Department of the Interior News 
Top News
- DoD to pursue commercial alternative to VA's VistA
- FedRAMP achieves another cloud security milestone
- OMB reworking financial systems to focus on outcomes, not inputs
- PHOTOS: Meet the 2013 Service to America Medal Finalists
- Causey: Today, everybody's a Sooner
- House GOP panel moves on deep budget cuts
- Star witness to stay mum for House hearing on IRS
- OMB director taps VanRoekel to lead management team
- Lew taps government retiree pension fund
- SBA starting new lending program for veterans
- New Apple devices cleared to join DoD IT networks
- Army prioritizes access to data in fight over intelligence IT system
- DoD upends slow approval process for mobile devices
- Senior execs' bonuses under fire at agencies
- Wednesday federal headlines - May 22, 2013
GAO, OMB spar over whether to measure data center cost savings
Government auditors told House Oversight and Government Affairs members that saving money from closing more than 1,000 data centers needs to be metric. OMB said optimization of core data centers is a more important measure than straight cost savings.
Senate endorses Sally Jewell for interior chief
Senate approves REI chief Sally Jewell for interior secretary
Shared services becoming new normal in financial modernization
When it comes to saving money, shared services providers are the new "it" thing. As part of the special report, Rise of the Money People, Federal News Radio gets the inside scoop from the head of the Interior Business Center.
Senate panel endorses Jewell for Interior chief
Senate Energy Committee advances nomination of Sally Jewell for Interior secretary
Statue of Liberty to reopen by Independence Day
The Statue of Liberty, closed since Superstorm Sandy damaged the island where it stands, will reopen to the public in time for Independence Day, officials said Tuesday.
Statue of Liberty to reopen by Independence Day
The Statue of Liberty, closed since Superstorm Sandy damaged the island where it stands, will reopen to the public in time for Independence Day, officials said Tuesday.
Salazar: Thousands of Interior workers imperiled
Interior secretary says budget cuts imperil thousands of department's workers
Obama picks outdoor retail exec to lead Interior
Obama nominates REI executive Sally Jewell to lead Interior Department
Can East Meet West at Interior?
If you want to be secretary of the Interior, the first thing you do is make sure you are born west of the Mississippi, preferably in California, Arizona, New Mexico or Colorado, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. So what does that do to the job chances of Maryland-born, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry who is said to be on the short-list for the Interior job?
Oil and gas review
On this week's Bloomberg Government Capital Impact show, analysts examine surging U.S. land lease prices for oil and gas, plus a look at how the Interior Department will be affected by Secretary Ken Salazar's departure.
January 24, 2013
Salazar to step down as Interior secretary
Ken Salazar, a former Colorado senator and attorney general, handed in his resignation as secretary of the Interior to President Barack Obama, according to a department spokesman. Salazar joined the administration in 2009, when Obama assumed his office.
OMB ratchets up accountability on high-priority goals
The administration updated Performance.gov with a variety of data to highlight progress against each agency's goals and the cross-agency goals. OMB's Shelley Metzenbaum said the depth of information now on the site puts pressure on agencies to meet or surpass their goals. Interior and Education provide examples of how the discipline that the high-priority goals demanded has positively impacted their agency.
Agencies making inroads with workforce, succession planning
IRS, DoD and Interior all are pursuing an assortment of initiatives to prepare for personnel reductions. DoD will release an updated workforce strategic plan by 2015. The IRS is using an online assessment tool to measure how ready employees are to move into leadership positions. Interior is getting managers to understand their important role in workforce planning.
Locality pay, official time reports likely to rekindle federal pay debate
The Federal Salary Council will submit to the Federal Pay Agent in the coming weeks a recommendation to increase the number of localities that get special pay rates. OPM also will release the annual report on how much time federal employees spend on union activities during working hours. CHCO Council will also consider certification process for HR employees.
Interior secretary apologizes for reporter threat
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar apologized Wednesday for threatening to punch a Colorado reporter who asked him about problems with the government's wild horse program at a campaign event.
OMB to give CIOs IT hunting license through broadening of authorities
The administration wants chief information officers to take more control over spending on technology, especially in those areas in the "shadows." OMB acting Director Jeff Zients said the Interior Department's approach to giving its CIO control over almost all spending is a model for the rest of the government. Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel to release a report on expected savings from PortfolioStat in the coming months.
Contractor chosen for Washington Monument repair
The National Park Service named a Massachusetts contractor Wednesday to repair the Washington Monument's earthquake damage, though it may take two more months before work begins at the National Mall site.
Reducing high-risk contracts yields mixed results
Agencies failed to meet a lofty goal to cut spending on new contracts considered high-risk by 10 percent. But despite the inconclusive results, contracting experts and agency procurement chiefs told Federal News Radio there's more to evaluating the effort to reduce high-risk contracts than the failure to reach the goal. Federal News Radio examines this as part of the special report, The Obama Impact: Evaluating the Last Four Years.
OMB touts $4B in efficiency savings
Acting Director Jeff Zients wrote in a blog post today that agencies have met half of President Obama's goal to save $8 billion by the end of 2013.
Interior reduces hiring time, manager paper cuts
The Interior Department's new, simplified hiring process has slashed hiring time by more than 100 days. Much of the change results from less paperwork for managers, a department leader told Federal News Radio.
