The water metaphors were flowing at yesterday’s Senate Budget Committee hearing on federal contracting. In his opening statement, Office of Federal Procurement Policy administrator Dan Gordon mentioned the massive growth in government contracting over the last decade. He said that acquisition workers “couldn’t cope with this tsunami of buying that was taking place.” Not to be outdone, Rhode Island Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse later said that “more than half a trillion dollars a year and climbing is clearly a geyser of taxpayer funds that needs to be carefully watched.” Either way, it sounds like taxpayers are taking a bath.
Browsing: Agencies
If you thought Hellfire-armed Predator drones were something, just wait until you see Taranis. This prototype unmanned stealth bomber, developed by BAE Systems for Britain’s Ministry of Defence, is said to be capable of operating autonomously and thinking for itself, as well as striking targets deep inside enemy airspace. It won’t ever go into service, but will allow BAE and Britain to test technologies for future aircraft. BAE stresses that despite the computer programs allowing Taranis to think for itself, ground crews would be in control of it at all times. But isn’t that what they all say? What’s really…
The Washington Post just posted a fun article that peeks inside the State Department’s high-pressure, round-the-clock operations center. In an office that coordinates phone calls to the most powerful people in the world, even things as mundane as bathroom breaks have their own protocol: “I’m going blue!” duty desk officers call out when they stand up to go to the bathroom. They flip a switch, triggering a blue glow from the [Barbie-sized, light bulb-equipped wooden] outhouse. As on an airplane, the light signals: Bathroom occupied; remain in your seats. Work stations must be staffed in case of an emergency.
Steve Kempf, acting commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service since April, has been tabbed by administrator Martha Johnson to take on the post permanently. Jon Jordan, a 36-year GSA veteran, has been named Kempf’s deputy. Here’s the memo that Johnson sent out this morning announcing the move: MEMORANDUM TO ALL GSA EMPLOYEES FROM: MARTHA N. JOHNSON ADMINISTRATOR SUBJECT: NEW FAS COMMISSIONER Many of you have heard me speak of this as GSA’s moment. We have set aggressive goals and been challenged to play a leading role in key Administration priorities by the White House. We are on…
President Obama has just selected Jacob Lew to replace Peter Orszag as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. More to come.
Harvey Pekar, the sarcastic and irritable writer who chronicled his life and experiences as a Veterans Affairs Department file clerk in the underground comic book American Splendor, was found dead this morning at age 70. Pekar’s darkly humorous comic was about as far from standard superhero fare as could be. Besides his misadventures at the Cleveland VA, he wrote about his everyday troubles and anxieties, battles with cancer, family life, and love of jazz. But although his collaborations with artists such as Robert Crumb brought him fame (and several notorious appearances on David Letterman’s show), Pekar had to keep working…
Corruption in the Afghanistan government is a well-worn topic, and Afghan subcontractors were singled out by a House subcommittee recently for extortion and corruption. But according to a New York Times article published this week, U.S. contractors deserve a share of the blame as well. The story says Afghan companies are accusing American contractors of not paying them for supplies and services, and leaving the country with unpaid bills of hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. An unnamed military official with the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan told the Times that “American contractors are contributing to fueling…
The Office of Management and Budget has officially tabbed the Homeland Security Department to oversee cybersecurity in the executive branch, as OMB indicated would be the case in April. A memo this week from OMB Director Peter Orszag and federal cybersecurity coordinator Howard Schmidt gives DHS responsibility for: • overseeing the government-wide and agency-specific implementation of and reporting on cybersecurity policies and guidance; • overseeing and assisting government-wide and agency-specific efforts to provide adequate, risk-based and cost-effective cybersecurity; • overseeing the agencies’ compliance with FISMA and developing analyses for OMB to assist in the development of the FISMA annual report;…
In what may be the oddest paternity suit in recent memory, a former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer is suing basketball star LeBron James and his mother for $4 million. Leicester Bryce Stovell claims that he is LeBron’s dad, and that the basketball star and his mom have conspired to deny his paternity and shut him out of the Miami-bound player’s life. Stovell said his memory of his 1984 one-night stand with Gloria James resurfaced 20 years later. (In an astounding coincidence, that would place his sudden recall well after all hard work and late nights of raising a son,…
The Office of Management and Budget has released a list of 20 financial systems modernizations projects that it will review, under the terms of a memo it put out last week. There are 20 projects at 18 agencies included. OMB has said that about 30 projects will be reviewed, so there’s probably still some more information to come here. OMB says that “in a limited number of cases” OMB, the Financial Systems Advisory Board and the agency in questions are “still determining whether certain systems appropriately fall within the scope of this review.”