Let’s face it; it hasn’t been the best few weeks for federal government. Between the GSA scandal, the Secret Service scandal, and the dishonorable acts of a few soldiers in Afghanistan, public servants are getting a bad rap. Luckily, we know 98% of federal workers are hard-working, mission-driven people focused on efficiency. Christopher Dorobek ofRead… Read more »
The media frenzy over the peccadillos of a few GSA people has quieted a bit, thanks to the Secret Service scandal. The issue, of course, will be a political battle of grandstanding for a while. It’s easier for the committees to relate to the cost of Beef Wellington and Monte Cristo sandwiches than the nationalRead… Read more »
The last couple of weeks have been tumultuous at different agencies in the US government. For the fourth time in as many months, Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta faced the media last week to state that the “actions of a few do not reflect the character of the US military”. It sounds so much likeRead… Read more »
Well, I must admit that I took a bit of heat for my initial post on this subject. My general position stands although much more has surfaced in the last week and this gets uglier by the day. I doubt whether anyone initially expected this to go viral. I’ll repeat in no uncertain terms thatRead… Read more »
The House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on public buildings got serious with GSA officials yesterday, issuing threats if the agency doesn’t clean up its act. Members of the subcommittee claim they have been blocked from receiving budget figures, and Chairman Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) didn’t hide his frustration, saying: “Let me just issue a warning …Read… Read more »
Was the GSA Scandal a Political Hatchet Job? — Maybe so says one former GSA-er by GovLoop Insights Welcome to GovLoop Insights Issue of the Week with Chris Dorobek… where each week, our goal is to find an issue — a person — an idea — then helped define the past 7-days… and we workRead… Read more »
Ralph Smith is the president and a co-founder of FedSmith.com. Sign up for the FedSmith.com free daily email newsletterto get the latest news affecting federal employees. This article originally appeared on FedSmith.com. The General Services Administration (GSA) has been getting rammed with negative publicity around the country. It isn’t the kind of publicity that anyRead… Read more »
I am sure that I will annoy more than a few people with my take on the matter. Most of my prior posts were intended as fun items, and were based on the book I wrote about my experiences in my 38 years with GSA. This post, however, is quite serious because things are gettingRead… Read more »
Seeing a number of senior officials in the last year “ousted,” I find it sort of scary the risks and travails that executive leadership can entail. There are so many good, hardworking people at GSA making progress for the Government in terms of property management, contract management, fleet management, and more, that it was aRead… Read more »
Today I read through a recent acquisition report from GAO: Effort to Consolidate Government Wide Acquisition Data Systems Should Be Reassessed. There are a lot of interesting observations within the report. GAO performed the study to assess the acquisition strategy being used to develop the Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE). The report finds that progress hasRead… Read more »