Does the Pentagon skip too many of its congressional reporting duties?

The Defense Department is under statutory obligation to deliver a thousand reports to Congress each year. One analysis says the department consistently fails at this task and that Congress doesn’t get the information it needs for proper oversight of military affairs. For more on all of that, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with Brennen Center counsel Katherine Yon Ebright. Interview Transcript:  Tom Temin And you took a look at the situation some FOIA documents will get into. But first of all, just outline the issue. A thousand. Is…

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What do congressional minions actually do when they try to reconcile bills, anyhow?

The detailed work in Congress is done not by members, but rather by the 30,000-odd staff members. Right now, a group of overworked, and probably underpaid, minions are what they call “conferencing” over one of the most important yearly laws: the National Defense Authorization Act. Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with on of those former “minions.” Among other things, she was Senior Defense Adviser to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). Michele Pearce is currently an attorney with Covington and Burling. Interview Transcript:  Tom Temin And we should say that you…

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All congressional eyes focus on the great question: CR or government shutdown?

Congress is still a couple of weeks away from returning to Washington. Still, pressure is building for members to resolve a difficult budget impasse, as the prospects for a lapse in appropriations also seem to grow. For more,  Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with Loren Duggan, Bloomberg Government’s Deputy News Director Loren. Interview Transcript:  Tom Temin And absence, I guess, makes their hearts grow fonder. And the debates are in some level continuing here on what they will do about the budget, correct? Loren Duggan That is correct. I…

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An influential Congressional staffer is now a NAPA fellow

Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Subscribe to Federal Drive’s daily audio interviews on Apple Podcasts or PodcastOne. Among this year’s fellows added to the National Academy of Public Administration are several still-working, senior federal employees. One of them is prominent on Capitol Hill and the Federal Drive with Tom Temin had a chance to conduct this extended 17-minute interview with her. She’s Wendy Ginsberg, staff director for the Subcommittee on Government Operations of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Interview transcript: Tom Temin: Staff director on a subcommittee. What…

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Congressional Republicans Have Found Their Red Line

It was fair, last week, to question whether Republicans in Congress would condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, because the party’s de facto leader was praising Vladimir Putin’s aggression as “genius” and “wonderful.” Yet instead of falling in line behind Donald Trump, most congressional Republicans have denounced Putin just as loudly as Democrats have. This fact would not have been surprising just a few years ago. But it’s one of the more meaningful distinctions that rank-and-file members of the party have drawn recently between themselves and the former president, a man…

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