Congress | Voter.org

White House asks Congress to pass short-term funding bill to keep government operating

September 2, 2023 pass, shortterm, funding, Operating, Congress, House, White, Keep, asks, government, Bill0 comment

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Thursday that Congress should pass a short-term funding measure to ensure the government keeps operating after the current budget year ends Sept. 30. An official with the Office of Management and Budget said lawmakers would very likely need to pass a temporary spending measure in September to prevent a potential partial shutdown. The official was not authorized to discuss the administration’s plans and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Without such congressional approval, parts of the federal government could shut…

Now both chambers of Congress are investigating Microsoft email breach

August 5, 2023 email, Chambers, Congress, Microsoft, both, breach, Investigating0 comment

As Congress settles into August recess, investigations into a high-profile hack of government email accounts are just starting to heat up. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee is now probing the breaches of unclassified Microsoft email accounts at the Commerce Department and State Department, respectively, by a China-linked group. In separate letters sent to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken today, lawmakers request staff briefings on the breaches no later than Aug. 9. The hackers were reportedly able to access the unclassified email of Raimondo herself,…

A policy rider in Congress would mean the end of TSP’s mutual fund window

July 24, 2023 mutual, mean, Window, rider, TSP’s, Policy, would, Congress, Fund0 comment

Out of all the updates to the Thrift Savings Plan last June, and the massive pushback from participants that came along with them, there’s one change that has had perhaps a little less time in the spotlight. Along with rolling over to a new recordkeeper, updating the My Account platform, launching a TSP mobile app and much more last summer, participants also saw a massive uptick in their investment options with the launch of the TSP mutual fund window. The TSP’s entirely voluntary investment window contains about 5,000 different mutual…

IRS commissioner tells agency employees of right to directly inform Congress about their concerns

July 8, 2023 employees, Tells, concerns, Commissioner, Directly, inform, Congress, about, Their, right, Agency0 comment

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel told employees in a new memo about their constitutional and statutory right to make protected disclosures to Congress. The Washington Times stories: White House

Congress should protect competition, save Section 876

July 4, 2023 Protect, 'Save, competition, Section, Congress, Should0 comment

When awarding government contracts, actual pricing will always beat hypothetical pricing. Yet most multiple award task and delivery order contracts are awarded based on hypothetical pricing. To change this, Section 876, Increasing Competition at the Task Order Level, was passed in 2018 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 2019. As the then administrator of the General Services Administration, I know the agency worked closely with Congress to pass Section 876. Unfortunately, a recent Court of Federal Claims decision severely limited the applicability of Section 876, making…

How about evidence-based policy making not just for you, but for Congress?

June 2, 2023 Policy, Congress, about, just, Making, evidencebased0 comment

A bipartisan resolution aims to bring more evidence-based policy making to Congress. It would establish a commission to, in the words of the sponsors, “facilitate the integration of robust data in the legislative process.” For more about what that would do, Federal Drive with Tom Temin talks with one of the main backers of the resolution, Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) Interview Transcript: Tom Temin And tell us exactly what you envisioned for a commission to establish evidence-based policymaking on the Hill. Derek Kilmer Let’s just start with the problem statement,…