Federal employees will see an increase in reimbursements when they travel to certain cities in fiscal year 2012, the General Services Administration said Thursday. GSA announced the per diem reimbursement rates for federal workers would remain largely unchanged, with most rates increasing or decreasing by no more than $5. Federal employees traveling to Washington, D.C. [...]

Members of Congress should give up their pension plan, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) said Wednesday. Coffman announced he plans to introduce legislation calling for an end to the defined-benefit retirement plan currently available to members of Congress. The pension currently offers lawmakers who have been in office at least five years 1.7 percent of their [...]

Air travelers involuntarily bumped from an overbooked flight will receive double the amount of money they are eligible for as compensation, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday. LaHood announced a series of passenger protections on his official blog. The new protections also include a requirement that airlines refund any fee for carrying a bag if [...]

NASA’s decision not to place a retired Space Shuttle in Houston four months ago stirred anger in the city deeply connected to the space program. Some blamed political maneuvering for why Houston did not receive a shuttle, but a NASA inspector general report released Thursday tells a different story of NASA Administrator Charles Bolden’s decision. [...]

After much fanfare and speculation, the Office of Management and Budget has launched its new online dashboard to publicly show agency performance management. Performance.gov went live Thursday and is now open to the public, after previously being only available to federal employees. The site displays an agency-by-agency overview of performance plans and progress in performance [...]

The Chinese government should be more forthcoming on why it needs modern military capabilities, a Defense Department report says. The Pentagon delivered its much-anticipated report on China’s military advancement to Congress Wednesday. The Chinese military remains on-schedule in its effort to build a modern, regionally-focused force by 2020, the report said. The report also said [...]

The earthquake that rattled much of the east coast Tuesday not only caused disruption on many roads, but caused disruption on cell phone networks. The cell phone problems have now led to renewed calls for Congress to pass legislation establishing a nationwide broadband wireless network for first responders. Reuters reports the creation of the broadband [...]

Tuesday’s earthquake on the east coast revealed the problem with too many people trying to use their cell phones at the same time: some could not connect at all. The east coast is now bracing for the impact of Hurricane Irene. In light of the post-quake problems, the nation’s top emergency official warned Americans to [...]

The Transportation Security Administration can now be added to the list of federal agencies seeking to downsize its workforce through early retirements. Federal Times reports TSA is planning to offer early retirements to administrative employees over the next two years. Homeland Security Department spokesman Larry Olruskie said in an e-mail that DHS asked the Office [...]

The Federal Communications Commission will investigate reports that some wireless calls to 911 could not get through because of congestion on cell networks after Tuesday’s East Coast earthquake. Broadcasting & Cable reports FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has directed the agency’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau to collaborate with wireless carriers and 911 call centers [...]