Congress tackles spending, policy and candidate protections on the road to the August recess

Been a hectic week on the political side of government. The 2024 election is in full swing as one party hosts its convention, and with an attempt on a candidate’s life, you know members of Congress are going have questions for the agencies in charge of protection. Meanwhile, there’s other legislation that could have an impact on other federal activities. To help break it all down for the Federal Drive with Tom Temin, Federal News Network Executive producer Eric White welcomes Deputy News Director Loren Duggan. Interview Transcript:  Eric White …

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The federal workforce is growing, as House appropriators consider agency spending cuts

With a net gain of more than 80,000 civilian employees during fiscal 2023, the federal workforce posted yet another year of growth. Between 2019 and 2023, more than 140,000 employees joined the civil service, an increase of about 7%, according to data that the non-partisan, non-profit Partnership for Public Service compiled and released this week. The majority of the growth in the past couple of years occurred in 2023 alone — the federal workforce grew by 4% in just that one year, the Partnership said. The latest increase brings the…

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Flurry of House activity on 2025 federal spending, but not much bipartisanship

In the House, it’s one down and 11 to go for the appropriations bills that make up the federal budget for 2025. And lawmakers are set to make a lot of progress over the next several weeks, with an aggressive schedule of votes coming up. Loren Duggan is Deputy News Director at Bloomberg Government spoke with Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Interview Transcript:  Loren Duggan This is the latest week that’s very spending focused in the House. As you mentioned, three of the…

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Looking ahead to the no-surprise, likely-late 2025 federal spending bills

It is budget season on Capitol Hill and agency leaders are busy defending their 2025 spending plans in front of the appropriations committees. And it’s possible the House could finish its appropriations bills this summer. But it’s still very unlikely we’ll have a full budget passed before the end of the fiscal year. For more on where things stand, Federal News Network’s Deputy Editor Jared Serbu spoke with longtime budget watcher Larry Allen on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin . He’s president of Allen Federal Business Partners. Interview Transcript:  Larry…

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Passing 2025 defense spending bill will be ‘particularly difficult’

While passing the 2024 defense budget was arduous as lawmakers struggled to agree on government funding plans for nearly six months into the fiscal year, negotiating the 2025 defense spending is shaping up to be “particularly difficult.” The Pentagon proposed a fiscal 2025 budget of $ 849.8 billion, about 1% higher than this year’s budget request. The top line figure aligns with the Fiscal Responsibility Act passed last year, which sets limits on defense and non-defense discretionary spending. Defense officials said the 1% increase would not be enough to cover…

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