Budget News 
2013 Budget Resources
Top News
- IRS to pay $70M in bonuses, Grassley says
- Senators push Tangherlini for assurances GSA is improving
- As VA works to eliminate one backlog, one more might emerge
- BRAC-like commission proposed to hunt down government cost savings
- Sequestration claims another conference: DHS's GFirst cyber event
- Postal Service closing Capitol Hill post offices in 'symbolic' move
- Senators seek cost cuts for F-35 fighter jet
- Fed pens new furlough song
- Web guru Dorris brings new life to government websites
- EPA CIO Jackson returning to private sector
- Navy strikes enterprise licensing deal with Oracle
- Contractors with security clearances lack path to report problems
- NSA leak case gives vendors reason to reevaluate personnel
- 8 contract executives guilty of 8(a) contracting fraud
- Whistleblower suit leads to $12M false claims settlement by SAIC
- USPS reaches energy reduction goal ahead of schedule
Would furloughs slow recession recovery?
Much of the media is treating the threat of a 22-day federal furlough as if it were a sporting event, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. But this is big-time, heavy economic stuff. A revenue-choker for struggling state and local governments and a possible threat to economic recovery.
GOP lawmakers see automatic cuts as leverage
There's a growing sense of resignation that the country's political leaders will be unable or unwilling to find a way around looming automatic spending cuts despite fresh signs the cuts would threaten the recovering economy.
Navy details two rounds of budget cutbacks for 2013
Round one is already in effect and includes a civilian hiring freeze, cancellation of conferences, cutbacks on training, and a reduction in IT spending for the Navy. Round two would involve unpaid civilian furloughs, operational reductions for deployed ships, and cuts to tuition assistance for sailors.
Q & A with OMB's Joe Jordan
Joe Jordan, administrator for Federal Procurement Policy at OMB, joins host Roger Waldron to discuss a wide range of procurement issues.
January 29, 2013
Sequestration effects becoming clear for DoD
DoD's operations and maintenance accounts will likely be hit first if sequestration goes into effect. Unlike its procurement and research and development activities, which can continue to function on funds obligated in prior years, O&M dollars generally get spent right away. In preparation for sequestration, the Pentagon has already let go of tens of thousands of temporary hires and is drawing up a contingency plan for one-day-a-week furloughs. Deputy Secretary Ashton Carter says the unpaid furloughs would begin in April and continue through the remainder of the fiscal year if sequestration is not avoided.
DFAS halts hiring ahead of possible sequestration
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service will implement significant cost-cutting measures next week to prepare for the possibility of automatic spending cuts due to hit government in March. DFAS plans to freeze most hiring, reduce travel and overtime, and temporarily halt new employee performance awards, according to DFAS Director Terri McKay.
Upcoming deadlines in debt limit, budget fights
Upcoming deadlines in this year's budget and debt limit fight between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans:
Biden's recent moves stoking chatter about 2016
Joe Biden is thanking Democratic supporters in the afterglow of President Barack Obama's second inauguration, dropping plenty of hints that he may try to cement Obama's legacy with his own presidential campaign in 2016.
Reid says Senate Dems will accept House debt bill
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says Senate Democrats will support a House Republican bill extending the government's ability to borrow for four months.
Senate Democrats plan budget debate
Incoming Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray says Democrats controlling the chamber will attempt to pass a budget for the first time since 2009.
House postpones federal pay freeze vote
The House has postponed a vote on a bill to extend the federal pay freeze through the rest of 2013. In its place, the House is set to vote on a measure withholding congressional pay unless lawmakers pass a budget — part of a broader deal to extend the debt limit.
Unions, industry groups spar over impact of sequestration
Guidance from the administration on what steps federal agencies should take to prepare for potential across-the-board budget cuts has set off a war of words between federal-employee unions and industry groups. The American Federation of Government Employees says guidance exempts contractors at the expense of federal employees, but industry groups say the criticism is misguided.
Army freezes civilian hiring, cuts base spending ahead of potential sequestration
The Army has put an immediate freeze on civilian hiring and will begin terminating some temporary employees to reduce spending ahead of potential across-the-board budget cuts later this year. Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno and Army Secretary John McHugh also directed Army commanders and supervisors to reduce base-operations support spending.
Navy living out its 'heyday,' but rough seas ahead
Robert Work, the undersecretary of the Navy, says forget about the Reagan-era aspirations of a 600-ship fleet. Even with a smaller Navy, things are better than ever, he says, even if they're about to get worse due to smaller budgets and the threat of sequestration. "Yes, things might get worse. In fact, they probably will get worse. But this is the heyday of the U.S. Navy. And, if you're not excited, you ain't breathing," he said at the Surface Navy Association's annual symposium this week.
House GOP may seek short-term debt limit extension
House Republicans may seek a quick, short-term extension of the government's debt limit, a move that would avoid an immediate default by the Treasury as the party seeks to maximize leverage in negotiations over spending cuts with President Barack Obama this spring, officials said Thursday.
Navy reducing IT spending ahead of schedule
The Department of the Navy is finding real dollar savings by moving to enterprise software licenses, managing mobile devices and services better and reducing the number of printers and the amount printed. Terry Halvorsen, the DoN CIO, said they are on track to meet the goal of cutting 25 percent of their IT budget in five years.
January 17, 2013
Government shutdown, furloughs, and more
Janet Kopenhaver from Federally Employed Woman and Federal Times Senior Writer Sean Reilly, join host Mike Causey to talk about what would happen if the federal government were to shut down.
January 16, 2013
Pentagon issues dire warning to Congress about budget cuts
The nation's top military leaders warned Congress in unusually stark terms that its failure to pass a 2013 defense budget - coupled with the threat of automatic budget cuts - has pushed the Pentagon to the brink of a crisis.
Begin saving cash now, Air Force tells commanders
The Air Force orders commanders to start cutbacks in advance of the next budget emergency.
House rejects agency budget cuts in Sandy relief bill
The House soundly rejected an amendment to the Superstorm Sandy aid bill that would have required an across-the-board 1.63 percent cut to agency spending to offset the emergency funding. Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) introduced the amendment last week along with a separate proposal to revoke a mass-transit subsidy for federal workers.
