Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) this week suggested that the Obama administration is attempting to interfere with investigations conducted by government watchdogs and said he will continue to press the White House for information regarding the recent dismissal of Gerald Walpin, the inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service. “I kind ofRead… Read more »
Happy Thursday! The folks at NextGov.com have put together a great list (or what they call “The Feed”) of the Twitter feeds of government agencies. The page is broken down into several categories, including business and finance, defense and diplomacy, law enforcement, government at work and the White House. Recent activity includes a warning fromRead… Read more »
The White House has launched a new Web site designed to assure that state governments and other recipients of federal economic stimulus funds fully report information on how the money is spent. FederalReporting.gov will serve as the “one-stop-shop” for all information on the funding, according to the Office of Management and Budget. The agency’s newRead… Read more »
The Office of Personnel Management has strongly urged federal managers to allow employees to telework from home today to avoid delays on Metro following last night’s deadly crash. Federal government offices in Washington, D.C. will however open on time and operate under normal operating status today. “To the extent possible, managers are encouraged to allowRead… Read more »
President Obama is looking for a few volunteers, asking Americans to dedicate themselves this summer to local community service projects in an extension of his earlier calls to sustain the nation’s increased interest in public service. The United We Serve summer service initiative, announced today by the White House with a Web video, above, willRead… Read more »
An internal investigation out today finds that fewer than half of Veteran’s Affairs facilities selected for random inspections had properly sterilized medical equipment used to perform colonoscopies, despite orders to comply with safety guidelines. The Veterans Affairs inspector general report(pdf) follows revelations that VA hospitals in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee possibly exposed 10,320 veterans toRead… Read more »
Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) has demanded that the Corporation for National and Community Service provide “any and all records, e-mail, memoranda, documents, communications, or other information” related to President Obama’s no-confidence dismissal last week of the Corporation’s inspector general Gerald Walpin, including any communications with aides to the president and first lady Michelle Obama.Read… Read more »
An Energy Department employee and ten family members rung up approximately $19,000 in service charges on government-issued cellphones between March 2006 and August 2008, according to recent court filings. Alva Yelverton, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government property on May 27 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. SheRead… Read more »
Lawmakers grilled representatives of the State Department and a private security firm today on the details and administration of a contract to provide protective services at the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, suggesting that the company’s deficiencies in the past two years may have placed the compound at risk of an attack. Deputy Assistant SecretaryRead… Read more »
Addressing concerns that he lacks familiarity with the public sector, President Obama’s nominee to serve as the nation’s first chief performance officer acknowledged today that his business background has not blessed him with all the solutions necessary to tweak government management and recruitment plans. “I very much recognize and appreciate that government is different fromRead… Read more »