sequestration

• Majority of agencies meeting sustainable acquisition goals, OFPP says

  A new report to Congress shows 17 of the 24 largest agencies bought sustainable products at least 95 percent of the time.

  Budget

  April 21, 2015
• FY2016 budget: put up or shut up time for Congress

  The next two weeks may reveal the Republican Congress\' real ability to govern, for better or worse.

  Budget

  April 14, 2015
• Tom Collina, Director of Policy, Ploughshares Fund

  Members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees can\'t decide if the defense budget should be above or below sequestration caps. So both the House and Senate\'s plans keep DoD\'s budget within the caps set by the 2011 Budget Control Act and increase funds for overseas contingency operations. Tom Collina is director of policy for the Ploughshares Fund and former research director of the non-partisan Arms Control Association. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said the OCO budget plans are just a political compromise and don\'t address the real issues confronting defense spending reform.

  All News

  April 07, 2015
• NIH may be spared from sequestration, Cardin says

  The Maryland Democrat fielded questions from National Institutes of Health employees at a town-hall meeting at the agency's Bethesda headquarters.

  Budget

  April 02, 2015
• Jared Serbu, DoD Reporter, Federal News Radio

  Even if Congress finally finds a way around sequestration, the drawdown plan the Army has already laid out would take it down to a size of 450,000 soliders within the next five years. Officials said they won't be able to shed 40,000 personnel just through attrition. As Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu reports, the Army is expected to involuntarily separate at least 14,000 more soldiers, and thousands more if the budget caps stay in effect.

  All News

  March 25, 2015
• House Democrats release alternative budget plan

  The Democrats' plan, introduced by House Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen, would further change the Budget Control Act to allow agencies more financial flexibility. Unlike the Republican plan to restore normalized funding to the Defense Department while continuing to scale back domestic programs, the Democrats want to restore funding for both defense and non-defense agencies.

  Budget

  March 23, 2015
• Military leaders express misgivings about House plan to boost their budget

  Pentagon officials are adamant that sequestration-level spending is incompatible with the current Defense strategy. But, they also have serious concerns with the plan House Republicans released this week to boost Defense funding, saying it would limit their options and keep the military in a state of budget uncertainty.

  Budget

  March 20, 2015
• DoD pursues back-office savings ahead of potential cuts from sequestration

  The Defense Business Board outlines three approaches for the Pentagon to save $125 billion across six administrative areas. Defense Deputy Secretary Bob Work said the 90-day study will help his department improve productivity as sequestration looms.

  Budget

  March 18, 2015
• House GOP budget calls for increase in feds’ retirement contributions

  House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) released his $3.8 trillion budget plan, which includes language calling for an increase to federal employees' contributions to their retirement plans. All federal employees would pay 6.6 percent of their pay into their retirement plans. The bill also increases funding to the Defense Department's Overseas Contingency Operations fund, while keeping total DoD spending under sequestration caps.

  Budget

  March 17, 2015
• Army to deal with budget cuts by sharing services with local communities

  The military already has shown it can improve services on bases through public-private partnerships. As budgets shrink, the next task is to partner with local governments.

  Budget

  March 11, 2015
• The new Congress

  Ken Gold, director of the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, will give his thoughts on some of the issues that Congress will be addressing over the next few months. March 9, 2015

  Budget

  March 09, 2015
• Army: Sequestration to cause ‘domino effect’ on base maintenance

  After two years of operating under sequestration level funding, the Army now faces a $3 billion maintenance backlog and 5,500 work orders, said Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment.

  Budget

  March 05, 2015
• Carter opens door to more DoD civilian job cuts

  Ashton Carter, the new Defense secretary, told lawmakers this week that most of DoD's civilian workforce is performing mission-critical functions. But large budgets over the past decade have let the department do a lot of hiring without much thought toward cutting outdated positions, he said.

  Budget

  March 05, 2015
• Congress sends Homeland bill to Obama without conditions

  By ERICA WERNER and DAVID ESPO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Bitterly admitting defeat, the Republican-controlled Congress sent legislation to President Barack Obama on Tuesday that funds the Department of Homeland Security without any of…

  Budget

  March 04, 2015