Here We Go Again. News reports have been chattering about a possible government shutdown since July. Both Democrats and Republicans have been posturing and saber-rattling and making a lot of noise, but none of them bother to explain what that means for the public. First, some background. Each federal fiscal, or budget, year begins onRead… Read more »
The U.S. Geological Survey and NASA are seeking ideas for new approaches to developing spaceborne technology intended to provide both agencies continuous data on the Earth’s landscape for at least two more decades. NASA will officially launch the sustainable land imaging architecture study at a public forum Wednesday at the agency’s Webb Auditorium in Washington,NASARead… Read more »
A recent article in the Atlantic commented, “Young people are eager to serve and to change the world. They just have no faith that public service or elected office are the way to get it done.” That’s a pretty staggering statement, and a not-so-good prediction for the future of the government workforce. We wanted toRead… Read more »
August in Washington always reminds me of the proverbial calm before the storm. That is, the storm of political acrimony and legislative gridlock as the fiscal year draws to an end and appropriations bills pile up in Congress. But this year the stakes are much higher as some members of Congress are actively threatening aRead… Read more »
From the fiscal cliff to the current sequester, government agencies are operating in a period of fiscal uncertainly. At best agencies will have flat year-on-year budgets, barely keeping up with the rate of inflation. At worst agencies will face deep budget cuts. While many agencies are already reducing waste, cutting back on training, and increasingRead… Read more »
The House on Tuesday approved two amendments to the fiscal year 2014 defense authorization bill that would ban the Pentagon from furloughing civilian workers for that fiscal year, GovExec reports. Kellie Lunney writes one amendment applies to civilian defense workers placed on unpaid leave and the other amendment covers employees falling under working capital funds.Read… Read more »
By Stephanie Sullivan, Consultant The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is developing a framework to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure as part of the Executive Order 13636. As part of the development process working groups have been formulated to gather feedback from industry and relevant stakeholders regarding the development of the frameworkRead… Read more »
by Rick Antonucci, Analyst In a press interview, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, representative from Maryland, stated that he did not believe there was any chance Congress would pass a budget before October. The budgets passed by the Republican led House and the Democrat led Senate have a $91 Billion disparity and Hoyer says that theRead… Read more »
Policymakers are fixated on short-term budget austerity measures such as furloughs, pay freezes, and conference and travel spending. However, there is a small, but growing effort to take a longer, more strategic look at how to manage austerity by finding what works and targeting dollars there instead of to programs that cannot demonstrate effectiveness. ThisRead… Read more »
I’ve been closely following the federal budget for more than two decades, and at no point have things been more confusing, not only to observers like myself, but more importantly to federal managers and executives who are trying to plan their department budgets. A grand bargain on the budget would be welcome news not onlyRead… Read more »