Several executives from well-known high tech firms are in Iraq this week as guests of the State Department, part of an effort to boost the use of online and social media in the war-torn country. While in Iraq, the tech representatives will meet with government officials, educators and other community leaders to talk about howRead… Read more »
President Obama holds his first full cabinet meeting today (without the still unconfirmed Kathleen Sebelius) to order spending cuts at each of the government agencies. The goal is to trim $100 million in the next 90 days, an impressive-sounding figure, but don’t be fooled: The cuts announced today amount to just one quarter of oneRead… Read more »
President Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address to announce plans to nominate businessman Jeffrey Zients to be the federal government’s first chief performance officer and Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra to be chief technology officer. The announcement came during an address focused on the administration’s plans to root out government waste andRead… Read more »
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano responded today to widespread criticism of a leaked domestic intelligence report that warns local law enforcement agencies to be on guard for right-wing extremist groups seeking new recruits amid the nation’s economic troubles. “Let me be very clear: we monitor the risks of violent extremism taking root here in theRead… Read more »
In arguably the most unusual example of kissing up to the big boss, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is highlighting his agency’s connections to Bo the Dog, the new First Pup. The dog is “truly a cute and energetic addition to the thriving Obama household,” LaHood writes in his “Fast Lane” blog. “Turns out that youngRead… Read more »
Washington public radio station WAMU this morning aired audio of an exchange that took place last Tuesday night between one of its reporters and a VA Hospital public affairs officer that resulted in the confiscation of the reporter’s recording equipment. Officials from Washington’s VA Medical Center on Friday returned the audio flash drive they hadRead… Read more »
Executives and lawyers for WAMU radio are demanding an apology from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the immediate return of a reporter’s recording equipment following an incident during a public forum earlier this week at the VA Hospital in Washington. The station contends the action was a violation of the reporter’s first amendment rightRead… Read more »
A big element of the Obama administration’s plans to distribute and oversee economic stimulus funds is Recovery.gov, eagerly anticipated as the administration’s first stab at opening wide the doors of the federal bureaucracy. The Eye has taken great interest in Earl Devaney’s efforts and recently asked some former colleagues and government transparency experts to weighRead… Read more »
In his first television interview since taking office, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. defended the integrity and mission of the Justice Department today and said it will continue to prosecute political figures when necessary, despite a federal judge’s dismissal of the conviction of former senator Ted Stevens. “History has shown that the people whoRead… Read more »
NASA’s controversial inspector general Robert Cobb has resigned following bipartisan calls for his resignation and criticism from fellow watchdogs, most notably a recent Government Accountability Office report that determined he had done little to identify waste or fraud at the space agency. His resignation is effective April 11. Appointed by then-President George W. Bush inRead… Read more »