Remember that U.S. Postal Service list of about 3,650 post offices under study for closure? The number is now closer to 3,270. The reason: Since the original roster was released last July, 380 facilities have quietly been given a reprieve, according to the Postal Service. In many cases, USPS officials decided that closing wasn’t feasible because there was no other post office within an acceptable distance. In other cases, they cited “negative community impact” or decided that closing wouldn’t be cost-effective, according to an official spreadsheet. Not surprisingly,one of the biggest gainers was Alaska, where 31 post offices have so…
Monthly Archives: February, 2012
As expected, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., has formally asked Postal Regulatory Commission Chairman Ruth Goldway to explain all official travel since she assumed the position 2-1/2 years ago. In a letter to Goldway sent today, Carper sought a detailed itinerary and justification for each official trip she’s taken–along with similar information for her two most recent predecessors—by Feb. 20. Carper, who chairs a Senate subcommittee with jurisdiction over the U.S. Postal Service and the PRC, also requested details on the commission’s travel policy and any procedures in place to prevent wasteful or unneeded travel. “Given the Postal Service’s ongoing financial…
The Project On Government Oversight launched a new web page today to track how long agencies have been left without inspectors general, hoping to spur government officials to appoint leadership to the watchdog roles as soon as possible. “Congress and the public rely on [Offices of Inspectors General] reports to hold agencies and individuals accountable for wrongdoing, identify a need for legislation, and evaluate the effectiveness of government programs and policies,” POGO says on the site. The longest vacancy has been at the State Department, which has operated more than four years without a permanent inspector general, the website shows. This is at a time when…
A minor snowstorm is headed for the Washington area this evening. Some are expecting the snow (and possibly rain) to snarl traffic tonight, so the Office of Personnel Management decided to allow federal employees to take unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework, if they want, to get them off the roads early.
A new inspector general report questions how much revenue the General Services Administration is setting aside for operations and future investments. GSA Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) officials say the agency hasn’t met its goals for funding reserve accounts that pay for administering, managing and improving the schedule program. But the account thresholds have not been reviewed in several years and may not reflect actual needs, according to a report released last week by the GSA deputy assistant inspector general for acquisition audits. The inspector general last audited GSA’s revenues – earned by charging agencies for use of its schedule contracts –…
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee this evening passed a bill cutting federal pensions on a party-line vote. HR 3813, the Securing Annuities for Federal Employees Act, would raise the amounts federal employees contribute to their pensions by 1.5 percentage points, eliminate the Federal Employees Retirement System supplement for retirees who aren’t yet eligible for Social Security, and drastically cut pensions for future federal retirees. Read more about the bill here. Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., the bill’s sponsor, said federal pensions are too expensive for the cash-strapped government to continue to cover. But Democrats unanimously blasted Republicans for treating…
The General Services Administration provided more details on Tuesday about a new mandatory security assessment program for federal cloud providers. A 47-page concept of operations document about the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) managed by GSA, details how agencies and cloud vendors can initiate the FedRAMP process, how the program will work and what is required of all parties involved in the process. One thing vendors should expect are new service level agreements that hold them legally responsible for meeting and maintaining FedRAMP requirements, according to the document. But GSA doesn’t clearly define what services will be available…
I had the great pleasure Monday of hosting a public conversation with esteemed federal government expert Dr. Paul Light, NYU professor, former Brookings Institution fellow, author of numerous books, and Washington Post blogger. Our conversation was sponsored by the Coalition for Effective Change and took place at the offices of one of my favorite organizations, the Partnership For Public Service. The discussion was titled “Changes to the Civil Service: Hollow Government or Necessary Reforms?” and it posed the following questions: Is the federal workforce too large? Should Congress cut agency resources across-the-board? Does the civil service need to be reformed? How? Light, author of “The True Size of…
The General Services Administration is considering a procurement for tablet computers that meet federal security standards and can easily integrate with various email platforms like Google and Microsoft Outlook. GSA issued a request for information to vendors this week for tablet computers that are manufactured by U.S.-based small businesses and meet federal encryption standards set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. “The General Services has received many statements of interest from customers within the agency and across government for tablet computers,” GSA said in the RFI posted on fbo.gov. Vendors have until Feb. 20 to respond. Vendors are asked to include…
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley teamed up on a teleconference this afternoon to denounce a bill that would steeply cut federal employees pensions. Connolly and Kelley urged lawmakers to vote down HR 3813, the Securing Annuities for Federal Employees Act, when it comes up for a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee vote tomorrow. (Connolly expects the bill will pass the Republican-controlled committee on a party-line vote, which he said would be unfortunate.) They denounced all the bill’s provisions, such as increasing contribution rates for current and future feds, switching to a high-five…