With more than $1 billion in stimulus spending tripling the budget of the Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, what can the department do to improve management of the program? More contracting. Or at least that’s what the department’s inspector general is recommending in a new report out today. In addition to awarding grants to state, local and tribal governments for hiring and equipping police officers, COPS program managers also award grants to companies for training conferences, publications and other services for grantees. While there is nothing wrong with that, the department would have more control over the…
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The Government Accountability Office wants you to interact with the agency online through its Twitter feed and YouTube page. The GAO joins more than 50 federal agencies plus dozens of members of Congress in reaching out to the public through Twitter, though the GAO has a way to go to adopt the casual, abbreviated style of writing prominent on Twitter. Its most recent Twitter post may not be scintillating enough to draw many new users into GAO reports: GAO-09-567, Tax Administration: IRS Should Evaluate Penalties and Develop a Plan to Focus Its Effort” The GAO maintains two Twitter accounts, one…
As you are out and about enjoying the long holiday weekend, you might want to check out the General Services Administration’s GovGab blog to see how other Americans are marking the nation’s 233rd birthday. GovGab.gov has launched an Independence Day themed Flickr stream to allow readers to share their Fourth of July traditions. The blog will accept photos for the project until July 5. In addition to the photo stream, you might also consider the following fun facts about Independence Day, courtesy of the Census Bureau, during your celebrations: At its birth, the nation’s population was approximately 2.5 million people.…
Just in: The National Federation of Federal Employees’ president, Richard Brown, died Tuesday afternoon. He was 47. Brown was found unresponsive in his Arlington, Va., apartment, said Secretary-Treasurer William Dougan in a press release. Dougan praised Brown’s efforts to revitalize NFFE and getting the union out of debt. He said Brown was a fearless champion for federal workers and will be missed. Never one to back down, Rick was a strong presence in the fight against several federal workforce initiatives aimed at contracting out federal government jobs and eliminating federal employees’ unions. His most impressive work was done in opposition…
Federal agencies will start collecting food nationwide under the Feds Feed Families program this week, the Office of Personnel Management said. Canned and other unperishable food items will be picked up the last Friday in June, July and August, but agencies will put out cardboard collection bins a few days earlier, OPM Director John Berry and Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said at a press conference at a Northern Virginia food pantry. OPM itself already has filled the 10 cardboard bins it has at the entrance to its Washington headquarters three times over, Berry said. The government hopes to collect 1 million pounds of food…
Melissa Hathaway, the Obama administration’s acting cybersecurity director, said Friday she is one of the candidates being considered for the permanent cybersecurity post. Hathaway confirmed her candidacy for the “cybersecurity czar” position to reporters after a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C. policy group. Hathaway said the administration is considering several candidates but President Barack Obama has not yet conducted any interviews. Hathaway, who led the White House’s 60-day review of cybersecurity policy, said Obama is deeply interested in improving cybersecurity and his leadership will help institute change. “It’s personal to him … they’ve…
 Update: AFGE has also sent yours truly this point-by-point refutation of industry’s opposition to the CLEAN UP Act. We told you earlier today about a Republican bill introduced yesterday to promote the outsourcing of commercial work performed by federal employees. Now enter the American Federation of Government Employees, a privatization foe, announcing it has taken “its contracting out reform campaign to the House of Representatives.” In a June 4 news release, union boss John Gage applauded the introduction of Mikulski’s CLEAN UP Act in the House by Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md. Gage said: The CLEAN UP Act is vital to any serious effort to…
The Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure, an event held every year to raise money to cure breast cancer, will be held in Washington this weekend. Federal employees and congressional staffers who will participate in the 5K race are already breaking their participation records: The Komen foundation said today that federal agencies have so far registered 68 race teams — more than agencies ever have in the past — and U.S. embassies also have registered a record 50 teams. Congressional offices have so far registered 31 teams, and the Komen foundation expects to register another 3 teams by Saturday, which would break their…
Two civil servants and a soldier were killed in Iraq Monday by a roadside bomb near Fallujah, the Associated Press reported today. State Department employee Terrence Barnich, 56, was the deputy director of the Iraq Transition Assistance Office, which oversees reconstruction projects in Iraq. He was killed alongside a U.S. soldier and a Defense Department civilian employee working for the embassy in Baghdad. Two others were injured. The other victims have not yet been named. On this day after Memorial Day, it reminds us all of the sacrifices being made by civil servants, as well as the military, to bring…
The House of Representatives passed a resolution Tuesday honoring the work of public servants, part of an annual tradition to mark Public Service Recognition Week. The week is celebrated May 4-10 as a way to draw attention to civil service workers and career opportunities. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., issued a statement Tuesday afternoon on the importance of the week’s designation. This week we honor the first responders, teachers, social workers, park rangers, and so many more federal, state, and local government employees who do so much for our nation each day, with little expectation of recognition or reward.…