Senate
-
Thanks to congressional redistricting, many members of the House of Representatives have jobs for life if they choose to keep running for reelection. Senior Correspondent Mike Causey wonders: Is it maybe time for term limits for everybody?
February 01, 2013 -
This is the Federal Drive show blog. Here you can listen to the interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day and links to additional resources. Today’s guests: Melinda Wharton acting…
January 30, 2013 -
House and Senate lawmakers have called on President Barack Obama to fill inspector general vacancies at six large agencies, including open spots at the Departments of Homeland Security and State.
January 25, 2013 -
Martin Libicki of Rand Corp talks about the 2013 Defense Authorization Bill. Dov Zakheim reviews what DoD Secretary-nominee Chuck Hagel can expect from Congress. Attorney Mark Schamel explains how the Defense Authorization Bill helps off-duty law enforcement agents. Erik Olson of the Pew Health Group discusses new food safety rules issued by the FDA. John Palguta of the Partnership for Public Service previews the SAMMIE nomination process. Katherine McFate discusses OMB Watch's name change.
January 08, 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 -
The bill to avert the "fiscal cliff" reinstates parity between the parking and mass-transit subsidies. The mass-transit subsidy was reduced in 2011 to $125 even as a similar subsidy for parking benefits was increased to $240 a month.
January 02, 2013 -
William R. Dougan, national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said Tuesday the Senate's fiscal cliff bill will lead to a political standoff that will leave federal employees with an uncertain future.
January 01, 2013 -
Highlights of a bill approved Tuesday by the Senate aimed at averting wide tax increases and budget cuts scheduled to take effect in the new year.
January 01, 2013 -
Congress has cleared the way for a $633 billion defense policy bill that includes mandated reductions to the Defense Department's civilian and contractor workforces. Leaders of a House-Senate conference committee, tasked with reconciling competing versions of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, included in the final report the automatic workforce reductions that opponents say would result in about 36,000 job losses.
December 19, 2012 -
The House this week approved a handful of bills aimed at improving federal financial management and oversight of government operations. Two of the bills — one requiring the Homeland Security Department to pass a complete financial audit and the other lightening the mandatory caseload of the Government Accountability Office — have already been passed by the Senate and head to the president's desk for his signature.
December 14, 2012 -
A bipartisan group of senators has written to top Army officials to express concern about delays in the suspension and debarment process that leave the service open to contracting waste and fraud. In a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno, the senators questioned "significant time lapses" between referrals for suspension and actual debarment of contractors in Afghanistan.
December 10, 2012 -
The Senate approved a $631 billion annual defense policy Tuesday that would require the Defense Department to reduce its civilian workforce by 5 percent over the next five years and impose a strict cap on government-funded contractor salaries. With the White House threatening to veto the Senate version its current form, the bill now heads to a House-Senate conference committee where differences between the two chambers' bill will be hammered out.
December 05, 2012 -
On Friday, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill updating the Hatch Act, the law that restricts the political activities of federal employees.
December 03, 2012 -
The Senate moved forward with a plan to require the Defense Department to reduce its civilian workforce by 5 percent over the next five years, after a measure striking that provision was defeated in a vote Friday. Earlier this week, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) introduced an amendment to the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, which would lift a mandated 5 percent reduction to DoD's civilian and contractor workforces over five years. But in a 53-41 vote, Cardin's amendment was defeated.
November 30, 2012 -
The Homeland Security Department would be required to conduct and pass a full financial audit under a bill unanimously approved by the Senate on Wednesday. The DART Act requires the agency, long characterized by the Government Accountability Office as being at high-risk for waste and abuse, to reach a clean audit opinion by 2013.
November 29, 2012