There was some confusion on Capitol Hill this week on what the debt ceiling deal means for defense spending. Contractors are uncertain over what the future holds for defense spending. Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew attempted to bring some clarity in a blog post Thursday on the official White House website. Foreign [...]

The Army announced Thursday it plans to cut 8,741 civilian jobs by Oct. 2012, helping to meet former Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ mandated efficiency initiatives. Federal Times reports the Army will lose $834 in operations and maintenance funding as part of the cuts. The cuts amount to nearly 3 percent of the Army’s more than [...]

Looming coverage gaps in U.S. satellite systems could pose a serious threat to both national security and foreign relations, says a report from the Center for a New American Security. The CNAS released its 11-page report Monday, finding the coverage gaps will directly affect the Defense Department, State Department and the Agency for International Development. [...]

Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) proposed legislation Tuesday to extend the current two-year pay freeze to three more years and restrict bonuses during that period. Government Executive reports the legislation also calls for a 15 percent cut to the size of both federal employee and contractor workforces. A 75 percent cut in [...]

After 12 years of service and in preparation for lean times for defense spending, the Joint Forces Command was officially closed during a ceremony Thursday in Suffolk, Va. Army Times reports former Defense Secretary Robert Gates recommended the command be closed on advice from a Pentagon board in 2010. President Barack Obama approved the recommendation [...]

The Office of Personnel Management announced Friday it plans to revamp the way the federal government brings students and recent graduates into the federal workforce. Federal Times reports OPM proposed regulations for its new Pathways Programs, designed to replace the now-defunct Federal Career Intern Program and other intern programs. Pathways will have a new Internship [...]

Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan agreement Thursday over legislation to extend the operating authority of the Federal Aviation Administration, ending a two-week partial shutdown that furloughed 4,000 FAA workers. The AP reports the compromise clears the way for the Senate to pass a clean extension of the FAA’s operating authority through mid-September. The bill includes [...]

The debt ceiling increase President Barack Obama signed into law Tuesday is certain to cut $350 billion from the defense budget. However, according to Government Executive, federal contractors are left with uncertainty over how to plan for the long term. The cuts come at a time when the defense contracting industry was already bracing for [...]

Half of all cabinet departments have made little to no progress in reducing backlog of Freedom of Information requests within the past fiscal year, a Justice Department assessment says. According to FierceGovernment, the Office of Information Policy scored departments on a scale of one-to-five and assigned a traffic light color based on that number. The [...]

FBI Director Robert Mueller was sworn in Wednesday for another two-year term as head of the bureau. Mueller had already been in charge of the bureau for ten years, originally the maximum term for FBI directors. However, The Hill reports President Obama asked Congress for an extended term in order to provide continuity in the [...]