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) plans to offer the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) as an amendment later this week to the 2013 Defense Authorization bill. The Senate held a hearing looking at the best approach to empower federal CIOs. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee heard that transparency, visibility and senior leadership are common traits among successful CIOs.