Once again with feeling, Congress goes for a budget

Border. Budget. Border. Budget. If Congress sounds like a broken record, well it is. With two weeks to go before government funding lapses for many agencies, Congress did something to move the ball forward on Sunday. The Federal Drive with Tom Temin gets the latest from Bloomberg Government deputy news director Loren Duggan. Interview Transcript:  Tom Temin Well, it turns out Congress over the weekend looks like it may be made a little progress. We get the latest now from Bloomberg Government Deputy News director Loren Duggan. And Loren, what…

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Why there’s not a huge cause for optimism for the rest of the federal budget year

The latest continuing resolution Congress passed last week avoided a government shutdown. But even if lawmakers achieve that feat again next year, on the two different dates when the CR expires, there are a lot of other ways the rest of fiscal 2024 could be messy for federal agencies and their vendors. To look into it further, Federal News Network Deputy Director Jared Serbu talked with Larry Allen, President of Allen Federal Business Partners on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Interview Transcript:  Larry Allen Jared, my primary concern still…

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DoD’s budget challenges will take years to fix, but reform commission says now’s the time to start

The expert panel Congress assembled to find fixes to the Pentagon’s archaic planning and budgeting process won’t deliver its final prescription for reform until next spring. But its members say there are at least some steps the Defense Department and Congress should start taking right now, particularly in light of the fact that fixing what’s wrong is certain to be a years-long effort. The Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) Reform published an interim report this week, previewing 10 of the possible recommendations it might make in its…

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Are budget cuts the best way to fix troubled agencies?

Washington’s ticker tape of controversy has wrapped around several agencies and departments. Republicans in Congress would fix things by cutting their budgets. But is that the best way to cause reform? Not according to the guest of Federal Drive with Tom Temin, former American University Professor Bob Tobias. Interview Transcripts:  Tom Temin And Bob, you’re concerned about what seems to be happening around two agencies, in particular, the IRS and the Office of Personnel Management. The IRS is having its tintinnabulation on Capitol Hill these days. But let’s talk about…

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8 Things to Know About Biden’s Fiscal 2024 Budget, From Bad to Worse

When discussing budgets, President Joe Biden often uses a quote that he attributes to his father: “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget—and I’ll tell you what you value.” If the administration’s latest budget is any indication, Biden doesn’t value America’s future. 1) More Spending and Debt A president’s budget is a request to Congress and can be thought of as a wish list rather than an all-or-nothing demand. Administrations typically lay out an ambitious policy agenda that’s unlikely to happen. Incredibly, even the Biden administration’s wish…

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