sequestration
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The Office of Personnel Management has made steady progress chipping away at a longstanding backlog of retirement claims. But Oversight Committee lawmakers and other government watchdogs remain concerned that the absence of a long-term plan to overhaul the mostly paper-based process combined with across-the-board budget cuts and a lack of strong leadership within OPM could stall or derail the progress the agency has made.
May 09, 2013 -
Pentagon says it will use its limited budget flexibility to compensate for unexpected war costs, not to blunt sequestration. Services continue to warn Congress about how budget cuts are impacting readiness.
May 09, 2013 -
Sequestration came in like a lion ... While there have been some furloughs, politicians on both sides of the aisle have learned that furloughing air traffic controllers, meat inspectors and FBI agents is not popular, even with fed bashers, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. So, is sequestration heading for a soft landing?
May 08, 2013 -
The top lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee have called on the Defense Department to detail how it will cut billions more from its budget if sequestration continues into next year. In a letter dated May 2, Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the committee, asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to provide a "package of reductions" to the department's proposed 2014 budget.
May 07, 2013 -
Larry Allen of Allen Federal Business Partners, joins host Mark Amtower to talk about how sequestration and other issues are affecting contractors. May 6, 2013
May 06, 2013 -
Some furloughed federal employees could offset their forced time off with annual leave -- but only under certain circumstances, according to updated guidance from the Office of Personnel Management. If an agency cancels the need for planned furlough days after an employee has already taken those days off, he or she is permitted to substitute annual leave to offset the furlough.
May 06, 2013 -
Furloughs at the Agriculture Department are looking increasingly unlikely following Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's request to shift funding and the department's ongoing efforts to find alternative cost savings. A USDA spokeswoman confirmed last week that the department wouldn't have to furlough employees in either the Farm Service Agency or the department's Rural Development division.
May 06, 2013 -
The threat of furloughs is hanging heavy over tens of thousands of federal workers who say they won't be able to pay the bills if forced to stay home for five to 15 days. So, Mike Causey wants to know, is there light at the end of this tunnel?
May 06, 2013 -
The U.S. Forest Service is demanding that states give back $17.9 million in federal subsidies, saying the taxpayer cash is subject to automatic spending cuts called "sequestration."
May 03, 2013 -
Furloughs are supposed to save money. But if you wait until the last-minute to notify workers it can be quite costly as the Internal Revenue Service has found out, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey reports.
May 03, 2013 -
President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill to end furloughs of air traffic controllers.
May 02, 2013 -
Currently deployed units and those behind them are fully trained and equipped, the services say. But those next in line "aren't doing much." The fiscal 2013 budget also may be too little, too late in some ship repair and maintenance efforts.
May 02, 2013 -
When politicians created the sequestration monster, it may have seemed like a good idea at the time. But now that it's here, nobody wants to take credit for it, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. And politicians who insisted that the cuts be across-the-board are now demanding agencies exempt certain programs and people from furloughs.
May 02, 2013 -
Host Mike Causey will talk furloughs with Federal Career Experts owner John Grobe, and hiring, retirement backlog, and more with Stephen Losey and Sean Reilly from the Federal Times. May 1, 2013
May 01, 2013 -
While federal agencies are dealing with furloughs and tightening budgets, industry is also beginning to feel its effects. Small businesses will likely be hardest hit, says John Grobe, whose business is already being impacted on the government contracts side.
May 01, 2013