Oversight News 
Top News
- Contractors with security clearances lack path to report problems
- Proposed commission would give teeth to cost-saving ideas but some lawmakers skeptical
- Feds outside the Beltway react to furloughs
- Contracting executives guilty of 8(a) program fraud
- EPA CIO Jackson returning to private sector
- Navy strikes enterprise licensing deal with Oracle
- 29-year-old NASA engineer going where no one has gone before
- USPS reaches energy reduction goal ahead of schedule
- NOAA meteorologist helps save lives one storm at a time
- ICE Director John Morton stepping down
- NASA picks 8 new astronauts, 4 of them women
- House passes sweeping $638 billion defense bill
- NIH tops list of best companies for baby boomers
- Latest postal reform proposal OKs 5-day delivery
- IRS official contradicts claims about reviews
- House presses VA for more details after cyber attacks
- DoD maintains BRAC fight, despite opposition
Agencies must set 2-year goals by Sept. 12
OMB issued implementation guidance for the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act. Over the next few months, agencies and the White House will decide on two-to-eight priority goals. OMB also will develop interim governmentwide goals.
Budget survival tips: Prioritization, revision
Agencies must sharpen their pencils to figure out what they can afford in 2012 and beyond. The Labor Department is asking program offices to rethink and redo budget proposals and plans. The Air Force will need to take more surgical cuts to find savings.
Website reform task force gets marching orders
Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel detailed in a memo what agencies must do to reduce the number of agency websites. He extended the freeze on new dot-gov domains through Dec. 31.
OMB mandates 5 percent cut to 2013 budgets
Agencies must submit 2013 budget requests that cut at least 5 percent in spending in discretionary spending compared with this year. Agencies must also submit a version of their 2013 budgets that shows options for cutting an additional 5 percent, or a total of 10 percent, below discretionary spending for this year.
Healthier workers better for business?
Yvonne Mattocks, the production manager and coordinator of a new health program offered to federal agencies, joined the Federal Drive to discuss why healthier employees are happier.
CBP to probe workforce corruption
Customs and Border Protection will send investigators to field offices run by the Department of Homeland Security inspector general. The probes will focus on alleged corruption at U.S. borders.
DIA to reform 'revolving' door for employees
The Defense Intelligence Agency wants the "revolving door" between government and industry to swing both ways, making it easier for employees to return to the agency after they've left. DIA Deputy Director David Shedd said a new entry-exit program is just getting off the ground to meet the changing needs of its newer — and younger — workforce. This story is part of Federal News Radio's ongoing coverage of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, "9/11: A Government Changed."
DoD strategic plan to detail billions in cuts
The Pentagon will issue a strategic management plan by the end of August highlighting the services and agencies' plans and milestones to cut costs from back-office functions. DoD Deputy Chief Management Officer Beth McGrath said there are seven main areas DoD will review, including IT infrastructure, acquisition and the workforce. McGrath already is conducting reviews of the first set of efficiency initiatives that began this year.
VA employees pitch ways to help veterans find work
The Department of Veterans Affairs named 12 finalists in an employee contest to find ways to improve the agency's career training and counseling services.
How to keep lines of communication open between HQ and field
Patricia Niehaus, national president of the Federal Managers Association, shared her experience in government in keeping the information flowing from D.C. to the field and back.
Jeff Neal on hiring reform at DHS
Jeff Neal is the former Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department of Homeland Security.
What drives innovation at agencies
Scott Spreier is from Hay Group's leadership and talent practice, and he's been looking at the agencies that are the most innovative.
FEBs talk back to Washington: Pittsburgh
George Buck is the Pittsburgh FEB executive director.
Federal Executive Boards unite Washington and the field
The 28 Federal Executive Boards across the country play an integral role in bringing agencies together and ensuring communication to and from Washington. The organizations coordinate agencies' efforts and provide input during policy development. FEBs play a key role during emergencies by acting as the conduit of information.
OMB gives agency CIOs more IT budget authority
A new memo from OMB Director Jacob Lew puts agency technology managers in charge of commodity IT purchasing. The White House had hoped to get Congress to change the CIO's authority, but decided to do it by policy instead. OMB also details other changes to the CIO's role based on the 25-point IT reform plan.
EPA policies, regulations have regional flavor
Field office employees and headquarters staff work closely together to ensure changes meet the agency's mission. Two-way communication makes policy implementations more likely to succeed, EPA employees say. But these employees also say headquarters' staff needs to do more to understand their challenges, and field workers need to spend some time in Washington.
GAO: State leaving security holes unplugged
The Government Accountability Office says a State Department program designed to help its managers mitigate IT risks fails to provide a complete view of those risks.
What SES'ers want in performance reform
Steve Kelman is a professor of public management at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and the former administrator at the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.
Making the transition to Washington
Diane Cochran has worked in the Departments of the Navy, Air Force, Energy, and the Office of Personnel Management, at a variety of locations in the continental United States and abroad. She shares what it's like to make the transition to working and living in D.C.
