This week, the Washington Post’s Federal Coach, Tom Fox (who also happens to be a GovLoop member!) touched on a great question in his Wednesday column: the most inspiring leadership-themed movies of all time. He writes: There are many ways for federal managers to absorb the lessons of leadership—training courses, management books, advice columns likeRead… Read more »
Is there anything good about the debt ceiling mess that we’re in? Maybe, according to Paul Light, professor of public service at NYU. Light recently suggested that reorganizing the federal government could save us up to $1 trillion dollars. The Washington Post‘s Joe Davidson summarizes his recommendations below: Light suggests, among other things, cutting theRead… Read more »
David Raths of Government Technology reported recently on an interesting question: Should state and local governments be allowed to “opt out” of a controversial DHS program that automatically shares criminals’ fingerprints with federal immigration officials? The program, called “Secure Communities,” suffers from confusion about whether governments get to choose if they want to be involvedRead… Read more »
Already this year, some Republicans have begun to suggest that Obama ought to be willing to take cuts in the White House budget, to demonstrate to the country his commitment to reducing the deficit. The Washington Post’s Ben Pershing writes that the presidential teleprompter and maintenance of the executive residence have both come under fire.Read… Read more »
These days, it’s pretty common to hear that we’ve lost sight of what the Founding Fathers intended. A frequent criticism is that Congress is guilty of “overreaching” into areas more legitimately the province of states and localities or the federal executive branch. So it’s interesting that some lawmakers are willingly relinquishing one of the powersRead… Read more »
The mail has been losing out to faster forms of communication for some time now, and it’s put a serious financial strain on the Postal Service. Congress is now looking at dramatically overhauling the agency to return it to financial solvency. Last week, Representative Darrell Issa (R-California) introduced The Postal Reform Act, which would restructureRead… Read more »
The decision by President Obama to request that FBI Director Robert Mueller be retained beyond the end of his 10-year term has stoked new complaints by some agents about a policy Mueller put in place shortly after 9/11. Jerry Markon of the Washington Post writes: The FBI’s policy, which is unusual among law enforcement agencies,Read… Read more »
The federal government hired 72,000 veterans in FY 2010, an increase of about 2,000 new hires compared to FY 2009. However, according to the Washington Post, representatives from the American Legion don’t think the government is doing enough for veterans. “We’re just not satisfied with that,” said Joseph Sharpe, director of the organization’s economic division.Read… Read more »
Between a GOP debate, a Stanley Cup final (and ensuing riots in Vancouver) and a Senator resigning in disgrace, one disturbing story has gone relatively overlooked. The Washington Post’s Walter Pincus is reporting that at least 85 American clinics in Iraq are suffering from X-ray radiation leaks… and have been for the past four years.Read… Read more »
In an effort to further trim the fat from the federal budget, the White House is capping the amount of money available for employee awards, according to the Washington Post. The new policy limits the total amount of money available for performance awards, not how much can be awarded to an individual. Specifically, the awardRead… Read more »