A series of management blunders and agency misbehavior in recent years ranging from the General Services Administration to the Veterans Affairs Department, haven't only put agency leaders in the hot seat — and sometimes out of work. They've also highlighted the importance of better risk-management planning by agencies, current and former federal officials told Federal News Radio as part of a special discussion on risk management.
The Internal Revenue Service is facing another big budget cut if the total the House of Representatives approved turns out to be the total the agency gets. The House voted for a bill to bring the IRS' 2015 spending limit to below sequestration levels. That's a cut of more than $300 million. Jessica Klement is Legislative Director of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. She explained on In Depth with Francis Rose how the IRS' potential 2015 budget would affect its employees and other agencies.
Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration employees see the results of budget cuts and sequestration. Federal News Radio Senior Correspondent Mike Causey wrote in his column "Alice in Washington Wonderland" why these cuts apply to the federal workforce on In Depth with Francis Rose.
The House of Representatives passed a bill that would cut more than $300 million from last year's Internal Revenue Service budget. This adds to the tension between Congress and the IRS over lost emails.
Thanks to Congressional budget cutters and the White House sequestration program, two of the most important federal operations - the IRS and the Social Security Administration - are getting smaller and slower. So, how much longer can we afford these 'savings', Senior Correspondent Mike Causey asks?
From hiring freezes and furlough days, to cuts to travel and equipment upgrades, the IRS generally 'took reasonable steps' to plan for sequestration, according to a new audit.
The IRS keeps revealing more instances of lost emails of employees in its tax exempt division. This week's revelation from the House Ways and Means Committee follows Friday's disclosure that a computer crash eliminated thousands of emails from former division chief Lois Lerner. Investigators now say another six division employees had their computers crash. Two Republican lawmakers call on the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the IRS. Commissioner John Koskinen faces skeptical members of Congress today. Dan Metcalfe is an American University law professor and executive director of the Collaboration on Government Secrecy. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss the records management side of this issue.
With an employment drop over the past year, agencies must adopt a "less with less" mentality, according Bob Tobias, director of Key Executive Leadership Programs at American University. He says executives must be honest with Congress about their limited capabilities.
The Government Accountability Office recommended the IRS develop long-term strategies and use ROI data comparisons to better operate with a less-than-ideal budget.
The newly adopted "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" will help IRS employees provide better service to taxpayers and sends a "message to Congress."
The IRS will have a new tool to help it collect taxes from Americans with overseas bank accounts. Treasury officials say 77,000 foreign banks and other financial institutions have agreed to share account information. The overseas banks will start sending information in 2015. Denise Hintzke is the global tax leader of Deloitte's Foreign Account Tax Compliance Initiative. She joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explain how this is going to work.
Should you even be doing your job? Is it possible that a private sector firm could do what your agency does at less cost to the taxpayers? It's been tried before, namely in the IRS, with very, very mixed results.
Last week the headlines screamed, "IRS TAX DEADBEATS GETTING CASH AWARDS." What a story! What's not to like? Except maybe there is another side to the story, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
Absorbing $900 million in budget cuts has created some problems for the IRS, including major staffing reductions and uneven performance. The Government Accountability Office says the agency's budget request of $12.5 billion for fiscal year 2015 is a step in the right direction. Jay McTigue, director of strategic issues for the GAO, tells In Depth with Francis Rose $12.5 billion won't fix what ails the IRS.
Budget cuts have left the IRS high and dry. The Government Accountability Office says the agency has absorbed $900 million in cuts over the past four years. At the same time, the agency is failing to keep up with a growing source of tax revenue: large partnerships. Congress has raised concerns about the extent to which the IRS is able to audit these entities. Jim White, director of tax issues at the GAO, told Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp about the partnerships.