The Senate is expected to vote on Pres. Obama’s choice to lead the General Services Administration tomorrow. Or at least invoke cloture, a procedure to end debate about whether Martha Johnson is qualified to run the government’s procurement and real estate agency. The Senate convenes at noon, and according to the calendar, the cloture vote on Johnson’s nomination will occur after the chamber votes on the nomination of Patricia Smith to be solicitor for the Labor Department. If cloture is invoked, a final vote on Johnson’s nomination will follow. Johnson’s nomination has been delayed by Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo. Bond…
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Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, filed cloture on the nomination of Martha Johnson last night. Johnson, you’ll recall, was tapped by Pres. Obama last year to lead the General Services Administration, but her confirmation has been held up by Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo. Read about the flap here, here and here. And stay tuned for continuing coverage of her nomination saga.
The General Services Administration is getting a lot of attention from White House this week. Last night, I reported that Pres. Obama appeared to call out Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., for holding up Martha Johnson’s nomination to lead the agency. Today, the White House blog chose GSA to illustrate the new feature: “The President’s Cabinet Reporting to You.” Coincidence? Or a sign of how the White House views the government’s procurement and real estate arm?
Did President Obama just call out Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., for holding up the confirmation of Martha Johnson to lead GSA? You decide. Here is what Obama said in tonight’s State of the Union address regarding the hold up of several of his nominees: The confirmation of well-qualified public servants should not be held hostage to the pet projects or grudges of a few individual Senators. And here are two links to our past posts about the hold Bond has on Johnson’s full Senate confirmation. Both note the hold is directly related to Bond’s desire to move a federal complex…
Updated 6:15 p.m.: A GSA spokeswoman just provided me a statement regarding the delayed vehicle contract: There is no set schedule for when vehicle contracts must be awarded. The previous contract expired in Sept. 2009. For the first time in GSA’s history under the Recovery Act, we have been able to infuse an additional $300 million dollars into vehicle purchases for more fuel efficient vehicles. Due to the additional focus of manufacturers on these additional Recovery Act purchases and the fact that this was a new competitive procurement that resulted in additional awards and product offerings, the contract award was…
Starting Feb. 2, Susan Brita will be the new deputy administrator of the General Services Administration, FedLine has learned. Brita is the staff director for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. The subcommittee has oversight of GSA’s Public Building Service and federal real property management. She replaces Barney Brasseux, a GSA career veteran, who recently retired. This announcement fills one gap in the agency’s leadership team which has seen an unusual amount of turnover in recent weeks. Just before Christmas, Stephen Leeds took over the role of acting administrator from Paul…
Steven Kempf is the new deputy commissioner for the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service, FedLine has learned. Kempf, who most recently served as the assistant commissioner for the FAS Office of Acquisition Management, replaces Tyree Varnado, who recently retired. Kempf will continue to serve as assistant commissioner of FAS’s office of acquisition management until a replacement is named. Kempf joined GSA in 1992. FAS sells more than $53 billion worth of goods and services to federal agencies each year.
The General Services Administration’s chief of staff, Danielle Germain, has resigned her post effective today, Federal News Radio reports. Germain told the radio station: We all know that they have been in a period of transition for the last two years and considering the length of time it is taking to get a permanent Administrator, I have decided to take advantage of another opportunity. So apparently the hold Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., has placed on Martha Johnson’s confirmation to lead GSA has claimed a bystander and opened another void in GSA leadership. In the last two weeks, the agency got…
The General Services Administration just released the 2010 mileage reimbursement rates for federal employees using private vehicles: Automobiles (if no government vehicle is available): $0.50 per mile Motorcycles: $0.47 per mile Airplanes: $1.29 per mile If a government-owned car is available, but an employee chooses to drive his own car instead, the mileage reimbursement rate drops considerably to $0.285 per mile. If an employee agrees to use a federal car but later backs out, the rate drops even further to $0.125 per mile. Those rates went into effect Jan. 1. But there’s no word yet on what kind of mileage reimbursement rate DARPA’s…
The Government Accountability Office will report on the General Services Administration’s management of its supply schedules in the spring,said John Needham, a director of acquisition and sourcing management for the watchdog agency. The report will look at whether GSA’s reorganization improved management of the Multiple Award Schedules program and the effectiveness of the management tools GSA has in place, he said. Mismanagement of the schedules program led to a series of contracting scandals five years ago. The scandals prompted GAO to add interagency contracts to its High Risk List. In addition, the report will address concerns raised by the congressionally…