Category: Congress

The political battle takes shape: What it could mean for basic governmental operations

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Conventions over, the politicians are hammering away at one another. With the election looking close, questions arise over the next fiscal year budget and the timing for getting it actually enacted. WTOP Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller shares details on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Interview transcript: Tom Temin Well, we know there’s a CR; that’s a given. Both parties say that, but the shape and tone and timing of it could be really different depending on who wins. Mitchell Miller Yeah, this is going to be a kind…

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House lawmakers push for EEOC to defend furlough threat

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Two House lawmakers are pushing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to explain why it almost had to furlough almost all of its employees and are accusing agency leadership of “severe mismanagement.” Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), the chairwoman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), the chairman of the committee’s workforce protections subcommittee, wrote to EEOC Chairwoman Charlotte Burroughs seeking documents and answers to questions about the decision to first issue the possible furlough notice and then to rescind it. They called the threat of the…

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How Congress has managed to improve its own operations and capacity

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It may not look like it, but the House of Representatives has been undergoing a steady self-modernization for the last few years. It’s managing its workforce better and has made technology strides, according to the Popvox Foundation, whose founder Marci Harris joins me now. Interview transcript:  Marci Harris  Well, it’s a good question. I would say we are Congress fans. Most of our staff are former congressional staffers who continue to share love of the institution and also left with a lot of opinions about how things could work better.…

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Should the Secret Service lose its cyber fraud mission? One lawmaker thinks so

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New legislation in the House would strip the Secret Service of its mission to investigate financial crimes and cyber fraud in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Rep. Ritchie Torries (D-N.Y.) last week introduced the “Focus on Protection Act.” The bill would transfer investigative jurisdiction over payment and financial systems from the Secret Service to the Treasury Department. In a statement, Torres said the move would allow the Secret Service to focus more on its protection mission. He called the Secret Service’s role in investigating…

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Sexual misconduct at Coast Guard is a fleet-wide problem, congressional probe finds

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Coast Guard’s cultural failings around sexual misconduct are not limited to the service’s academy but extend to the entire service, a congressional probe has found. Nearly a year ago, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subpanel on investigations opened an inquiry into the Coast Guard’s mishandling of sexual assault and harassment cases at its prestigious Coast Guard Academy and the service’s failure to disclose those cases to Congress. The Coast Guard’s own investigation of sexual misconduct, dubbed Operation Fouled Anchor, concluded in 2020, but Congress didn’t learn…

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Lawmakers, DoD to explore portfolio-based acquisition

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When it comes to acquisition, the Defense Department is mostly focused on individual products as they’re defined in the DoD budget. Lawmakers are now asking the DoD to explore portfolio-based management, which could allow the department to invest and field modern technologies a lot faster. In the Defense Department’s science and technology community, for example, investment lines are organized around portfolios of capabilities, such as electromagnetic warfare, communications, or command and control. The approach gives more flexibility to support a wide variety of development efforts.  But on the acquisition side,…

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