In Depth Show Blog – October 7, 2013

Hundreds of millions of dollars are at risk of waste, fraud and abuse in the Defense Department’s fuel network in Afghanistan. The Pentagon is frustrated because it knew about the risk before the money went out the door. Elizabeth Field is the assistant inspector general for Audits and Inspections at the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

A lot of Defense Department civilians can come back to work now and some of them were back today. DoD Comptroller Robert Hale says a legal interpretation in conjunction with the Justice Department concludes they can get 90 percent or more of Pentagon civilians back to work this week. But Federal News Radio DoD reporter Jared Serbu says getting an exact number of workers going back isn’t easy to compile.

Employees at the Pentagon that weren’t essential last week are coming back this week. The Defense Department’s interpretation of the Pay Our Military Act means about 90 percent of DoD civilians will be back to work by Friday. Federal News Radio Senior Correspondent Mike Causey wonders if “reclassification” might be how more federal employees get the call back to work.

The shutdown has the Government Accountability Office closed for business. If you have a protest before them, or if you’re thinking about one, they have some help for you.

The government shutdown is now the second-longest in American history. But its fate might be intertwined with plans for the fast-approaching debt ceiling.