Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

  • John Thompson made his case to be the next head of the Census before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Tuesday. He said technology is the key to cutting costs and improving the count's accuracy.

    July 10, 2013
  • The Energy Department's Office of Environmental Management (EM) faced scrutiny in a hearing Thursday that questioned EM's contract management. DOE has been on the GAO's High Risk List for contract management since 1990.

    July 01, 2013
  • GSA acting administrator Dan Tangherlini said the agency wants to work with Congress to offer creative ways for agencies to maximize their assets. In its own headquarters, the GSA is using modern techniques to save space.

    June 19, 2013
  • Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee members support Dan Tangherlini to be the permanent administrator of the General Services Administration. Lawmakers, however, wanted more answers about the troubled SAM program and the recent IG report on management interference of contract negotiations.

    June 19, 2013
  • 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.

    June 13, 2013
  • 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.

    June 12, 2013
  • The Medicare program made $44 billion in improper payments in 2013. A bipartisan bill designed to prevent fraudsters from milking the system calls for contractors to increase accuracy and for beneficiaries to report fraud.

    June 11, 2013
  • Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and the GSA inspector general released separate, but related, reports that show GSA abused its authority to give Senior Executive Service (SES) members bonuses between 2009 and 2011. GSA official said they have since fixed these problems. McCaskill also found that on average the Labor Department, the Navy and the National Science Foundation handed out more than one bonus per SES employee.

    May 17, 2013
  • Senate lawmakers are promising to change the laws to let agencies have easier access to the Death Master File and other key databases. Starting June 1, agencies must check the Do Not Pay list before issuing any money.

    May 09, 2013
  • With the release of the White House's 2014 budget proposal last week, budget season on Capitol Hill is in full swing. But while Congress will be debating the merits of the President's budget plan via a flurry of congressional hearings this week, the permanent director's chair at the Office of Management and Budget remains vacant.

    April 15, 2013
  • Federal agencies reported more than 48,000 cyber attacks in 2012 and continue to struggle to defend their networks, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. Senators are now renewing their push for comprehensive cyber legislation, which would include an update to FISMA.

    March 08, 2013
  • A total of 30 programs, once again, are considered troubled, including two new areas. But, the Government Accountability Office removed the IRS' Business Systems Modernization program after 18 years on the list, and interagency contracting after 8 years.

    February 14, 2013
  • The U.S. Postal Service's worsening financial situation led Postmaster General Pat Donahoe to announce last week the agency would end Saturday mail delivery beginning in August. But lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee were divided over Donahoe's announcement. The postmaster general told the committee during a hearing Wednesday the decision was necessary to save $2 billion a year and to begin shoring up the service's funding shortfalls.

    February 13, 2013
  • Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said they were committed to working together to pass postal reform legislation in the new Congress. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe renewed his call for congressional action, saying the agency faces an "unsustainable" financial path.

    January 03, 2013