Search Tags:  Susan Collins

One more year of pay freeze, contracting cuts in Senate committee recs

A Senate committee is recommending the super committee consider one more year of a federal pay freeze, increases to retirement contributions and a 15 percent cut to contracting at agencies.

Tags: Congress , super committee , Joe Lieberman , pay and benefits , pay freeze , budget , management , workforce , Jolie Lee , Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government , senate homeland security and governmental affairs , senate homeland security and governmental affairs , Senate

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Acquisition expert Wilkinson to leave Senate committee

Molly Wilkinson, a 22-year federal employee, will take her first job in the private sector as head of government affairs for Regions Bank. She worked as the Republican general counsel for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for the last two years.

Tags: people , Molly Wilkinson , senate homeland security and government affairs co , Jason Miller , senate homeland security and government affairs co , senate homeland security and government affairs co , senate homeland security and government affairs co , Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Co

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GAO slams agency cyber efforts

Auditors find all 24 agencies it reviewed had weaknesses in security controls. GAO also found problems with training and oversight of contractor systems. It recommends OMB and DHS provide better performance metrics.

Tags: technology , oversight , cybersecurity , GAO , OMB , DHS , FISMA , Tom Carper , Jason Miller

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Sen. Collins says no to WH cybersecurity coordinator

Five months after he announced it as a priority for his administration, President Obama still has not named a White House cybersecurity coordinator. Now, two U.S. Senators who are friends and normally see eye-to-eye on other matters find themselves in opposite corners on this issue.

Tags: technology , cybersecurity , Randy Sabett , Sonnenschien, Nath and Rosenthal , Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs , President Obama

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Senate: Con artists are using stimulus scams to fleece citizens

A Federal agency is leading the charge against crooks seeking to trick people out of their money by prominently mentioning the word "stimulus" in their scams. A Senate committee makes the effort part of recent oversight hearings on stimulus spending.

Tags: stimulus , Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs , Jon Leibovitz , Federal Trade Commission , Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board , Max Cacas

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McCain brings House GOP USPS reform plan to Senate

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has introduced legislation in the Senate to overhaul the struggling Postal Service. It mirrors the GOP plan approved by a House subcommittee Wednesday. It would let an independent watchdog to seize control of the agency's finances if it were more than 30 days late in paying its bills.

Tags: John McCain , Dennis Ross , USPS , Tom Carper , Emily Kopp

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Senate committee approves DHS hiring freeze in reauthorization bill

The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to hold the number of federal employees stable for the foreseeable future. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) said he also wants to look at the size of the agency's contractor workforce as well. The freeze was approved in the committee's first-ever DHS reauthorization bill.

Tags: management , workforce , DHS , Joseph Lieberman , Rand Paul , Claire McCaskill , senate homeland security and governmental affairs , contracting , acquisition , TechAmerica , Rafael Borras , Jason Miller , senate homeland security and governmental affairs , Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

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FEMA not abiding by IT approval guidelines

Sens. Joseph Lieberman and Susan Collins said the agency has not created an IT management and oversight plan. Without a comprehensive model on IT, the agency cannot fix the way it responds to disasters.

Tags: FEMA , senate homeland security and governmental affairs , Joseph Lieberman , DHS , information technology , Janet Napolitano , IT oversight , Courtney Thompson , senate homeland security and governmental affairs , senate homeland security and governmental affairs , senate homeland security and governmental affairs

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Sen. Collins tries to curb workers' comp abuses

Postal workers have been collecting workers' comp after retirement. A bill introduced by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) would put an end to it.

Tags: pay and benefits , USPS , FECA , workers' compensation , Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committ , John Buckner

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CRS opens door for vendor reporting of political spending

A new report found the courts have given presidents wide authority over federal contracting. But CRS finds plenty of examples where executive orders have violated existing law. The CRS study comes as the Senate passes an amendment in the defense authorization bill to prohibit DoD from collecting vendor information on political contributions.

Tags: industry , Rob Portman , CRS , executive order , political contributions , contracting , Jason Miller

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