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Oversight News 
Top News
- VA chipping away at oldest disability claims in backlog
- What's the latest on phased retirement?
- New mobile tools gives agencies ‘giant innovation permission slip'
- Congress pressures agencies to speed up office consolidations
- Furlough Friday: Multiple agencies took advantage of holiday weekend
- Data breach puts DHS employees at risk of ID theft
- IRS replaces official in Tea Party controversy
- Commerce nominee sails through hearing
- Obama nominates Archuleta as next OPM director
- FedRAMP achieves another cloud security milestone
- Tangherlini to be nominated as permanent GSA chief
- House GOP panel moves on deep budget cuts
- OMB reworking financial system requirements
- Federal retirement funds temporarily tapped
- Friday federal headlines - May 24, 2013
GSA praised for steps to reform culture, organization
Senate lawmakers and the agency's Inspector General say the strategy to reorganize the General Services Administration and make it more accountable is on the right track. Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini said he will consolidate IT and HR across the agency, and reduce contracting fees charged by the Federal Acquisition Service.
Agencies doing job they already paid FPS to do
A new Government Accountability Office report says the Federal Protective Service isn't doing enough to safeguard more than 9,000 federal buildings.
Federal auditors question fuel use by Afghan army
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction says there's no proof the fuel is actually being used by Afghan forces. It could be lost, stolen or diverted to insurgents.
IG says Justice misreported some terrorism stats
Justice reported in 2009 that 512 people were charged with terrorism or terrorism-related crimes for six years after the September 11, 2001, attacks. But the audit showed 544 people were actually charged during that time period.
Why does Social Security need 174,000 bullets?
It didn't take long for the Internet to start buzzing with conspiracy theories after the Social Security Administration posted a notice that it was purchasing 174,000 hollow-point bullets.
Conference investigation leaves some questioning GSA IG's aggressive tactics
The General Services Administration's inspector general investigated the agency's recent SmartPay Training Conference and found no wrongdoing or elaborate spending. But the approach taken by the GSA inspector has left some at the agency uneasy. According to a draft memo obtained by Federal News Radio, tactics used by the investigator included a late night awakening and interrogation of the GSA executive in charge of the conference.
GSA expects $11M savings from travel, conference cuts
The General Services Administration projects it will save $11 million from April to September from reforms to employee travel and agency conferences. Since April, GSA canceled 47 conferences.
VA seeks outsider to review conference planning policies
The Veterans Affairs Department wants a contractor to review the agency's conference planning and conference acquisition policies, according to a request for information. The solicitation comes weeks after revelations that VA had spent $5 million two conferences last year.
VA paid $52K for 'Patton' conference training video
A 15-minute training video that cost $52,000 to make joins the examples of excessive spending at two Veterans Affairs' conferences last year with a total pricetag of $5 million.
Issa probing conferences that exceeded GSA price tag
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is probing more than 150 conferences hosted by 11 agencies since 2005 where wasteful spending or excessive spending may have have occurred, according to a committee release. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the oversight chairman, said the committee is using the lavish $823,000 regional conference hosted by the General Services Administration in 2010 as a "benchmark" to compare other agencies' conference spending. The committee found the Defense Department has held 64 such conferences.
Congressman pledges to hold hearings on VA conference spending
Spa treatments, concert tickets and helicopter and stretch limo rides — the initial details in a Veterans Affairs' Office of the Inspector General investigation could overshadow the GSA conference spending scandal.
NASA reveals how it revived a struggling program
The space agency gave Federal News Radio an exclusive, in-depth look at a recent IT review session on its enterprise service desk. With the program faltering, NASA detailed how it used TechStat to reinforce planned solutions.
Power outages pull broadband communications oversight to forefront
A former FCC official is calling for more accountability of emergency communication systems in the wake of the 911 failures during a June storm that pummeled the Washington metro area.
Former GSA official Prouty fights back against firing
The former Public Buildings Service Region 8 commissioner filed an appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board against GSA for wrongful termination.
IT projects pulled from brink of failure
TechStat is rarely about shutting down problematic technology programs. In an exclusive report, Federal News Radio examines how agencies are using the analysis to support existing improvement plans, to move to agile development and to change its relationship with contractors. CBP, NARA and the FBI are recent examples of agencies taking advantage of the visibility and transparency TechStat brings to get programs back on track and completed.
GOP lawmaker questions spending at VA conferences
A Republican lawmaker is raising questions about spending at training conferences held in Florida last year by the Veterans Affairs Department that have prompted an internal investigation at the agency.
Senators ask DoD to consider debarment for P&WC
Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) sent a letter to the Defense Secretary Panetta and Secretary of State Clinton asking them to consider further actions against contractor Pratt & Whitney Canada. P&WC pleaded guilty in June to illegally exporting military software to China.
DoD IG finds audits at DISA fall short of government standards
A review of audit practices at the military's IT agency finds significant deficiencies in meeting governmentwide "yellow book" auditing standards. DISA agreed with the inspector general's findings and laid out four steps toward improvement.
DoJ IG ombudsman to guarantee whistleblower rights
Long-time federal prosecutor Robert Storch is the first whistleblower ombudsman at the Justice Department. In this newly-created position, Storch is charged with making sure whistleblower complaints coming into the Office of the Inspector General are reviewed in a timely and proper manner.
TSA gets positive reviews from most Americans, poll finds
A Gallup poll finds that 54 percent of Americans think the Transportation Security Administration is doing a good or excellent job.
