Digital Government
Debt limit fight could bring back shutdown specter
House Speaker John Boehner says he wants to see trillions of dollars in spending cuts as part of the legislation to increase the country's debt limit.
People
House panel probes White House staff's storing of mobile device messages
A senior White House official testified on systems in place for automatically capturing all e-mail messages at the office, but a lawmaker suggested some staffers may be bypassing that system by using personal mobile devices.
Digital Government
Weathering the storm
People with a low opinion of the federal government like to pass around jokes that have the punch line: "I'm from the federal government and I'm here to help." President Ronald Reagan famously called them "the 10 most frightening words in the English language."
Digital Government
White House official to testify about preserving Facebook, Twitter records
Rep. Darrell Issa intends to probe the transparency of the White House's social media records at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
People
Obama orders agencies to improve customer service
President Barack Obama tells agencies to develop customer service plans with at least one major technology initiative for each agency.
Digital Government
National security switcheroo: Panetta to DOD, Petraeus to CIA?
The top U.S. commander will likely succeed current CIA Director Leon Panetta once Panetta replaces Robert Gates as defense secretary, and more shake-ups are imminent, news outlets report.
People
OMB tells agencies to cancel print subscriptions to Federal Register
Agencies have been told to stop subscribing to the print edition of the government's journal, the Federal Register.
People
Senator worried about cutting transparency programs
Sen. Tom Carper is worried that Congress' budget reduction to open-government programs such as Data.gov and the Federal IT Dashboard may hurt efforts to curb improper payments and wasteful spending.
Digital Government
Obama to appear in live video feed from Facebook headquarters
President Barack Obama goes to the headquarters of Facebook in Palo Alto, Calif., today to appear in a live video session about the budget deficit.
Digital Government
Contractors required to disclose political contributions: draft order
The White House is considering how to require contractors to declare their political contributions when submitting a contract bid, according to a draft executive order.
People
Agencies update progress on transparency plans
Federal agencies are publishing charts, graphics and progress reports on their open government efforts.
Digital Government
Those darned open microphones
Well, you've heard it by now. At a recent meeting with donors, President Barack Obama spoke candidly near a live microphone that wasn't supposed to be on. The audio feed was heard by a reporter, and the rest is history.
People
Kundra agrees with Obama on IT purchasing
The federal CIO agreed with President Barack Obama's comments on April 14, in which he complained about how the government buys IT.
Digital Government
White House wants $10M for portal and operations center
The White House has gotten the "Do Not Pay" Web portal running and is preparing for its full implementation by the end of fiscal 2012, a senior official testified on April 15.
Acquisition
Some agencies struggle to recover improper payments
Improper and fraudulent payments to federal contractors got attention at a House subcommittee hearing today.
Modernization
CIOs get to work on closing data centers
The Federal CIO Council has started a governmentwide data center consolidation task force as part of the Obama administration’s IT reform project.
People
Back-pay question has no clear answers
As the possibility of a government shutdown continues to loom, federal employees remain haunted by the prospect of not being paid for the time they miss because of a furlough.
Digital Government
Federal websites might be unattended or go dark during furloughs
Many questions were raised today on how, and if, federal websites would function and whether any of them would go offline during a federal shutdown.
People