Federal News Countdown: deficit-cutting pain, DoJ office closings

Bill Bransford and Diane Cochran count down the top federal news stories of the week.

Every Friday, two federal experts count down the top federal news stories of the week.

Today’s Federal News Countdown guests are:
Bill Bransford, Partner, Shaw Bransford & Roth
Diane Cochran, Principal of Human Capital Services, Kelley, Anderson & Associates

Bill Bransford’s stories
#3 2012 House calendar keeps GOP two-weeks on, one-week off plan
From Washington Post:

When Republicans took control of the House in January, among the changes they announced for the 112th Congress was a new calendar that would allow members to spend one week in their home districts for every two weeks they spent in Washington.

#2 Competing supercommittee plans reveal chasm
From Politico:

Democrats and Republicans exchanged competing deficit reduction plans Wednesday with the biggest partisan split less over spending per se and more the willingness to find some solution to the impasse over tax revenues.

#1 Justice employees fight proposed office closings
From Government Executive:

Three weeks after the Justice Department proposed closing four of its antitrust division field offices, affected employees are calling for congressional hearings on the matter.

Diane Cochran’s stories
#3 Buyout Watch
From Government Executive:

The roster of federal agencies offering buyouts or early outs continues to grow, and we are tracking them.

#2 Issa proposes replacing FERS pensions with TSP-type plan
From Federal Times:

>House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., wants to replace the Federal Employees Retirement System pension plan with a mandatory, 401(k)-type defined contribution plan that would operate alongside the similar Thrift Savings Plan.

#1 Radical deficit-cutting options on table
From Federal Times:

Among the hundreds of deficit-cutting recommendations that poured into the 12-member supercommittee this month, one urged that new and current federal employees with less than five years of service get no defined-benefit pension.

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