The White House has ordered procurement executives at federal agencies to prepare analyses to ensure they are not duplicating an existing contract before releasing a solicitation. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy released guidance Thursday, saying agencies must begin developing business cases for establishing or renewing government-wide contracts, multiagency contracts or interagency contracts. The OFPP [...]

Retirement programs for former federal workers are outgrowing funds, resulting with a multi-trillion-dollar shortfall, according to a USA TODAY analysis. The federal government has not been setting money aside or creating revenue for retirement programs, meaning costs will come through taxes and borrowing, much like Social Security’s payroll tax. A record $268 billion in pension [...]

The Federal Communications Commission has come under fire of late for its new so-called net neutrality regulations, published last week in the Federal Register. This time, rather than criticism of being heavy-handed, the FCC is taking heat for not going far enough. Media reform group Free Press filed a lawsuit in a Boston federal court [...]

Check that one off the list. The federal government will soon initiate the Technology Fellows Program, fulfilling one of former federal chief information officer Vivek Kundra‘s 25 objectives in his December 2010 federal IT reform plan to develop such a fellowship within a year. Current federal CIO Steven VanRoekel announced the program in a White House blog post. [...]

Northern Virginia Representatives recently wrote to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta asking for more oversight at the Mark Center, which is an area of concern due to the Pentagon’s transportation management plan. The plan is part of an effort by the agency to prevent traffic congestion near the Mark Center during its occupancy schedule. According to [...]

The Obama administration on Wednesday asked Supreme Court to back the individual mandate in President Obama’s health care reform bill, according to a Reuters report. That same day, some 26 states urged the court to nix the entire law. The 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business suggest the law be invalidated because [...]

Changes are expected to contractor compensation due to a new bill that would lower the cap for reimbursements for all federal cost plus contracts. The current level would be reduced from the current rate of $700,000 to $200,000, and would continue to apply to the top five contractor executives. The Senate is expected to vote [...]

The Veterans Affairs Department is moving forward with its plan to enable numerous mobile devices to connect to its network beginning Oct. 1. This is despite not having implemented a corresponding procurement policy, VA Chief Information Officer Rob Baker said at a press conference Wednesday. “We have not put in place any particular acquisition strategy [...]

Two House lawmakers are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the use of so-called supercookies on websites, files that users do not know are on their computers. Reps. Joe Barton (R-Tx.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), co-chairmen of the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus, sent a letter Monday to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. The letter says [...]

At a forum in Cleveland Thursday, Federal Reserve System Chairman Ben Bernanke called the U.S.’ unemployment a “national crisis” and indicated the Fed could continue implementing unconventional policies if economic growth remains stagnant. “We’ve had close to 10 percent unemployment now for a number of years and, of the people who are unemployed, about 45 percent [...]