Federal Eye

Grassley: IRS about to pay $70 million in bonuses

Josh Hicks — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:06:03 GMT

A few items that caught our attention on Wednesday: IRS is about to pay $70 million in bonuses despite administration directive. That’s according to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who said his office has learned that the IRS is executing an agreement … Continue reading →

Senate hearing will examine security clearance in wake of NSA leaks

Josh Hicks — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:00:39 GMT

A Senate panel on Thursday will examine federal security-clearance processes, continuing a brief round of hearings this week in response to contractor Edward Snowden leaking information about the nation’s sweeping electronic-surveillance program. The Senate subcommittee that deals with contracting and federal … Continue reading →

Rep. Elijah Cummings releases a full IRS interview transcript

Josh Hicks — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:09:50 GMT

The House Oversight Committee’s top Democrat on Tuesday released the full transcript of a congressional interview that he said “debunks conspiracy theories” about the IRS targeting controversy. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member of the committee, produced a complete interview … Continue reading →

GSA nominee Dan Tangherlini testifies before Senate committee

Josh Hicks — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:48:37 GMT

President Obama’s pick to head the General Services Administration testified Tuesday before the Senate committee that will decide whether to support his nomination. GSA acting administrator Daniel M. Tangherlini, who has led the agency for the past 14 months, told … Continue reading →

Hearing will examine ‘reinventing government’

Josh Hicks — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:38:10 GMT

A congressional hearing on Tuesday will pit leaders from the nation’s largest federal-employee union and proponents of smaller government against each other to discuss how federal agencies can run more efficiently. The hearing with the House Oversight and Government Reform … Continue reading →

Why did FEMA deny new funding after Texas fertilizer plant explosion?

Josh Hicks — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:00:46 GMT

The Federal Emergency Management Agency this month denied a request for millions of dollars in additional aid to help West, Tex., recover from an April 17 fertilizer-plant explosion that killed 15 people and decimated some 37 blocks of homes, schools … Continue reading →

ICE director John Morton stepping down in July

Josh Hicks — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:56:31 GMT

Immigration and Customs Enforcement director John Morton announced Monday that he will leave the agency at the end of July. Morton has led ICE for more than four years, having been unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 2009. “I am … Continue reading →

Threats and attacks against public lands employees rise

Eric Yoder — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:26:57 GMT

Threats and attacks against federal employees who protect public lands rose in 2012, an increase those employees partly attributed to more use of those lands for purposes related to illegal drugs, the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility organization said Monday. … Continue reading →

Army exempts some training from hiring freeze

Eric Yoder — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:54:56 GMT

The Army is taking steps to keep career development programs for its civilian employees operating even in the wake cutbacks caused by sequestration. The Army, along with other Defense Department components and some other federal agencies, has imposed a general hiring freeze, … Continue reading →

Cummings challenges Issa on IRS transcripts

Josh Hicks — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:00:08 GMT

The top Democrat on the House oversight committee wants to know by Monday why he should withhold congressional interviews that suggest the IRS targeting campaign originated in Cincinnati. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) last week unveiled excerpts from interviews showing that a … Continue reading →

How did postal reform fail last year?

Josh Hicks — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:00:02 GMT

Rep. Darrell Issa on Thursday proposed a bill to restructure the U.S. Postal Service, following up on an effort that stalled last year in the House. Both chambers of Congress developed measures to overhaul the postal service in 2012, but … Continue reading →

Issa proposes new legislation to restructure Postal Service

Lisa Rein — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:57:21 GMT

The chief House architect of a postal service overhaul bill that failed to gain traction in the last Congress is back with new draft legislation that would allow the financially ailing agency to move to five-day delivery and ban it … Continue reading →

Second IRS closing day coming tomorrow

Eric Yoder — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:23:33 GMT

The IRS is reminding taxpayers that most operations will be closed Friday, the second in a string of sequestration-caused furlough days for its 115,000 employees. “This means that all IRS offices, including all toll-free hotlines, the Taxpayer Advocate Service and … Continue reading →

Former Justice attorney seeks $23 billion in damages for NSA surveillance programs

Josh Hicks — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:00:10 GMT

A former Reagan-era Justice Department prosecutor who runs a right-leaning political-advocacy group is suing the federal government over its controversial electronic-surveillance programs. Activist attorney Larry Klayman filed two class-action lawsuits this week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, … Continue reading →

Sales of Orwell’s ’1984′ spike after NSA surveillance revelations

Josh Hicks — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 21:38:56 GMT

A few items that caught our attention Thursday: Sales of “1984″ increase in wake of NSA leaks. Sales of George Orwell’s novel about an omnipresent, totalitarian government keeping a watchful eye on its citizens have shot up since the National Security … Continue reading →

Obama administration to stop bonus program for federal managers in 2013

Lisa Rein — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 21:08:13 GMT

The Obama administration has suspended a program this year that awards bonuses to senior government executives for prestigious work, in another sign of austerity. An administration official said in a statement that while President Obama “is committed to recognizing excellence” … Continue reading →

IRS targeting didn’t start in Ohio, Ways and Means chairman says

Josh Hicks — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:59:30 GMT

The House Republican in charge of tax policy said Wednesday that the IRS targeting of conservative groups did not originate in Cincinnati, contrary to the narrative that Democrats have pushed. Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Ways and … Continue reading →

VA says it has reached ‘tipping point’ in backlog struggle

Steve Vogel — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:35:19 GMT

The Department of Veterans Affairs has reached a “tipping point” in its struggle to get a grip on the massive backlog of disability claims plaguing veterans, a senior department official told a Senate committee Wednesday. The number of pending cases … Continue reading →

Republicans insist IRS case is not solved

Josh Hicks — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 10:00:43 GMT

Republicans on the House oversight committee have pressed their case this week that the IRS targeting controversy case is not solved, contrary to recent statements by Maryland congressman Elijah Cummings, the panel’s top Democrat. Cummings on Sunday released excerpts from interviews … Continue reading →

SEC settles whistleblower case with $580k payment to assistant IG

Josh Hicks — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:39:18 GMT

(Updated 6:56 p.m., June 6, 2013) The Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to pay $580,000 in a settlement with a former SEC assistant inspector general who said the agency fired him for exposing possible misconduct. The SEC reached its … Continue reading →

VIDEO | Dire time in Washington during War of 1812

Steve Vogel — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:31:46 GMT

Brook Silva-Braga spoke with me on The Fold Monday evening about “Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks That Saved the Nation.” The book, published by Random House, tells the story of the burning of federal Washington, the battle for Baltimore, and the … Continue reading →

Senate finally considers ATF nominee; Americans waffling on surveillance; how TSA lost knife fight

Josh Hicks — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:31:57 GMT

A few items that caught our attention on Tuesday: Five months later, Senate considers president’s ATF pick. The Senate Judiciary finally plans to take up the nomination of B. Todd Jones for director of the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms … Continue reading →

Understanding whistleblower protections and the NSA surveillance leaks

Josh Hicks — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 10:00:31 GMT

The recent leaks about controversial NSA surveillance programs have created an awkward situation for the Obama administration, which just last year provided new whistleblower protections for the intelligence community. The disclosures about a sweeping program to monitor phone data and … Continue reading →

NSA leaks raise question: Should contractors do sensitive government work?

Joe Davidson — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:17:47 GMT

There are a ton of important questions raised by the national security disclosures leaked to The Washington Post and Guardian news organizations by Edward Snowden. Here’s one more: Should a contractor, paid by a private company, have access to the kind … Continue reading →

Report: Nepotism ‘open and widely accepted’ at Energy Department

Josh Hicks — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 18:37:54 GMT

Advocating for the hire of relatives, a form of nepotism, has become “open and widely accepted” at the Energy Department, according to a federal watchdog report. The Energy Department’s inspector general made that determination in a report released last week about a senior … Continue reading →