RIK, RIP. That’s the message from the Interior Department accompanying its next-to-last annual report about the “royalty-in-kind” program tarnished by repeated scandals. The program, dating back to 1998, allows energy companies to pay royalties to the federal government with oil and gas instead of cash. After Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced last year that he was shutting it down, the program officially ends this Thursday, when the final contracts expire, the department said in a news release. For fiscal 2009, the initiative generated benefits estimated at $23 million “depending on various assumptions regarding markets and administrative costs,” the newly issued…
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It’s down-to-the-wire time again for the U.S. Postal Service as it seeks congressional help in dodging much of a $5.5 billion payment due next Thursday into its retiree health benefit fund. “We’re in discussions with committee staff,” USPS spokesman Gerry McKiernan said today. While a continuing budget resolution is a likely vehicle for a partial waiver, he said, “there’s nothing definitive yet.” Last month, the Postal Service warned of a cash crunch if it had to make the full payment, which is required under the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. Under similar circumstances last year, Congress allowed the Postal…
Congress has given final approval to legislation shutting down controversial Freedom of Information Act exemptions for the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to its sponsor, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. The measure now goes to President Obama. The exemptions, tucked into the financial services overhaul enacted in July, allowed the SEC to withhold some records gathered from hedge funds and other financial entities that it regulates. Without the new provisions, SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro argued, such entities could be reluctant to cooperate during examinations out of concern that sensitive records could become public. But critics said existing FOIA exemptions were adequate…
Making it a twofer kind of week for Jacob “Jack” Lew, the Senate Budget Committee voted 22-1 today to confirm him for the job of director of the Office of Management and Budget. But that’s where the good times ended, at least temporarily. Soon after, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said she will block a final confirmation vote by the full Senate until the Obama administration drops or makes major changes to its six-month moratorium on deepwater oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The moratorium, in effect since late May, could lead to thousand of job losses in…
The Senate Budget Committee plans a Thursday afternoon vote on the nomination of Jacob “Jack” Lew to become Office of Management and Budget Director, a spokesman said this afternoon via e-mail. The vote is set for around 12:45 p.m. Lew, who served an earlier turn as OMB director from 1998-2001, won unanimous approval from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday. If the budget committee concurs Thursday, his nomination will go to the full Senate for a final confirmation vote. President Obama announced in July that Lew was his choice to succeed Peter Orszag, but only submitted…
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 9-0 this morning to confirm Jacob “Jack” Lew as the next director of the Office of Management and Budget. Lew’s nomination, announced by President Obama in July, must also win approval from the Senate Budget Committee before going to the full Senate. As of this morning, the budget committee had not scheduled a vote, according to its web site. If confirmed, Lew, 55, would replace Peter Orszag, who resigned this summer. OMB Deputy Director Jeffrey Zients is meanwhile serving as acting director.
Don’t expect much to happen in this year’s fast dwindling congressional session, but a bi-partisan group of senators today introduced legislation to bolster the Federal Protective Service, responsible for security at some 9,000 federal buildings. The bill would push FPS to hire 500 more full-time employees over the next four years, require the agency to do more to ensure the competence of contract guards, and mandate standards for checkpoint detection technologies for explosives and other threats at federal facilities, according to a news release from Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.…
Unenthusiastic about the U.S. Postal Service’s proposal for five-day-a-week mail service? Consider the possibility of every-other-day delivery. That’s today’s deep thought, courtesy of the USPS’ inspector general’s blog. We won’t even begin to list the politically influential groups that would pounce on the idea if the Postal Service sought to pursue it, but for the sake of argument, here goes: As the IG notes, a study earlier this year predicted that the average amount of daily mail per “delivery point” will fall from 3.8 pieces to 2.8 pieces by 2020. If that prediction holds good, then more households will receive…
Well, that didn’t take long. Less than 24 hours after holding a hearing on the candidacy of Jacob “Jack” Lew to become the next Office of Management and Budget director, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has set next Tuesday for a confirmation vote on sending his nomination to the full Senate, according to a just-released notice. Lew’s nomination also needs the blessing of the Senate Budget Committee, but no word yet on when that vote will be.
Most Americans favor higher government-imposed fuel-efficiency standards, according to a poll released last week. The survey of 1,000 likely voters showed 85 percent favor government requirements to increase fuel efficiency in cars and 78 percent favor government regulation reducing emissions from large trucks, SUVs and minivans. Respondents also support increased fuel efficiency standards even if the price of the car goes up by $3,000, with 66 percent still favoring the proposal and 28 percent opposed. The Environmental Protection Agency received a favorable response: 63 percent of respondents saw the agency favorably or very favorably. Environment America, the Natural Resources Defense…