A feature in today’s Washington Post extols the virtue of government 2.0, an increasingly plugged-in, linked-in and connected federal government. And that technological vision is increasingly powered by a number of cutting-edge mobile platforms and devices. “This is the federal government 2.0, where technology upgrades no longer come at a ‘Little House on the Prairie’ [...]
President Barack Obama will name former energy and utility executive John Bryson to be his next commerce secretary, according to various media reports. Bryson, the former chairman, CEO and president of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison, one of California’s largest suppliers, left the company in July 2008. Bryson has also served [...]
Performance.gov was to be a cornerstone of the federal government’s transparency and open-government initiatives. Conceived to be a “one-stop shop” for federal performance information, complete with dashboards tracking key agency goals, the site’s public rollout is now in jeopardy after the administration’s funding for certain federal websites was slashed. The White House had requested $35 [...]
Members of the House of Representatives voting on a defense authorization bill last week let their voices be heard when it comes to the hot-button issue of in-sourcing. In a “sense of Congress” amendment, which is not legally binding, the bill reiterated to the Defense Department that in the meticulous balancing of federal employees and [...]
President Barack Obama announced his pick yesterday for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army, Gen. Martin Dempsey. Now serving as Army chief of staff, Dempsey will take over for current Chairman Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, whose term ends Sept. 30. Obama also announced he will nominate Navy Adm. James A. “Sandy” Winnefeld Jr., [...]
The draft of an executive order that would require government contractors to disclose political contributions was not hit in the government-contracting industry. But now, the provision is drawing the ire of those on Capitol Hill. Federal News Radio reports that both representatives and senators have introduced legislation that would block the proposal. Chairman of the [...]
President Barack Obama has sent the nominations of CIA Director Leon Panetta to be defense secretary and Army Gen. David Petraeus to fill Panetta’s post at CIA to the Senate for confirmation, the Defense Department reports. Obama first announced the national security personnel shakeup April 28. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is set to retire [...]
In the search to squeeze more savings out of the federal government, agencies are increasingly looking inward. But are they successful in the search for efficiencies? A new report by MeriTalk, the government-IT network, and software provider SAS details the responses of 150 federal officials — financial, operational and performance managers from across the federal [...]
The administration is making a renewed effort at cutting back improper payments, with the Office of Management and Budget launching four new pilot projects aim to stem the tide of wasteful spending. OMB Director Jack Lew announced the programs in a posting this week on the OMB blog. Last year, the government disbursed $125 million [...]
CTC Director Michael E. Leiter, Photo: dni.gov Michael E. Leiter, the National Counterterrorism Center director, announced this week he has appointed a new principal deputy director for the center, the intelligence community agency responsible for domestic and international counterterrorism efforts. Andrew M. Liepman, who previously served as the center’s directorate of intelligence, will take over [...]