Former White House official David Safavian was sentenced to a year in prison today for obstructing justice and lying to investigators about his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. This was the second conviction for David Safavian, who served as chief of staff at the General Services Administration under President George W. Bush. His 2006 conviction was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 2008. He was tried again and convicted in December. The case stemmed from allegations that Safavian lied to GSA ethics officials when he had asked for advice on whether he…
Browsing: General Services Administration
Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., continues to hold up the vote on Martha Johnson’s nomination to lead the General Services Administration. Bond placed a hold on her confirmation this summer to squeeze the agency for information about why it wasn’t closing down the federally owned Bannister Complex outside Kansas City, Mo. and relocating staff to leased space downtown, as previously planned. GSA’s new Public Building Service commissioner, Robert Peck, responded to Bond, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., in a letter last week. In the Oct. 9 letter, Peck explained that plans to close Bannister are still on…
The federal government may be growing under President Barack Obama, but a just-released report shows the government is actually getting smaller. Confused? It turns out that while federal agencies are hiring more workers, they’re also getting rid of thousands of buildings they no longer need. The number of buildings in the federal inventory declined nearly 9 percent in 2008, or roughly 70 million square feet, according to a report posted today by the General Services Administration. GSA attributes the decrease to a reduction of 36,000 military housing units and 4,000 warehouses by the Air Force and Navy.
The General Services Administration is consolidating its Office of Governmentwide Policy and Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer, the agency will announce later today. The move comes one day after the agency appointed Michael Robertson to lead both offices. Since the two offices share a common mission of developing procurement policies, merging them will better coordinate these efforts, improving the agency’s ability to manage taxpayer dollars, GSA said in a statement to Federal Times.
FedFleet, the year’s biggest conference for federal fleet managers, officially begins tomorrow in Chicago (although lots of folks are there already, attending agency-sponsored meetings and getting ready for tonight’s welcome reception at Chicago’s Navy Pier). I’m flying out this afternoon from Washington, but before I do I thought I’d share a few interesting facts that come directly from Becky Rhodes, deputy associate administrator of govermentwide policy at the General Services Administration, which is hosting the conference: 1,490 people were registered to attend the conference as of July 17, which is up slightly from the 1,449 people who attended last year’s…
The General Services Administration turns 60 years old today. And from this birthday news release, it sounds like the agency has no plans to retire. “After six decades we’re just hitting our prime,” Acting Administrator Paul Prouty said in the statement. With billions in Recovery Act dollars flowing out of agencies today, GSA stands ready to “help green the government, move America toward energy independence, increased transparency and accountability and much, much more,” he said. To celebrate the agency established by President Harry Truman in 1949 to centralize the procurement of goods, services and office space for the federal government,…
The incoming General Services Administration chief should no longer require vendors to give the government their best prices, according to an advisory panel. Instead, GSA should insist that agency customers buying products and services worth at least $100,000 from GSA’s federal supply schedules program obtain at least three bids from vendors before making a purchase. These and other recommendations are outlined in a report finalized by the Multiple Award Schedule Advisory Panel today. The 15-member panel was formed last year by former GSA Administrator Lurita Doan to suggest ways to improve the federal supply schedules program, also known as the…
Federal agencies having a tough time meeting the plethora of green government mandates should take a close look at the 15 federal teams who have been recognized this year for spearheading environmentally sustainable practices at their agencies. Winners of the 2009 White House Closing the Circle Awards — handed out Wednesday during the middle of the three-day 2009 Federal Environmental Symposium East in Bethesda, Md. –Â Â are demonstrating best practices in areas such as recycling, green purchasing and fuel conservation. The big winner was the Air Force, which received four awards for initiatives under way at local bases and headquarters. The…
Federal agencies will be trading in more of their gas guzzlers for fuel-efficient cars soon. The General Services Administration announced today that it ordered 14,105 vehicles from the big three automakers, using $210 million in stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That’s on top of the 3,100 hybrid vehicles GSA purchased in April for $77 million. Another order for $15 million in advanced technology buses and electric vehicles will be made by Sept. 30, GSA said. The new vehicles will replace older models that are less fuel efficient. Of the total vehicles purchased so far, 7,924 are Fords, 6,348…
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved two nominations today: Martha Johnson, to be administrator of the General Services Administration. Rand Beers, to be under secretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate at the Homeland Security Department. Both now face confirmation by the full Senate.