Thieves target Virginia government offices
This is why you don’t let anyone follow you into the building without proper identification. A group of thieves is targeting office buildings in northern Virginia, including sensitive federal offices,...
View ArticleRobots! Cars! GSA!
What does GSA think it is, DARPA? I just came across a recent blog post from GSA CIO Casey Coleman, in which she muses on the possibility of driverless robocars populating our highways. “Where is my...
View ArticleGovernment performance data on the Web
I reported yesterday on the Office of Management and Budget’s plan to review agencies’ progress toward their high-priority performance goals and post that information on the Web. I spoke with Peter...
View ArticlePSC still worried about defense insourcing
Stan Soloway and Alan Chvotkin over at the Professional Services Council expressed their displeasure with Defense Department insourcing efforts in a May letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Recent...
View ArticleNew rule: contractors must give employees union info
Government contractors and subcontractors are now required to post signs that “inform their employees of their rights as employees under federal labor laws.” Acquisition workers will have to write the...
View ArticleIt’s official: Orszag’s leaving
Office of Management and Budget chief Peter Orszag confirmed to the Associated Press that he’ll leave his post in July. While not unexpected, the timing could be problematic, as Orszag just this month...
View ArticleFederal agencies of yesteryear
NPR’s Planet Money blog has a cute little rundown of federal agencies that have changed their names in the past, prompted by the Minerals Management Service’s rebranding as the Bureau of Ocean Energy...
View ArticleOMB to halt 30 financial systems projects
The Office of Management and Budget is going to announce today that it’s halting all financial systems modernization projects across the government. That means 30 projects worth $20 billion are now...
View ArticleMore on OMB’s performance reviews
Shelley Metzenbaum, OMB’s associate director for performance and personnel management, issued a memo on performance management today that didn’t seem to say much beyond previously announced plans to...
View ArticleCorporate giants with hearts of gold
Corporate Responsibility Magazine released today its list of the top 10 “best corporate citizens” in government contracting. The magazine took the top 100 contractors listed on USAspending.gov and...
View ArticleOMB names 20 financial systems projects for review
The Office of Management and Budget has released a list of 20 financial systems modernizations projects that it will review, under the terms of a memo it put out last week. There are 20 projects at 18...
View ArticleDHS gets federal cybersecurity portfolio
The Office of Management and Budget has officially tabbed the Homeland Security Department to oversee cybersecurity in the executive branch, as OMB indicated would be the case in April. A memo this...
View ArticleU.S. contractors “fueling insurgency” in Afghanistan?
Corruption in the Afghanistan government is a well-worn topic, and Afghan subcontractors were singled out by a House subcommittee recently for extortion and corruption. But according to a New York...
View ArticleKempf named permanent head of FAS
Steve Kempf, acting commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service since April, has been tabbed by administrator Martha Johnson to take on the post permanently. Jon Jordan, a 36-year GSA veteran,...
View ArticleFederal contracting: geyser or tsunami?
The water metaphors were flowing at yesterday’s Senate Budget Committee hearing on federal contracting. In his opening statement, Office of Federal Procurement Policy administrator Dan Gordon mentioned...
View ArticleDashboards, dashboards, dashboards!
The Obama administration has yet another dashboard on the way. Dan Gordon, head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, told Federal Times in a statement that the administration will launch a...
View ArticleUnion: passport failure not our fault
The National Federation of Federal Employees says federal passport specialists are overworked and often don’t have time to thoroughly review passport applications. This burden may be responsible for...
View ArticleZeints to helm OMB until Lew confirmed
Politico is reporting that federal chief performance officer Jeffrey Zeints will be the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget until Peter Orszag’s replacement, Jack Lew, is confirmed...
View ArticleI’ve heard of outsourcing, but this is ridiculous’
When the General Services Administration needed workers to clear brush from an overgrown hillside behind a federal courthouse in Pasadena, it decided to think outside the box. Or, more accurately,...
View ArticleLooking for a job? Try GSA
The General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service has announced a “hiring blitz” — FAS says it wants to add 200 new employees by the end of September. The agency has been trying to...
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