House Oversight and Reform Committee
-
Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry said the federal jobs website USAJobs.gov is headed in the right direction after a rough debut three weeks ago. OPM has added server capacity and refined features to make the site easier to use. OPM Director John Berry said the agency\'s response is an example of \"government working.\" But OPM now faces a congressional hearing and public outrage over the botched rollout.
November 04, 2011 -
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved H.R. 3029, which would cut the workforce by 10 percent by September 2014.
November 03, 2011 -
The chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform said agencies need to do more to train new employees to make the best decisions. Lankford said the turnover in the workforce and the lack of consistent training for the new employees is a major concern for the subcommittee.
November 01, 2011 -
Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said he will hold hearings to see how to make the federal grant process more transparent. The administration merged two existing boards into a new Council on Financial Assistance Reform to improve the grant-making process. HHS awarded a $32.4 million contract for IT services for grants.gov portal.
October 31, 2011 -
The Department of Homeland Security expects an audit of its IT systems will bring relatively good news in two weeks. Last year\'s audit found 161 issues in technology systems throughout the agency. Those problems ranged from a lack of disaster recovery plans to the inability to block former employees from accessing department IT systems.
October 28, 2011 -
Lawmakers charged with reducing the federal deficit should look to contractors\' compensation rather than reduce government workers\' pay and benefits, a coalition of federal unions and management associations wrote in a letter to supercommittee leaders.
October 21, 2011 -
Track recommendations on federal pay, benefits and retirement made to the supercommittee by top Congressional leaders and the White House.
October 17, 2011 -
Federal contractors may be getting away with fraud or shoddy work, according to a Government Accountability Office study of five years\' worth of federal contracts. GAO found that most agencies are not using enforcement tools meant to cut off the flow of public funds to bad contractors.
October 07, 2011 -
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said he wants to give the struggling Postal Service more flexibility to act like a private business, including the ability to force retirement-eligible employees to step down. Meanwhile, the Postal Regulatory Commission worries the Postal Service is losing sight of its public mission.
October 05, 2011 -
The Postal Service would get seven more weeks to pay a $5.5 billion debt to the Treasury under the continuing resolution passed Monday by the Senate. A House version includes the same provision. The bill is due on Friday.
September 27, 2011 -
A House subcommittee markup of a bill to address the Postal Service\'s financial problems broke down along partisan lines. Democrats accused Republicans of using this legislation to weaken labor provisions. Republicans said Democrats would prefer bailing out the agency rather than making it sustainable. The bill now goes to the full House Oversight and Governmental Reforms Committee.
September 22, 2011 -
A House subcommittee will markup legislation Wednesday to address the Postal Service\'s financial problems. President Obama unveiled his reform proposal earlier this week. Postal Service officials say, if enacted, it would give them the breathing room they need to make major network changes.
September 20, 2011 -
As federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra prepares to depart government for a Harvard fellowship, he provided a top-10 list of lessons learned in his last appearance before Congress.
July 15, 2011 -
House lawmakers want to add the requirement for a White House official to oversee cybersecurty policy and budget across civilian agencies. Rep. Langevin said the current set up with DHS in charge of civilian networks isn\'t good enough. Members also want more attention paid to the security of the supply chain.
July 11, 2011 -
In a letter to the Office of Personnel Management, the head of the government\'s watchdog committee said the U.S. Postal Service\'s decision to halt contributions to employees\' retirement fund sets a \"dangerous precedent\" for other cash-strapped agencies.
June 28, 2011