Posts By Ed O'Keefe

Is the GAO boss not giving enough credit?

Gene L. Dodaro, head of the Government Accountability Office, writes on the pages of today’s New York Times (boo!) about his agency’s biennial assessment of poor-performing government agencies and programs. “Since we started this list of programs at high risk of such problems two decades ago, our office has come to update it with eachRead… Read more »

How would you reorganize the federal government?

President Obama said Tuesday night that he wants to dramatically overhaul the federal government by merging some agencies and departments together. “We live and do business in the Information Age, but the last major reorganization of the government happened in the age of black-and-white TV,” Obama said during his State of the Union address. HeRead… Read more »

‘Government Doesn’t Suck’ march planned

Amid growing dissatisfaction with federal employees, a group of younger, web-savvy feds plan are planning to march on Saturday in defense of their coworkers on the sidelines of Jon Stewart‘s “Rally to Restore Sanity.” Organizers of the “Government Doesn’t Suck March” (their choice of words, not ours) were inspired in part by last week’s WashingtonRead… Read more »

Federal Eye: Obama to federal managers: Get to work

Bosses in the private sector may send memos to middle managers on a regular basis, but President Obama on Tuesday will take the rare step of reaching out directly to almost 8,000 career government managers. The president will tell members of the Senior Executive Service that his administration will use a new Web site toRead… Read more »

Federal Eye: Survey gives new numbers on teleworking

A new governmentwide survey finds general satisfaction among rank and file federal workers and for the first time gives the government hard numbers on the number of feds who telework. The 2010 Federal Viewpoint Survey, administered by the Office of Personnel Management (the government’s HR office), compiled answers from more than 263,000 Executive branch workers,Read… Read more »

Federal Eye: Report: Ex-Postal Service official violated policies

The former third-ranking official at the U.S. Postal Service improperly used his office to conduct personal business, awarded millions of dollars in noncompetitive contracts to former colleagues and failed to disclose stock holdings in a company conducting business negotiations with the mail agency, according to a new watchdog report. Robert F. Bernstock stepped down inRead… Read more »

Federal Eye: Federal agencies plan to start buying in bulk

It seems the federal government didn’t realize until recently that you can save more money by buying in bulk. Federal agencies will band together as one big customer for future purchases of goods and services, including office supplies and furniture, administration officials announced Wednesday. “The United States federal government is the world’s largest purchaser, butRead… Read more »

Gen. Stanley McChrystal will retain his four-star rank when he retires from the military, the White House said Tuesday. The decision means the general will earn about $149,700 per year before taxes in military retirement pay. President Obama dismissed McChrystal last week after he and members of his staff made disparaging comments about Vice PresidentRead… Read more »

Federal Eye: GAO: Some ‘burrowing’ during Bush Years

Democrats and Republican kick and scream during presidential transitions about the dangers of political appointees from the outgoing administration “burrowing” in to career agency positions, potentially derailing the well-laid plans of the new party in power. A Government Accountability Office set for release today found 139 political appointees did just that between May 2005 andRead… Read more »

Federal Eye: ‘Please Remove Your Shoes’ pans TSA, FAA

Many disgruntled workers file grievances with their union or write a letter to the editor, but a half dozen federal employees have turned to the big screen to raise concerns with the nation’s airport security. “Please Remove Your Shoes” uses the experiences of current and former employees of the Federal Air Marshals, Federal Aviation AdministrationRead… Read more »