Martha Johnson is taking more action at the General Services Administration. A day after she rearranged the deck chairs to put more emphasis on green building programs, the newly confirmed GSA administrator filled three political posts. Johnson named permanent appointees to head three of GSA’s regional offices: Jason Klumb as regional administrator of the Heartland Region, which includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. Klumb, who at age 24 was one of the youngest elected leaders in the Missouri House of Representatives, also is a major in the Army National Guard Judge Advocate General Corps. George Northcroft as regional administrator of…
Browsing: Politics
President Obama today sounded off on the hold that’s been placed on Martha Johnson’s nomination to head the General Services Administration, even as the Senate planned a procedural maneuver to force a vote on her confirmation. After addressing the Senate Democratic Policy Committee Issues Conference this morning, the president opened the floor to questions. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voiced his frustration that many of Obama’s judicial nominees and political appointees were being blocked by Republicans. While conceding that Democrats have been guilty of the same thing in the past, Obama said Republicans are blocking nominees for reasons that have nothing to…
A Republican Party fundraising letter that looks an awful lot like the official 2010 Census form is drawing complaints from all sides. The mailing from Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is disguised as a survey and is labeled the “2010 Congressional District Census.” The survey even includes a “Census Tracking Code” and is brandished with the words “census document.” A GOP spokesman said the mailing was not intended to mislead voters, noting that it states in several places that it’s from the Republican Party. But lawmakers from both parties are criticizing the letter, saying it could be confused with…
Yes, Election Day was two days ago. And the presidential election was 365 days ago. But the Election Assistance Commission only released the results of its 2008 Election Administration and Voting Survey and its 2008 Uniformed and Overseas Voting Act Survey today. The commission took the last year to quiz election officials, academics, community groups and voters from the 50 states, four territories and the District of Columbia. It found: More than 190 million Americans were registered to vote, a 14 million voter increase since 2004. Nearly 700,000 Americans used an online form to register to vote. More than 878,000…
Steve calls out the wrongheaded argument that spending $75 million on FBI salaries is not economic stimulus. We can go a step further: Everything on the Republican list of “wasteful projects” is stimulative. $88 million for a new Coast Guard icebreaker? Someone is getting paid to build the ship. $248 million for new furniture at DHS headquarters? Someone has to build the furniture. Even the $400 million for the CDC’s STD prevention programs has an effect on the economy, because someone — whether feds or contractors — is getting paid to administer those programs. You can argue that these aren’t…
There has been a lot of attention on who is coming into government these days, but let us not forget who is leaving and where they are going. Retiring Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va, one of the few members of Congress deeply involved and interested in government information technology and procurement issues, is joining the consulting firm Deloitte, a government contractor offering financial and consulting services. While serving on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Davis has been panned by watchdogs for his close ties to industry and praised by industry for his understanding of their needs. According to Deloitte’s…
The Kremlin announced Tuesday that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has submitted an amendment to extend the presidential term from four to six years. News agencies speculate that Medvedev’s move might allow former leader, Vladimir Putin, to seek the seat ahead of scheduled 2012 elections. As the law stands now, a president can serve two back-to-back four-year terms but then must step down. However, the law does not prohibit him from running again after that. Why change the law? In it’s statement, the Kremlin says Establishing a longer term of office for the President with respect to State Duma deputies speaks…
With his approval ratings at historic lows and the nation’s focus shifting to the incoming Obama administration, President Bush has a tough time garnering much attention these days. But hundreds of career and political employees who work at the Executive Office of the President gave Bush a rousing reception yesterday on the South Lawn of the White House. Flanked by his Cabinet and joined by First Lady Laura Bush, Vice President Cheney and Cheney’s wife Lynne, Bush congratulated Barack Obama for winning the election and urged federal employees to make the transition to a new administration as smooth as possible. Joking about his graying hair and First…
President-elect Barack Obama just held his first news conference, and I was struck by how much attention is focused on him — and how little on President Bush. Obama had to remind reporters a half-dozen times that “I am not the president until Jan. 20.” Any sitting president is a lame duck between the election and the inauguration, but it seems Bush has become especially marginalized. How does this impact your agency? Do you feel like the focus on the next administration means a lack of direction at the end of this administration?
Happy Election Day Feds! It is finally here. The day you get to pick your new boss. We here at FedLine cast our ballots this morning and can report turnout is heavy at the polling stations inside the Beltway. This reporter stood in line for 62Â minutes to make her choice, which seemed pretty speedy given the fact that there were 210 people ahead of her when she started. If you’ve headed to the polls today, or are on your way later, we want to hear from you. Did you choose McCain? Obama? A third party candidate? How will your choice…