House Oversight and Reform Committee

• BRAC-like commission proposed to hunt down government cost savings

  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.

  Budget

  June 18, 2013
• House approves IT reform amendment to Defense bill

  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.

  Congress

  June 14, 2013
• Issa’s postal reform proposal OKs 5-day delivery, modifies prefunding

  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.

  Congress

  June 13, 2013
• Rep. Issa heading down familiar path for IT reform; Senate still in discovery mode

  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.

  Congress

  June 12, 2013
• IG: ‘Serious problems’ with OPM’s $2B revolving fund must be addressed

  The Office of Personnel Management's inspector general says he needs $6 million to address "serious problems" with the agency's $2 billion revolving fund. Patrick McFarland told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that his current budget isn't nearly enough to root out waste, fraud and abuse across the revolving fund and other areas of OPM.

  Congress

  June 06, 2013
• GAO, OMB spar over whether to measure data center cost savings

  Government auditors told House Oversight and Government Affairs members that saving money from closing more than 1,000 data centers needs to be metric. OMB said optimization of core data centers is a more important measure than straight cost savings.

  Congress

  May 15, 2013
• Inside the Reporter’s Notebook: Communication breakdown over FITARA? Lawmaker wants answers from DHS

  News and buzz in the acquisition and IT communities that you may have missed this week.

  Congress

  April 29, 2013
• Does GS system need an update? Lawmakers ask GAO to review federal pay scale

  A trio of lawmakers from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee want the Government Accountability Office to examine whether the General Schedule system for federal employees needs an update. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Blake Farenthold (R-Texas), said the watchdog agency's review would aid the lawmakers in evaluating "the appropriateness of the General Schedule (GS) as a pay scale for today's workforce."

  Congress

  April 22, 2013
• Postal Service’s ‘broken business model’ under fire but solutions scarce

  Postmaster General Pat Donahoe told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday that the Postal Service is operating under a "broken business model." But cost-saving efforts, such as ending Saturday delivery and modifying a multibillion dollar requirement to prefund future retirees health care costs, garnered little agreement among lawmakers.

  Congress

  April 17, 2013
• Mica: ‘Mismanagement of assets is shameful’

  Congressman John Mica says his top priority as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations is to cut agency waste, fraud and abuse beyond just the low hanging fruit. Mica's column is part of Federal News Radio's special report, Rise of the Money People.

  Congress

  April 12, 2013
• FEHBP modernization plan receives cautious optimism from Hill

  The Office of Personnel Management told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the 50-year-old law creating the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) has hurt its ability to keep the FEHBP up-to-date. The agency estimates billions in savings over the next decade should Congress approve the White House's proposals in the 2014 budget request.

  Budget

  April 11, 2013
• House Oversight Committee passes 12 bills affecting agency management

  Including the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday passed 12 bills focusing on a variety of agency management issues.

  Congress

  March 21, 2013
• Issa’s IT reform bill moves through committee, concerns still remain

  The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) with little debate and no amendments. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the bill's author and chairman of the committee, said the provisions to give CIOs more budget control and the IT project and program management improvements will have a big impact on how agencies spend money on technology.

  Congress

  March 21, 2013
• USDA seeks authority to transfer funds to offset sequestration cuts

  Agriculture Department Secretary Tom Vilsack can move money in-between accounts within the same bureau, but not across the agency under a special provision called Interchange Authority. Vilsack has officially asked Congress for use of that authority in an effort to stunt the negative effects of sequestration at his agency. At at recent House hearing, Republican lawmakers questioned why more agencies haven't movasked Congress for similar permission.

  Budget

  March 20, 2013