The House of Representatives recently voted for a $649 billion defense spending bill that increases the Defense Department’s budget by $17 billion. Even amid the sluggish economy and cuts being made to various government agencies, the House made it clear where its priorities lie, one GOP representative said. “House Republicans demonstrated responsible leadership that [...]
President Barack Obama President Barack Obama became the first president to hold a Twitter townhall meeting. The townhall, #WHTweetup@Townhall, took place yesterday at the White House East Room and featured 140 guests and 30 Tweetup participants from all around the country who follow @whitehouse on Twitter. To help the president sift through the questions during [...]
Photo: wikipedia.org The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved the Department of Veteran Affairs 2012 IT budget request of $3.161 billion. A vote on the department’s IT budget by the House of Representatives last May cut $136 million from the amount requested. Both houses of Congress will work out the different amounts later on in the [...]
The Department of Veterans Affairs is making an effort to provide enhanced healthcare services to women veterans. The VA will be collecting their input to customize care for thousands of women vets. Representatives at the department’s Health Resource Center are reaching out to the vets nationwide and asking them about their experiences with the VA. [...]
The third longest-serving deputy secretary of defense, William J. Lynn III, will be resigning this fall. The nation’s 30th deputy secretary has spent the last two decades in government service, beginning with his role as national security adviser to the late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy. “It has been an honor to serve alongside an outstanding [...]
Photo: blackgarbagebags.com The White House is hard at work getting rid of waste: President Barack Obama’s Campaign to Cut Waste requires federal agencies to slash spending by 15 percent by the end of fiscal year 2012, in hopes to save about $6 billion. According to The Washington Post, management support services will be cut as [...]
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the White House’s plan to sell off government properties to save money will actually end up costing the government more. A report by the agency found the proposal would increase spending by $60 million in the next decade. The proposal, which is part of the 2012 budget proposal, includes [...]
The Defense Department’s U.S. Cyber Command is adding on new appointees to its organization. Rear Adm. Sean Filipowski will serve as the new deputy director of operations, replacing Rear Adm. Jan Tighe, who will become the next director of decision superiority in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Cyber Command is also appointing [...]
Photo: Matthew Olsen, National Counterterrorism Center President Barack Obama has chosen Matthew Olsen as his next director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Olsen, formerly general counsel for the National Security Agency, will replace retiring director for the center, Michael Leiter. The agency was created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed more than 2,900 people. [...]
Starting Oct. 1, the Department of Veterans Affairs is allowing its hospitals and employees to use mobile devices, granted the devices are verified as secure and personal information is encrypted. Currently, the BlackBerry is the only approved device for VA employees, but other phones, such as Apple’s iPhone, are likely to be approved for use. [...]