After weeks of speculation, it’s official. The White House announced today that Vivek Kundra will be the government’s chief information officer. Kundra has served as the chief technology officer for Washington, D.C. since 2007. In his new role, he will direct governmentwide information technology investments, policy and spending oversight. When a governmentwide chief technology officer is named, they will work together to advance the president’s technology agenda. We’ll have more for you following a news conference with Kundra later today.
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Update,10:40 a.m.: The President has made the big contracting reform announcement. He called the government’s contracting system “broken” and said it was “plagued by massive cost overruns and outright fraud.” He added: We need more competition for contracts and more oversight when they’re carried out. Ending the “unnecessary” use of sole-source and cost-based contracts, ensuring that government work isn’t improperly outsourced and opening more contracts to small businesses will save the government $40 billion of the $500 billion spent on contracts annually by increasing competition and reducing waste, he said. These estimated cost savings are part of the $2 trillion…
The cat-and-mouse political games continue on the Hill Tuesday as Senate leaders debate whether to pass a fiscal year 2009 omnibus to fund the majority of federal agencies. Democrats beefed up the bill almost 9 percent above former President George W. Bush’s recommendations, saying the money would benefit agencies who had been neglected and provide a boost to build on funding awarded about a month ago in the economic stimulus package. But Republicans have decried the omnibus and stimulus bills as wasteful spending, with some talking about passing a short-term continuing resolution to replace the one that expires Friday. Senate…
The Government Accountability Office has a new report out on the Food and Drug Administration: Apparently the agency doesn’t have enough information about the ingredients in dietary supplements to decide if they’re safe. ..a lack of information is one of the most significant factors that limit the FDA’s ability to identify and properly act on safety concerns regarding dietary supplements and foods with added dietary ingredients. I think there’s an important point to draw from this report. We talk a lot about the FDA’s budget and staffing woes. And the agency is certainly underfunded — you can’t expect the FDA…
Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell wants Congress to delay passing the $410 billion fiscal year 2009 appropriations omnibus. Speaking on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, McConnell said people need time to analyze how much money the government is spending in light of the $780 billion economic stimulus bill signed into law a few weeks ago. There’s no reason for the Senate or the American people to feel an unnecessary rush, especially with a bill of this magnitude.” McConnell, R-Ky., said Congress should pass another short-term continuing resolution to give more time to analyze the spending omnibus. All federal agencies except…
President Barach Obama will formally annouce Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as his nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services later this afternoon. This marks Obama’s second attempt to appoint a leader for HHS. His previous nominee, former Sen. Tom Daschle, pulled his name from consideration in February after revelations that he’d failed to pay more than $130,000 in back taxes. Daschle was also named as the leader of health care policy for the White House, a role that Sebelius likely won’t hold. The “health care czar” is expected to help lead the White House’s revamping of…
Say what you will about the Transportation Security Administration, at least they’re being thorough this time. CNN says TSA is requiring some colonial reenactors at an Easton, Pa., historical park to undergo background checks and apply for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential card. These mule skinners regularly guide two mules named Hank and George as they pull a boat down a two-mile canal at the Hugh Moore Historical Park. Usually only transportation workers such as longshoremen or truck drives are required to apply for TWIC cards, but since the mule skinners hold Coast Guard credentials to operate the canal boat, TSA…
During a news briefing this morning at the Old Executive Office Building to roll out his 2010 budget, President Obama provided a little more detail about some of the nearly $2 trillion in proposed cuts he mentioned during his joint session to Congress on Tuesday. The highlights — or lowlights, depending on your view: Nearly $200 million at the Interior Department by cutting programs to clean up abandoned coal mines that have already been cleaned up. Nearly $20 million by modernizing programs and streamlining bureaucracy at the Agriculture Department. Tens of millions of dollars by cutting an Education Department student…
The Treasury Department unveiled guidelines (pdf) today for its bank “stress tests” (I have more details in this week’s paper). Seems to me the guidelines will put some federal employees — namely, the bank regulators — in a tough position. Here’s why. According to Treasury’s guidelines, regulators have to assess the 19 biggest U.S. banks using two economic scenarios. One of them is the “standard” scenario — what most economists think will happen to our economy over the next two years. The other is a sort of worst-case scenario. If banks fail the tests — basically if they have too many questionable…
President Barack Obama today nominated former Washington Gov. Gary Locke as Commerce secretary. Obama said he’s grateful that the two-term governor, the nation’s first of Chinese descent, has “agreed to leave one Washington for another.” He said the Commerce Department will play a vital role in helping carry out the administration’s economic recovery policies. Gary will be a trusted voice in my cabinet, a tireless advocate for our economic competitiveness, and an influential ambassador for American industry who will help us do everything we can – especially now – to promote it around the world. Of course, Locke wasn’t Obama’s first…