It must have seemed like a longer-than-usual Monday for Louis Caldera, director of the White House Military Office. He was the one who approved of sending a Boeing 747 – the Air Force One backup plane – and an accompanying F-16 fighter flying around southern Manhattan at low altitudes this morning. The purpose of the exercise was to serve as a photo op. But the low-flying planes panicked many New Yorkers, who fled their office buildings out of fear of another 9/11-style terrorist attack. Late this afternoon, the White House press office sent out this apology from Caldera: “Last week,…
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For those of you following the rise (and hopefully rapid fall) of the Red River on the North Dakota-Minnesota border, the Fargo Forum has this story about how the federal government is using technology to do its part. The Forum’s Brittany Lawonn reports that for the first time unmanned Predator drones are being used to monitor rising flood waters. The drones, which are on loan from Customs and Border Protection, provide real-time images to first responders and weather experts, helping them predict changes in the river. Here is an excerpt from the piece: Greg Gust, a warning coordination meteorologist for…
Vivek Kundra has returned to work as the federal chief information officer. The New York Times reported last night that Kundra, who was placed on leave following an FBI raid of his former offices last week, was reinstated by the White House Tuesday. Kundra was not a target of the FBI investigation. According to the Times’ Caucus blog, Gov. Tim Kaine, D-Va., for whom Kundra once worked, lobbied for Kundra’s return. Kaine is also the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Facing a $3 billion deficit, the U.S. Postal Service is cutting work hours, raising postal rates and asking Congress for permission to reduce its six-day delivery schedule and alter how it pays for retirees’ health benefits. So why then is it purchasing million-dollar homes from its employees? According to an eye-opening CNN report, the Postal Service purchased 1,022 homes during the past two years from employees who were ordered to relocate. The average cost of those homes was nearly $258,000, but the agency bought 14 homes at between $1 million and $2.8 million. Just last month, the Postal Service bought…
U.S. Trade Representative nominee Ronald Kirk owes nearly $10,000 in back taxes, according to a report released Monday afternoon by the Senate Finance Committee. Kirk joins a long line of President Barack Obama’s political appointees who’ve had tax problems, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and former Health and Human Services nominee Tom Daschle, who resigned over tax issues. According to the bipartisan report, former Dallas mayor Kirk asked for his speaking engagement honoraria be given to his alma mater, Austin College, to fulfill a scholarship fund pledge. In a questionnaire submitted to the committee regarding his nomination, Kirk said he…
With pressure mounting to purchase environmentally friendly products, sorting through the various federal programs to determine whether there are specific products identified that meet environmental standards can be daunting. After all, federal agencies are rating scores of products — everything from awards and bed linens to vending machines and water coolers — for recycled and biobased content, energy and water savings and absence of environmentally harmful chemicals or gases. Agencies are required to buy environmentally preferable products, but finding out whether green alternatives exist for products being purchased is often a time- consuming and frustrating exercise. Now there is a tool…
The Transportation Department is expected to handle about $43 billion in spending under the economic stimulus package working its way through Congress. To manage that spending, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced yesterday he has created a team to ensure the department is distributing funds rapidly, while also ensuring they’re monitored properly. The team will identify and prioritize highway, bridge, transit, rail, aviation and other transportation spending. It will also create standards to track the money, as well as measure performance and job creation. But we here at FedLine think the best part is the team’s name. It will be called…
Watch out contractors. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is keeping her eye on you. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee announced she will be the chair of a new, ad hoc contracting oversight subcommittee. And McCaskill, a former prosecutor and state auditor, has come out swinging: We all know that outrageous contracting abuses occur in every facet of government. I can’t wait to get to work saving huge money for taxpayers. Fun Fact: Last year government spent more than $530 billion through contracts.
Sen. Russ Feingold has had it with controversies over the Senate appointments to replace Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama: he plans to introduce a Constitutional amendment this week requiring Senate vacancies to be filled by special elections instead of gubernatorial appointments. In a statement released Sunday, Feingold said, In 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution gave the citizens of this country the power to finally elect their senators. They should have the same power in the case of unexpected mid-term vacancies, so that the Senate is as responsive as possible to the will of the people.” Feingold, D-Wis., is…
Today on FederalTimes.com and FedLine: The Government Accountability Office’s biennial High Risk List comes out at noon today and we’ll bring you the full accounting (pun intended) of programs on the list and those that might have finally made it off. More on the mark up of the House economic stimulus package by the appropriations committee and a round up of what other committees plan to add to the bill. And more on the Obama administrations executive orders. Check back with us throughout the day!