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Senate
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In this edition of Inside the Reporter's Notebook, Executive Editor Jason Miller shares news and buzz about the IT and acquisition communities.
June 06, 2014 -
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Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the ranking member of the Finance Committee, is calling on President Barack Obama to nominate a permanent director for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The top spot at the patent agency has remained vacant since former director David Kappos departed the agency in February 2013. In a letter to President Barack Obama and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Hatch said the vacancy "hampers the agency's ability to influence policy and make long-term plans."
June 03, 2014 -
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The Sept. 30 deadline for Congress to deliver a complete fiscal 2015 budget plan is still about four months away. But with a lengthy summer recess spanning nearly the entire month of August, that leaves fewer than 40 working days for the appropriation committees on Capitol Hill to finalize agency spending levels. That has some budget watchers already raising the possibility of a stopgap continuing resolution to fund government operations.
May 29, 2014 -
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Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) introduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act Friday, calling for a 3.3 percent pay increase for federal employees for calendar year 2015. Federal employee union leaders praised the proposal, which would raise feds' pay more than the 1 percent President Barack Obama introduced in his 2015 budget proposal. The bill is similar to one introduced in March by House Democrats.
May 23, 2014 -
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The House passed its version of the annual defense authorization bill Thursday, while the Senate's is still a work in progress. Both versions mostly shun DoD's proposals to cut costs during sequestration.
May 23, 2014 -
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A 1 percent pay raise for 2015 will go a little way toward rebuilding trust between federal employees and Congress and federal employees and their leaders. But only a little way. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee that oversees the federal workforce, wrote a column as part of our special report: Trust Redefined: Reconnecting Government and Its Employees. He says he learned at a recent hearing the trust problems in the workforce are complicated.
May 22, 2014 -
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People work better and more efficiently when they feel respected. And lately, Congress hasn't done a lot to make federal workers feel valued, says Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) in a column written for Federal News Radio's special report, Trust Redefined: Reconnecting Government and Its Employees. But, Tester says, he has a plan to start changing that low morale.
May 22, 2014 -
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Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Federal Programs and the Federal Workforce, hosted a hearing Tuesday to discuss the low morale of federal employees and explore possible solutions for agencies seeking to improve it.
May 07, 2014 -
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Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), the chairman of a key congressional panel with oversight of the federal workforce says he wants President Barack Obama's pick for White House budget director to "possess a background in federal workforce and governmental oversight issues." Earlier this month, Obama nominated the current director of the Office of Management and Budget, Sylvia Burwell, to take over for Kathleen Sebelius as the head of the Health and Human Services Department.
April 24, 2014 -
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Forty-one agencies don't have designated inspectors general of their own, according to Senate Financial and Contracting Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). She's sponsoring a bill that focuses on these small agencies that don't have the budget or resources for their own IG. Beryl Davis, director of financial management and assurance issues at the Government Accountability Office, testified recently before the subcommittee. She tells
April 14, 2014 -
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Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told a panel of agency IGs that she's currently drafting legislation that would pool together resources and establish an IG office specifically for the dozens of small agencies that fall outside the scope of the 1978 IG Act.
April 10, 2014 -
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The Defense Department's overall budget will shrink by a combined $900 billion by fiscal year 2021, according to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno. He tells the Senate Armed Services Committee how the Army will absorb more than $260 billion in cuts during that span. On Pentagon Solutions, Odierno says the Pentagon is creating a Total Army Solution for the looming budget cuts.
April 09, 2014 -
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The Senate's list of experts making recommendations for a 21st century government doesn't include any contractors or contracting groups. Agencies and think tanks will submit recommendations, but so far, no organizations that represent government's industry partners. Roger Waldron, president of the Coalition for Government Procurement, weighs in on In Depth with Francis Rose
April 02, 2014 -
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"Executive branch Swiss cheese" is what Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee calls leadership vacancies at your agency. He and ranking member, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), are looking for ways to plug up the employment gaps at your agency. Max Stier, president and chief executive officer of the Partnership for Public Service, testified before the committee at a hearing called Management Matters: Creating a 21st Century Government. He has a list of recommendations for Congress to follow as it plans a way to modernize your agency's workforce.
April 01, 2014
