President Biden closed his last full fiscal year with a $ 1.833 trillion deficit, marking the worst nonpandemic year in history and raising fears the government is heading for an uncontrollable fiscal spiral. The Washington Times stories: White House
Read More...Indecision mixed with turmoil and partisan politics. That’s the familiar brew on Capitol Hill this week. With precisely two weeks until the fiscal year ends, there’s no clear path to any budget deal at the moment. So it’s a busy week as we heard from Bloomberg Government deputy news director Loren Duggan on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Interview transcript: Loren Duggan Here we are. Every September, we have to do this dance where we figure out if the government will stay funded going into the new fiscal year.…
Read More...House appropriators are taking steps that could give federal firefighters a permanent pay raise. Fiscal 2025 spending legislation advanced this week, and it includes about 300 million dollars to boost pay for firefighters working at the Interior Department and the Forest Service. Although House Democrats opposed many of the GOP’s proposed spending cuts, they came out in favor of the pay raise for the frontline workers. Federal firefighters currently have a temporary pay boost, but many advocates have been pushing to make the raise permanent. (House Appropriations Committee – Fiscal…
Read More...The federal government is among the biggest spenders on advertising. At about $ 1.3 billion a year, it’s in the top 25 U.S. spenders. The Government Accountability Office has new analysis of which agencies spend the most on advertising, and the companies they spend it with. GAO’s Director of Strategic Issues Jessica Lucas-Judy joins the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Interview transcript: Tom Temin Jessica Lucas-Judy. Ms. Lucas-Judy, what prompted GAO to look at something that in the grand scheme of things is not that big of a deal? Spending…
Read More...Over the past 12 months, illegal aliens have been arrested in connection with the deaths of at least 13 Americans. Seven of those victims were minors. “The simple fact is that every crime committed by an illegal alien is one committed by an individual who should not have been at large in the country in the first place,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Mark Green told The Daily Signal. “While the Left likes to hide behind flawed studies and incomplete data on illegal alien crime, families across our country…
Read More...Whether Congress passes a 2024 budget or not, federal agencies will continue to engage in contracting. That will mean continued protests by disappointed bidders. You can learn a lot from protests that have already been settled. For a roundup of some of the most significant protests of 2023, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with Haynes Boone procurement attorney Dan Ramish. Interview Transcript: Tom Temin And you’ve got a list you put together that you think are illustrative of the big trends that people should worry about this year,…
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