After weeks of delays, the Senate voted Tuesday afternoon 80-17 to confirm Hilda Solis as the secretary of Labor. Republicans were concerned about Solis’ public advocacy of the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as card-check legislation, a bill labor unions are pushing as a way for employees to more easily unionize. The bill is unpopular with Republicans and critics who say the bill takes away the secret ballot for unions. Solis, a Democratic representative from California, had also faced scruitiny after tax discrepancies showed up in her husband’s tax returns.
Monthly Archives: February, 2009
In case you haven’t heard the White House held a fiscal responsibility summit today. One of the sessions was on procurement. White House pool reporter Jon Ward of the Washington Times braved what he called a “wonky session†to bring us the following nuggets: Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., will introduce a bill to require the Defense Department to reexamine contracts when costs exceed 25 percent of original estimates. Levin said the military must stop trying to add the latest technology and accept what they have to prevent cost hikes and delays. Deputy Secretary of State for Management, Jack Lew, said government…
The White House today announced seven nominees for deputy and assistant secretaries and administrators. Here it goes: Kathleen Merrigan is Obama’s nominee for deputy secretary of the Agriculture Department. She is currently the director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment masters and doctorate program at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston. Jon Cannon was nominated to be the deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. He is currently the director of the Environmental and Land Use Law Program at the University of Virginia. He previously worked at the EPA during the Reagan, Bush…
The government will cut the cost of managing its central Web portal, USA.gov, in half by adopting “cloud computing†for hosting, storage and disaster recovery services, the General Services Administration, which runs the site, announced today. Cloud computing is the use of Internet-based technologies to allow users to access programs and other information from Web browsers or virtual servers. Virtualization of hosting and storage will give GSA the flexibility to quickly add and change functions and allow the agency to readily respond to increased demand on USA.gov. GSA has hired Terremark Worldwide to power USA.gov virtually. By moving to a…
Federal agencies are wasting no time advertising new business opportunities created under the economic stimulus package, which became law last Tuesday. Here is what Federal Times has found on FedBizOpps so far: On Feb. 18, the day after President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Navy issued a solicitation for a $400 million small business construction contract. This multiple award contract will be awarded to five small businesses. The businesses will be hired to perform new construction, repair, demolition and renovation projects at Navy facilities worldwide. Those projects will be funded through stimulus package appropriations. On…
A couple of tidbits about stimulus oversight. First, the president just announced Earl Devaney as the inspector general for the stimulus program. The name might sound familiar: Devaney has been the Interior Department’s IG since 1999, and he led some big investigations — the Jack Abramoff scandal and the MMS scandal, to name a couple. He’ll undoubtedly have his hands full with the new job (can we call him the SIGSTIM?). Second, the Interior Department will announce its own “stimulus czar” this week. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters the yet-to-be-named official is someone with lots of oversight experience. The…
President Barack Obama on Feb. 19 selected Carol Waller Pope to be the acting chairwoman of the Federal Labor Relations Authority. Pope has been an FLRAÂ member since 2000. In a statement released today, Pope thanked Obama for the appointment and pledged to fulfill FLRA’s mission of setting labor-management policy and settling disputes between unions and agencies: I believe that the work of the FLRA is important and that its mission to establish and implement policies and guidance that enhance the stability of labor-management relations in the federal government is critical to furthering the public interest in effective operations throughout the…
Mary Wakefield has been named the new administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration. Wakefield is currently the director of the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota. President Barack Obama announced her appointment in a statement Friday. “As a nurse, a Ph.D., and a leading rural healthcare advocate, Mary Wakefield brings expertise that will be instrumental in expanding and improving services for those who are currently uninsured or underserved. Under her leadership we will be able to expand and improve the care provided at the Community Health Centers which serve millions of uninsured Americans and…
The tough financial times have hit a top federal contractor. BearingPoint, a management and technology consulting firm, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy today, according to this announcement on the company’s Web site. The company pledged to continue “business as usual†while it restructures to reduce its debt. BearingPoint has already negotiated the terms of the restructuring with its creditors and expects the process to move quickly, the company said. BearingPoint ranks 74 among the top 100 recipients of government procurement dollars, raking in $790 million in federal contracts in 2008, according to USASpending.gov. In a related press release, CEO…
The Office of Management and Budget issued a 62-page memo (pdf) to agency heads today detailing how to manage the $787 billion in stimulus funding approved by lawmakers and signed into law by President Obama yesterday. Among other things, the guidance outlines the steps agencies must take to report their spending and program performance data to the Recovery.gov website that’s been created to track how every stimulus dollar is spent and how many jobs are created. The guidance also establishes requirements for agencies to meet the White House’s accountability objectives, OMB Director Peter Orszag said. Additional OMB guidance is forthcoming, Orszag said.