It’s the first full day of the Obama administration and it promises to be a busy one. Here are some stories we’ll be following for you: Tim Geithner, Obama’s Treasury Secretary nominee, will be before the Senate Finance Committee this morning. The hearing was delayed following the revelation that he had owed back taxes, which have now been paid. If confirmed, Geithner will, of course, oversee the IRS. The House Appropriations committee will mark up the stimulus package unveiled last week. Ray LaHood, Obama’s Transportation Secretary nominee, will be before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee this afternoon for…
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We’re used to celebrities getting better access to events than the common man, but usually they dress for the occasion. But swearing in the new leader of the free world didn’t mean Don King, the famous boxing promoter and owner of the world’s wackiest hair, was going to wear some fuddy-duddy suit. No, King rocked out denim painted for the occasion. Perhaps his voluminous hair kept him warm. That could be the only excuse for such a sight at such a formal event. Others spotted included: Oprah, garnering a huge shout from the audience when she was shown on the…
Hanukkah starts Sunday and Christmas and Kwanzaa are about a week away. To get you in the holiday mood, we bring you a special winter holiday edition of Friday Fun Facts. Today’s fun facts come to us courtesy of the Census Bureau, or as I like to call it, the Fun Fact Bureau. The Postal Service will deliver more than 20 billion pieces of mail throughout the season. Last year holiday shoppers spent $30.5 billion on gifts. Christmas tree farmers sold $493 million worth of pine trees last year; $114 million worth were sold in Oregon alone. Approximately $1.3 billion…
Did anyone catch NPR’s news quiz Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me this weekend? Because it was [bleeping] awesome. And not just because Carl Kasell did the best reading of the Rod Blagojevich tapes I’ve heard to date. But because CIA Director Michael Hayden was the guest for “Not My Job,” the portion of the show where they ask famous people obscure questions to win a listener the privilege of having Carl Kasell’s smooth voice on the listener’s answering machine. After telling some funny spy stories, Hayden was tested on his knowledge of obscure breakfast cereal. So how did the director of central intelligence…
Citizenship and Immigration Services wants to replace the current immigration system — most forms are paper-based, and CIS frequently mails documents around the country — with an electronic system. But not as quickly as it hoped. The agency awarded a five-year, $500 million contract to IBM last month; this week, Accenture decided to protest the bid. A final decision on the protest is expected by March, according to the Government Accountability Office. “The protest is still very basic.. they haven’t really fleshed it out to any degree,” said Michael Aytes, acting deputy director at CIS. “While it’s in protest… we’re…
A fixture in the federal community stepped down last night — in grand style. After more than 14 years at the helm of the nonprofit Council for Excellence in Government, Patricia McGinnis yesterday passed the baton to interim successor Lynn Jennings, the Council’s executive vice president, at a gala dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington. As president and CEO of the Council, McGinnis led the council in many initiatives, including: serving as an early advocate for the expansion of electronic government; expanding the Excellence in Government Fellowship program, a leadership development program for senior government managers; promoting Public…
We’re hearing this morning that President-elect Barack Obama has settled on a handful of appointments for key positions handling energy and environmental issues. Among the likely picks: Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to serve as secretary of the Energy Department. Lisa Jackson, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Carol Browner, former EPA administrator during the Clinton administration, to serve in a new White House position coordinating energy and climate control initiatives across goverment. Nancy Sutley, deputy mayor for energy and environment in Los Angeles, to head the White…
Exactly 75 years ago today, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, which lifted the national prohibition on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol for consumption, was ratified.
With the kickoff of the holiday shopping season this weekend, I’ve been hearing a lot about how we all need to spend, spend, spend to keep the economy afloat. It appears the government has taken that message to heart. Some early procurement figures reported by the Project on Government Oversight today show the government spent more than $510 billion on procurements in fiscal 2008. That number is likely to grow as agencies are still reporting their 2008 spending. The final 2007 spending number was between $440 billion to $465 billion, depending on which government procurement information website you choose: the…
Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Let’s talk turkey shall we? How about 271 million turkeys for starters? That’s the number of turkeys that were raised in the U.S. since last Turkey Day, according to the Census Bureau, the keeper of all fun facts. According to Census the average American consumes 13.3 pounds annually. Here’s what else Census has to say about other Thanksgiving eats: The U.S. cranberry industry produced 689 million pounds of cranberries this year, up 5 percent from last year. And surprise, Wisconsin, not Massachusetts, leads the nation in cranberry production. Approximately 1.8 million pounds of sweet potatoes were harvested…