It’s official: President-elect Barack Obama’s resigning his Senate seat effective this Sunday. Here’s Obama’s statement just e-mailed to the press from his transition team: It has been one of the highest honors and privileges of my life to have served the people of Illinois in the United States Senate.  In a state that represents the crossroads of a nation, I have met so many men and women who’ve taken different journeys, but hold common hopes for their children’s future.  It is these Illinois families and their stories that will stay with me as I leave the United States Senate and…
Monthly Archives: November, 2008
It’s quite a busy morning here — details later — but some important news for the federal contracting community: FedLine has learned that the final “E-Verify rule” will be published in tomorrow’s Federal Register. The rule requires all federal contractors, and subcontractors, to verify the immigration status of their employees using the Homeland Security Department’s E-Verify system. The controversial rule was first proposed this summer. We’ve posted a copy of the final rule; you can read it here.
President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team yesterday announced a roster of 19 heavyweights who will conduct top-to-bottom reviews of federal agencies beginning next week. The agency review teams will complete a thorough review of departments, agencies and commissions to provide Obama and his advisers information need to make strategic policy, budgetary and personnel decisions prior to the Jan. 20 inauguration. As this press release  from the Obama transition Web site illustrates, most of the names should ring a bell to employees who were around during the previous Democratic administration under President Clinton. There’s Sally Katzen, who headed the Office of Information…
So last week we wrote that the General Services Administration was keeping quiet on where President-elect Obama’s transition headquarters was located. Apparently the D.C. traffic department didn’t get the memo that it was being left to the transition team to reveal the hideout. The District Department of Transportation released a detailed description of the location in a press release about traffic restrictions to protect the transition office. Here is what the DDOT had to say: D Street, NW between 5th and 6th is closed to vehicular traffic and parking is restricted. Northbound 6th Street St, NW, between Indiana Avenue and…
Last week you got to pick your new boss. Now the New York Times is letting you be the boss. The Times has posted an interactive feature that lets readers submit their selections for five major Cabinet posts: Defense Secretary, Secretary of State, Homeland Security Secretary, Attorney General and Treasury Secretary. It’s a lot of fun. Give it a whirl here. And don’t forget to tell us who you picked.
Looking for a job in the Obama administration? Then you should check out the Plum Book, the federal directory of leadership jobs released after every presidential election. The book was released today and contains more than 7,000 federal civil service leadership and support job descriptions in the legislative and executive branches. Of course, there’s no guarantee that all of the jobs will be filled when Obama takes office. It does, however, give you a look at the scope of opportunities available for you in certain sectors of the federal government (and could even help you get that ol’ resume ready!)…
The Treasury Department has spent most of the first $350 billion allocated by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, passed just over one month ago: Most of the spending — $250 billion — is going directly to banks. The banks get immediate cash; Treasury gets an ownership share of the bank. AIG got another $40 billion loan yesterday, on top of the $100 billion it’s already received. That’s $290 billion in spending since Oct. 3, an impressive $86,064 per second. And it leaves just $60 billion; most experts I’ve talked with say that money will be gone soon. What does that…
The Kremlin announced Tuesday that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has submitted an amendment to extend the presidential term from four to six years. News agencies speculate that Medvedev’s move might allow former leader, Vladimir Putin, to seek the seat ahead of scheduled 2012 elections. As the law stands now, a president can serve two back-to-back four-year terms but then must step down. However, the law does not prohibit him from running again after that. Why change the law? In it’s statement, the Kremlin says Establishing a longer term of office for the President with respect to State Duma deputies speaks…
Rawhide. Eagle. Tumbler. And now Renegade. That last one is President-elect Barack Obama’s Secret Service code name, the Chicago Tribune said yesterday. The Secret Service has used code names to describe the officials, family members and other notable figures they are assigned to protect since President Truman was dubbed General. Sometimes they make sense — President Reagan was Rawhide, probably because he was sometimes described as a cowboy, and Pope John Paul II was Halo. Eagle, President Clinton’s code name, is OK, if somewhat generic for a president.
Today we honor the service of the nearly 24 million military veterans living in the U.S. As such, we thought we’d share with you some facts about these brave men and women courtesy of the Census Bureau. •1.8 million veterans are women •2.4 million are black, 1.1 million are Hispanic, 278,000 are Asian, 165,000 are American Indian or Alaska natives, 27,000 are native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders and 18.7 million are white. •9.3 million are older than 65 and 1.9 million are younger than 35. •2.9 million served in World War II, 3 million served in Korea, 7.9 million served…