In his nomination hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Wednesday, John Roth, currently the director of the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations, said he aimed to turn around employee morale in the IG's office, which has been rocked by allegations of misconduct by the former acting head of the office. Roth, whose nomination has garnered near-universal support from both Republican and Democratic members of the committee.
The Government Accountability Office found in a new report that the 33-month delay in moving to GSA's Networx contract from FTS2001 caused agencies to spend more money and miss out on potential savings.
By a vote of 78 to 16, the Senate confirmed Jeh Johnson as the fourth secretary of Homeland Security.
For the first time in its history, the Homeland Security Department turned in a clean financial audit. A new DHS inspector general report, however, says the department has "significant deficiencies" in its internal control over financial reporting.
As the use of reverse auctions continues to rise, the Government Accountability Office says agencies need more clear cut guidance to realize a maximum amount of savings.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), are jumpstarting a new effort to get both sides of the Capitol dome on board with a bill to make it easier for agencies to hang the "For Sale" sign outside their doors. Carper, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Chaffetz, a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, hosted a Capitol Hill roundtable with private-sector real-estate experts and former government officials Wednesday to discuss a new legislative path forward.
Sen. Jean Shaheen (D-N.H.) introduced an amendment to the upper chamber's version of the Defense Authorization Act that closely mirrors the House's Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act. The House passed its version in June. The White House still hasn't officially weighed in on FITARA.
President Barack Obama nominated Jeh Johnson to be the next secretary of the Homeland Security Department. He has no discernible experience working in the homeland security sector.
Members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee laud Beth Cobert's private sector experience. But Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) said Senate leaders do not plan to debate or vote on any nominations during the shutdown.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe says a Senate bill aiming to overhaul the Postal Service's financial structure by providing the agency more flexibility to price its products is a good first step. Donahoe has been calling on Congress to approve comprehensive postal reform for much of the last two years. In that time, the cash-strapped agency has posted losses of $20 billion and defaulted on more than $11 billion in payments to prefund retiree health care costs. USPS is set to default on a $5.6 billion payment due Sept. 30 payment, Donahoe said.
Congress returns to work today with a crowded agenda and little time. Lawmakers must come to agreement on 2014 funding before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30 or risk a government shutdown. Also on the agenda: coming up with an alternative to the automatic spending constraints known as sequestration and negotiating a raise in the government's borrowing limit. There are also other measures affecting federal employees that remain to be worked out, including legislation to overhaul the cash-strapped Postal Service and a potential 1 percent pay raise for civilian federal workers.
Senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have opened a new legislative salvo in the fight against improper payments: helping agencies stop payments to dead people. The new legislation, introduced by Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the committee would allow all federal agencies to access basic death data maintained by the Social Security Administration and require they use it to curb improper payments
On the In Depth show blog, you can listen to our interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day, as well as links to other stories and resources we discuss.
The Senate postal reform bill calls on the Office of Personnel Management to change the way it calculates how much the U.S. Postal Service must pay into the Federal Employees Retirement System and the Civil Service Retirement System. The change could result in a $6 billion surplus for the debt-burdened USPS.
Senate committee members introduced the Federal Real Property Asset Management Reform Act of 2013 to address the management of federal real property. The government is the largest owner of property in the country, owning more than 1 million properties.