Category: Congress

Fiscal Service using death data to reduce improper payments

reduce, using, data, Payments, Improper, fiscal, death, Service0 comment

The Bureau of Fiscal Service in the Treasury Department has a stretch goal — help prevent $ 12 billion in improper payments by 2029. Luckily for the bureau, Congress gave it some much needed help to improve its Do Not Pay database. The Fiscal Service now has access to the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File, which contains over 83 million records of deaths that have been reported to SSA. Tim Gribben, the commissioner of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, said Congress gave the agency access on a pilot…

Read More...

Another federal rule lands in court

Court, another, federal, rule, lands0 comment

A Supreme Court decision earlier this year overturned the notion that courts should defer to federal agency regulatory authority when agencies make rules to carry out vaguely-written laws. It was known as the Chevron doctrine. The case that sparked the change is known as Loper. Loper is the fishing boat operator that didn’t want to pay for a federal monitor it was forced to let aboard its boat. Now several parties are suing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency that made the rule that sparked the Loper case.…

Read More...

Short-term funding delays Army investments, stalls key space programs

Army, Programs, shortterm, Space, funding, delays, Stalls, Investments0 comment

While the broader debate over government spending has been postponed until after the presidential election, defense officials are detailing the consequences of another short-term funding plan on military readiness, training, contracting and modernization efforts. President Joe Biden signed a three-month government funding bill on Thursday, averting a government shutdown at least till December. DoD officials frequently sound the alarm over operating under a continuing resolution — Congress’ inability to pass appropriations on time is hardly new. The 2024 appropriations legislation, for instance, was passed six months into the fiscal year.…

Read More...

Congress has a 3-month CR, but it’s not all good news for contractors

It's, Contractors, 3month, News, Congress, GOOD0 comment

Now that the three-month continuing resolution looks like what we’re going to get, contractors wonder whether that’s good news or bad news. Relative to a lapse in appropriations, it’s probably good news, but delayed regular appropriations still have consequences. Federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss more. Interview transcript:  Tom Temin Now that the three month continuing resolution looks like what we’re going to get, contractors wonder whether that’s good news or bad news. Relative to a lapse in appropriations, it’s…

Read More...

House lawmakers advance bills on acquisition security, IT procurement

House, Lawmakers, bills, advance, acquisition, procurement, security0 comment

House lawmakers have advanced a raft of bills aimed at bolstering supply chain security efforts, streamlining technology purchases and increasing cross-agency sharing of software code. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Wednesday advanced 13 bills to the full House floor. Among them was the unanimously passed “Federal Acquisition Security Council Improvement Act,” which would bolster the council’s ability to ban products from federal supply chains. The council was created as part of the SECURE Technology Act of 2018. It currently has the authority to issue recommendations for removing or…

Read More...

The ticking sound you hear is the final days of the fiscal year

fiscal, year, Final, hear, days, Sound, ticking0 comment

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...