Veterans Affairs News 
Top News
- IRS to pay $70M in bonuses, Grassley says
- Small companies won't feel effect of lowered contractor pay cap
- 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
Agencies having trouble analyzing service contracts
GAO found many agencies will fall short of the June 30 deadline to determine if they are using service contractors appropriately.
VA's Baker to chair e-health advisory board
The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments have agreed to use commercial, open source software to develop a joint electronic health record. VA CIO Roger Baker will head the advisory board.
Million Veteran Program consolidates vets' health data
Veterans Affairs' Dr. Ronald Przygodzki explains on the program will further the science of genomics.
CIOs cite struggles with agile development
Agency chief information officers say the road to more agile acquisition and development of information technology has some speed bumps, including misaligned budgetary and acquisition cycles, and industry partners who are just as accustomed to the old way of doing things as the government is.
House bill to strengthen vet job training
A bill introduced this week in the House would improve training for veterans and change hiring practices to favor veterans.
Federal IT is far from horrible, CIOs say
A Federal News Radio survey finds agency technology managers disagree with President Obama and federal CIO Vivek Kundra's recent statements about the poor status of federal IT. More than half of the respondents say the perception of federal technology is worse than the IT itself. Sixty percent say their agency's IT is helping them meet their mission.
Wounded Warrior softball plays hard
The Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team fields the best of the best, on and off the field. We learn more from GM David Van Sleet.
VA strategic center fills gap in acquisition chain
Iris Cooper, the associate deputy assistant secretary of Acquisition Logistics, and Construction for VA, explains the center' responsibilities.
Rep. Buerkle: VA, DoD must 'bridge gap' in wounded warrior care
It's been four years since the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs launched the Federal Recovery Coordinator Program, designed to expedite the process for wounded vets to get the care and services they needed.
Faster VA-DoD disability evaluations still far off
Leaders in the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments say a new system that will let them jointly evaluate the disabilities of wounded servicemembers is a vast improvement over old procedures, but it will take another year or two before they can meet their goal of evaluating disabilities within 300 days.
Injured troops still waiting for claim processing
A system designed to get wounded troops out of the military and on disability compensation more quickly has failed recently to meet its efficiency goals, delaying service members' release sometimes more than a year, documents show.
VA to get ruthless on redundant software
Agency CIO Roger Baker said a new initiative will try to pare down the number of software packages employees use by 95 percent. The Ruthless Shutdown Project, is getting underway to address the proliferation of applications that is costing VA hundreds of thousands of dollars.
GAO: VA's medical equipment policy may threaten vets' safety
The VA has tried twice to fix the way its takes care of reusable medical equipment. But the Government Accountability Office is still finding some problems.
Records sharing between DOD and the VA
Debbie Filippi with the Interagency Program Office joins host John Gilroy to talk about pilot programs that allow DoD and the VA to share medical information.
May 3, 2011
GSA to boost cloud computing with new RFP
Federal CIO Vivek Kundra expects GSA to issue a solicitation by May 10 for a $2.5 billion contract for email-as-a-service. It's part of how the administration wants agencies to move to cloud computing. Kundra said five of seven short-term IT reforms efforts are on track.
Agencies given 6 months to revamp online services
President Obama issues an Executive Order requiring agencies to focus on technological and process improvements for citizen-facing services. OMB's Zients said the government relies too much on the old way to help citizens - phone, in person and on paper.
VA's e-contract database underused
The Inspector General's office at VA found 83 per cent of contracts weren't being entered, and that made oversight and accountability nearly impossible.
Platts calls for more controls over improper payments
The chairman of the subcommittee on federal financial management said legislation may be needed to ensure agency accounting procedures are focusing on stopping improper payments. He said progress across the government is good, but more tools are necessary. OMB is testing the Do Not Pay List and plans to launch the full portal in 2012.
VA IG responds to criticisms in Martinez case
The agency IG wrote a letter to the attorneys for Adair Martinez saying they overstated or misstated the facts about their investigation. George Opfer said his investigators followed protocol during discovery of the allegations of fraud and misconduct by Martinez in their August 2009 report. The MSPB ruled earlier this month that Martinez didn't receive due process and was wrongfully terminated.
Shutdown Survival Kit
Given the nonperformance of Congress, federal workers better learn to live with furlough threats. So whether we dodge the bullet or not this time, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey has a checklist you should clip and save...for the next time.
