A three-judge appeals court has dealt a setback to the Obama administration in the way it made recess appointments. The ruling could invalidate the appointment of Richard Cordray at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The court said presidents can only make recess appointments during the recess between yearly sessions of Congress and only if the vacancy happens during that recess. President Obama appointed Cordray during the July Fourth holiday. Mort Rosenberg is a fellow at the Constitution Project and a former specialist the American Law Division of the Congressional Research Service.

Perhaps you’ve heard. Nearly all federal discretionary budgets are possible targets for reductions. Bloomberg Government has identified nine civilian agency programs that look particularly ripe for a little carving.

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Joe Jordan is the administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. He joined Roger Waldron on Off the Shelf. He talked about the administration’s priorities and about data collection, its the costs and the issues surrounding it.

Federal agencies and Congress have become concerned with the supply chain. That’s the string of suppliers who deliver parts to contractors, who deliver finished goods to the government. DOD in particular is under pressure to ensure that the supply chain is secure, and that it doesn’t get equipment with counterfeit parts, or circuits with secret security holes. Joining us with advice on supply chain security is Al Banghart. He’s former director of enterprise transformation at the Defense Logistics Agency and now a senior advisor at Deloitte Consulting.