Politicians can’t get enough of squawking about the debacle that is the Bowl Championship Series. First President-elect Barack Obama bemoaned the system of selecting a national “champion” for college football. (Unsure how the BCS works? Click here.) Now Congress is looking to get in on the action (because, you know, there’s not much else going on right now). Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, may have some bitter feelings about Texas being shut out of the BCS title game, because he introduced HR 390 in the House last week. Let’s read the bill’s description: “A bill to prohibit, as an unfair and…
Browsing: Barack Obama
Last week, I wrote about a nonprofit group’s recommendations for a successful electronic government. This week, the Chief Information Officers Council is weighing it with its recommendations in a newly released report the council has shared with the Obama transition team. Here are the some of the key recommendations from the CIO Council on how to make e-government successful: Government must tap the power of collaboration both within its own ranks and with citizens. By letting citizens and employees “take what they need†and “share what they know†government can improve effectiveness and efficiency by creating an environment where the most up-to-date…
Feds scheduled to work in the Washington area next week could get a four-day weekend, thanks to the inauguration. Monday, Jan. 19 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, for which all federal employees receive a day off. And the following day is Inauguration Day, which is expected to nearly paralyze the nation’s capital. Federal employees who usually work in Washington, Fairfax Co., Va., Arlington Co., Va., Alexandria, Va., Falls Church, Va., Montgomery Co., Md., and Prince George’s Co., Md. will get Jan. 20 off, unless they were scheduled to be on official travel or telework in another location that day.…
President-elect Barack Obama just formally named Dennis Blair and Leon Panetta as his picks to be the next Director of National Intelligence and Director of Central Intelligence, respectively. The choice of Panetta has been especially controversial, since he has no experience inside the intelligence world. In his comments today, Obama said that Panetta, a former White House chief of staff and Office of Management and Budget director, was chosen for his management skills and to restore the CIA’s clout: He has handled intelligence daily at the very highest levels, and time and again he has demonstrated sound judgment, grace under fire…
Thought the presidential race was over? Not quite. The House and Senate met today in a joint session to count and certify the Electoral College votes, formally declaring Barack Obama the 44th president. With Vice President Dick Cheney presiding in one of his last official duties, four pages carried in the two gleaming wooden boxes containing the certificates from each state plus the District of Columbia. California was the first state read in alphabetical order to give votes to Obama, leading to a roar of applause in the House Chamber. When Obama was announced as the winner, the entire Congress…
Barack Obama is expected to name the person he wants as his chief technology officer pretty soon. Obama has said the CTO is supposed to ensure agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century. Coincidentally, mySociety, a British non-profit group that advocates for and facilitates open, electronic government, has posted a blog this week about how the government of “any reasonably developed country†should use the Internet. Here is what mySociety has to say: The most scary thing about the Internet for your government is not pedophiles, terrorists or viruses, whatever you may have read in…
10:50 a.m. EST: Killefer just gave a short statement, talking about the need to work across agency boundaries to improve services. She also said a few words about federal employees: Government employees themselves will be central to this effort. I am convinced that the success of every policy of this administration will be influenced by the people engaged in it. 10:43 a.m. EST: Obama on that rapidly-growing budget deficit: My own economic and budget team projects that unless we take decisive action, even after our economy pulls out of its slide, trillion-dollar deficits will be a reality for years to…
That’s the word on the Hill and in today’s newspapers, and CNN has all but confirmed that its medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, will be President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for surgeon general. When word spread yesterday that Obama had discussed the position with Gupta, it led to a lot of head scratching and “really?” comments on the Hill. Though a distinguished Atlanta neurosurgeon and professor, Gupta is best known to most Americans as a prolific television commentator. However, he served as an adviser to the Clinton White House, helping craft health care speeches and policy for Hillary Clinton. According to…
The Associated Press reported last week that the wife of Michael Griffin, the current NASA administrator, has been sending e-mails to friends and family asking them to sign an online petition urging President-elect Barack Obama to keep her husband on as administrator. Rebecca Griffin apparently sent the appeal entitled “Campaign for Mike†on Christmas Eve. According to AP, she told the recipients: Yes, once again I am embarrassing my husband by reaching out to our friends and ‘imposing’ on them…. And if this is inappropriate, I’m sorry.” It’s not clear why she’d start such a petition, particularly given the reportedly…
President-elect Barack Obama today named two deputies to serve under Hillary Clinton at the State Department. James Steinberg and Jacob Lew will serve as deputy secretaries of State under Clinton. Steinberg is expected to be Clinton’s top advisor on policy issues, while Lew’s chief task will be securing additional financing for the diplomatic corps. Both nominations are subject to Senate confirmation, as is Clinton’s. Steinberg and Lew both held key policy positions under President Clinton. Steinberg was deputy national security advisor from December 1996 to August 2000 and previously held leadership positions in the State Department. He currently is dean of…