Senate News 
Top News
- Hagel: Accountability breakdown a leading factor in sexual assaults
- PHOTOS: Meet the 2013 Service to America Medal Finalists
- SES bonuses under fire at GSA, other agencies
- Next-gen Apple devices cleared to join Defense IT networks
- VA's Gould moves the needle on many of VA's toughest challenges
- ODNI's Liberty Crossing complex closed today
- Causey: Saintly media vs. government devils
- White House wants to root out copycat programs - starting with STEM
- Treasury officials told of IRS probe in June 2012
- Hagel makes 'difficult choice,' civilian furloughs to begin July 8
- Obama appoints Danny Werfel acting IRS head
- House bill protects homeland security budget
- Intelligence Community free from furloughs
- OMB fuels the passion, synergy between mobile, open data
Reid urges quick appointment of Inouye successor
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is asking Hawaii's governor to act before the end of the year to fill the Senate vacancy created by the death of Daniel Inouye of Hawaii.
Congress completes $633B defense bill
Congress sent President Barack Obama a $633 billion defense bill for next year that would tighten penalties on Iran to thwart its nuclear ambitions and bulk up security at diplomatic missions worldwide after the deadly Sept. 11 raid in Libya.
Congress clears way for DoD civilian workforce cuts
Congress has cleared the way for a $633 billion defense policy bill that includes mandated reductions to the Defense Department's civilian and contractor workforces. Leaders of a House-Senate conference committee, tasked with reconciling competing versions of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, included in the final report the automatic workforce reductions that opponents say would result in about 36,000 job losses.
Mikulski becoming 1st woman to head Appropriations
Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski is set to become the first woman to chair the prestigious Senate Appropriations Committee, a position left open this week by the death of Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye.
Sen. Leahy won't head Appropriations Committee
Sen. Patrick Leahy said Wednesday he would remain as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee rather than take over the top slot on the Appropriations Committee, which became vacant this week with the death of Sen. Daniel Inouye.
Leahy, a seven-term Democrat from Vermont, said in a statement that continuing to chair the Judiciary Committee while "maintaining my seniority on the Appropriations Committee will allow me to protect both the Constitution and Vermont."
Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii dead at 88
Recovering from war wounds that left him with one arm, Danny Inouye wanted a cigarette and needed a light.
On foreign policy, Kerry is Obama's good soldier
Democratic Sen. John Kerry stands tall as President Barack Obama's good soldier.
House OKs DHS audit, lightens GAO load
The House this week approved a handful of bills aimed at improving federal financial management and oversight of government operations. Two of the bills — one requiring the Homeland Security Department to pass a complete financial audit and the other lightening the mandatory caseload of the Government Accountability Office — have already been passed by the Senate and head to the president's desk for his signature.
Lawmakers up in arms over report on Army payroll problems
The U.S. Army's $47 billion in annual military payroll accounts has caused major woes for some soldiers trying to collect their pay, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office. As a result of the Army being unable to track and collect data on numerous pay errors including over payments, under payments, data entry errors and fraud, active duty soldiers are not receiving the correct compensation and this has a bipartisan team of lawmakers furious.
Senators press Army on suspension and debarment delays
A bipartisan group of senators has written to top Army officials to express concern about delays in the suspension and debarment process that leave the service open to contracting waste and fraud. In a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno, the senators questioned "significant time lapses" between referrals for suspension and actual debarment of contractors in Afghanistan.
Homeland Security grant spending questioned
The Homeland Security Department paid for an underwater robot in a Midwest city with no major rivers or lakes nearby, a hog catcher in rural Texas and a fish tank in a small Texas town, according to a new congressional report highlighting what it described as wasteful spending of tax money intended for counterterrorism purposes.
Senate's defense bill cuts civilian workforce, caps contractor salaries
The Senate approved a $631 billion annual defense policy Tuesday that would require the Defense Department to reduce its civilian workforce by 5 percent over the next five years and impose a strict cap on government-funded contractor salaries. With the White House threatening to veto the Senate version its current form, the bill now heads to a House-Senate conference committee where differences between the two chambers' bill will be hammered out.
Senate OKs Obama's choice for Afghan commander
The Senate approved Gen. Joseph Dunford, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, to be the top commander in Afghanistan.
Senate unanimously passes Hatch Act update
On Friday, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill updating the Hatch Act, the law that restricts the political activities of federal employees.
Partisan split over UN Ambassador Rice widens
Republicans continue to argue that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice is unfit to be secretary of state. Democrats say the criticism is unfair.
Veterans' gun rights sticky issue in defense bill
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) sought to amend the bill to stop the Veterans Affairs Department from putting the names of veterans deemed too mentally incompetent to handle their finances into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which prohibits them from buying or owning firearms.
Senate moves forward with plan to reduce DoD civilian workforce
The Senate moved forward with a plan to require the Defense Department to reduce its civilian workforce by 5 percent over the next five years, after a measure striking that provision was defeated in a vote Friday. Earlier this week, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) introduced an amendment to the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, which would lift a mandated 5 percent reduction to DoD's civilian and contractor workforces over five years. But in a 53-41 vote, Cardin's amendment was defeated.
Senate votes to require DHS clean audit by 2013
The Homeland Security Department would be required to conduct and pass a full financial audit under a bill unanimously approved by the Senate on Wednesday. The DART Act requires the agency, long characterized by the Government Accountability Office as being at high-risk for waste and abuse, to reach a clean audit opinion by 2013.
White House threatens to veto Senate Defense bill
The White House is threatening to veto the $631 billion annual Defense bill the Senate is debating this week unless Congress makes changes. The administration took issue with a number of provisions included in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Bill, which Senate leaders hope to vote on by the end of the week.
Senate gives green light to Pentagon green energy
The Senate on Wednesday gave the green light to the Pentagon's investment in green energy. By a vote of 62-37 on Wednesday, the Senate backed an amendment that would delete a provision in the defense bill prohibiting the military from spending money on alternative fuels if the cost exceeded traditional fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil. The Pentagon has opposed the provision that a sharply divided Senate Armed Services Committee added in May.
