Category Archives: public policy
White House names new procurement policy chief
President Obama will nominate Joseph Jordan, a senior Office of Management and Budget official, to head the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the White House announced Friday. The post has been vacant since Dan Gordon left the administration in November. Jordan has been a senior adviser to OMB Acting Director Jeffrey Zients since December 2011 Continue reading
Buyouts, early outs could be part of Army plan to cut 80,000 soldiers and officers
The Army could resort to buyouts and severance packages in its recently announced effort to eliminate 80,000 soldiers over the next six years, the National Journal has reported. Continue reading
Momentum builds to require feds to disclose stock trades
The Senate’s passage Thursday of the so-called STOCK Act to require lawmakers to disclose investment transactions could rope thousands of federal employees into a new obligation to make public their own stock market moves to help prevent illegal insider training. Continue reading
Telework Failures
A major hurdle for federal agencies implementing a 2010 telework law is simply determining which roles and jobs can be completed while working remotely, according to a recent survey by the Congressional Research Service. The survey — requested by Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and John Sarbanes, D-Md Continue reading
White House announces veterans hiring initiatives
President Obama announced Friday several new veterans hiring initiatives, including the creation of a $1 billion program to partner the Veterans Affairs Department with agencies departments responsible for public lands such as Agriculture, Commerce and Interior. Although veteran hiring reached new heights in fiscal 2011 , with vets accounting for 28.5 percent of all federal hires, the Obama administration said it must do more. “Our veterans are some of the most highly trained, highly educated, highly skilled workers that we’ve got,” Obama said, speaking at an Arlington, Va., firehouse. Continue reading
Top generals, admirals can make more in retirement than on active duty, report shows
[unable to retrieve full-text content] USA Today identifies pension boon from 2007 law. Continue reading
A (Slight) Shift at OMB
ARCHIVES President Obama’s move to promote Jeffrey Zients from his slot as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget to become acting director of the agency left open the question of who would take over the management portfolio at OMB. Continue reading
Play of the Day — Trump’s Romney endorsement bridges class divide
Hacked Off Network intruders with an ax to grind are making it hard for public officials to protect their personal data. Going on a Cash Diet The government’s spending problem means smaller portions for agencies and managers for the foreseeable future. Continue reading
Long haul for U.S. to secure weapons stockpiles in Libya
In a sobering update on the effort to secure loose weapons in Libya, a senior State Department official on Thursday said the U.S. still doesn’t know how many antiaircraft missiles are missing from deposed leader Muammar el-Qaddafi’s massive stockpile — or even if any of them have slipped across the border Continue reading
Deputy secretaries cite their proudest accomplishments
Political appointees serving as chief operating officers at five departments named their top accomplishments at a panel hosted by the nonprofit National Academy of Public Administration on Wednesday. The Obama administration deputy or undersecretaries at the Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy and Veterans Affairs departments are among top political appointees profiled in a new book Paths to Making a Difference: Leading in Government by consultants Paul R Continue reading