http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/ Government Executive Staff Correspondent Alyssa Rosenberg takes a look at news affecting the management and operations of the massive federal bureaucracy. en Copyright 2009 Fri,06 Nov 2009 19:40:13 GMT http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss One thing it's important to remember in yesterday's tragedy is that there were heroes who took risks, and prevented the shootings from being worse than they could have been. Chief among those heroes is Sergeant Kimberly Munley, a civilian police... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/fort_hood_had_heroes_too.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/fort_hood_had_heroes_too.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Fri,06 Nov 2009 19:40:13 GMT The Washington Post has a profile of Maj. Nidal Hasan, the man who killed 13 people at Fort Hood yesterday. My first thought is for the families of the people who died and were injured, and for Hasan's family, who... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/the_washington_post_has_a.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/the_washington_post_has_a.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Fri,06 Nov 2009 17:28:12 GMT The news about the shootings at Fort Hood is dreadful: at least 12 people are dead and 31 are wounded. One of the shooters is still at large. If you're in the Texas area and want to help, Scott &... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/how_to_help_the_shooting_victi.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/how_to_help_the_shooting_victi.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Thu,05 Nov 2009 22:20:51 GMT By Robert Brodsky Interesting moment this morning at the administration's Tribal Nations conference at the Department of Interior. President Obama was questioned, possibly for the first time, on potential changes to the Small Business Administration's 8(a) Business Development contracting program.... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/obama_questioned_on_8a_program.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/obama_questioned_on_8a_program.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Thu,05 Nov 2009 18:01:46 GMT By Robert Brodsky Tomorrow is April Stephenson's last day as director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency. But, Stephenson, was has been under fire from lawmakers for a pair of damaging GAO reports on DCAA operations, appears to have landed... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/next_step_for_outgoing_dcaa_di.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/next_step_for_outgoing_dcaa_di.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Thu,05 Nov 2009 16:23:55 GMT I'm blogging from home today with a cold (telework really does make folks more productive!), which gave me a chance to read colleague and frequent contributor to this blog Robert Brodsky's fantastic feature in our November issue about how the... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/challenges_in_cutting_contract.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/challenges_in_cutting_contract.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Thu,05 Nov 2009 16:07:00 GMT You'd have to be a real Oscar the Grouch to argue that the show, designed and kept alive with private, foundation, and federal funds, hasn't been one of the better federal investments of all time. In honor of the show,... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/happy_40th_anniversary_to_sesa.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/happy_40th_anniversary_to_sesa.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Wed,04 Nov 2009 16:37:03 GMT On reading this Washington Post story about the Army Corps of Engineers work in New Orleans: 1. Why has it taken so long to *break ground*, much less finish, new protections for the West Bank of New Orleans, especially given... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/questions_i_have_for_the_army.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/questions_i_have_for_the_army.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Wed,04 Nov 2009 15:01:37 GMT At Wired Workplace, Brittany Ballenstedt highlights an Office of Personnel Management memo on improving information sharing between folks who work on human capital issues in the agencies, state and local government, tribal authorities, and the private sector. All of which... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/opm_expands_information_sharin.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/opm_expands_information_sharin.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Tue,03 Nov 2009 17:02:44 GMT On January 30, President Obama signed a slew of executive orders on labor relations issues involving federal agencies, contractors, and their employees. Yesterday, he released an executive order amending one of them. Apparently, the order had been construed as banning... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/obama_amends_labor_executive_o.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/obama_amends_labor_executive_o.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Tue,03 Nov 2009 14:13:25 GMT By Robert Brodsky Federal agencies are failing to justify their use of risky cost-reimbursement contracts rather than using fixed-price contracts, according to a new report released Friday by the Government Accountability Office. The watchdog reviewed 92 contracts and orders and... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/cost-plus_questions_persist.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/cost-plus_questions_persist.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Mon,02 Nov 2009 18:07:08 GMT Over at The American Prospect, Adam Serwer digests the Federal Bureau of Investigation Inspector General's report on the agency's position on torture, and pulls out the unsurprising fact that different officials within the agency had different positions on what it... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/the_fbi_torture_and_the_falsen.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/11/the_fbi_torture_and_the_falsen.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Mon,02 Nov 2009 16:18:55 GMT Over at Wired Workplace, Brittany Ballenstedt reports that the Department of Homeland Security is expanding the IdeaFactory, a program piloted in the Transportation Security Administration to allow employees to submit and discuss suggestions for improving the agency, to cover all... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/10/idea_factory_goes_dhs-wide.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/10/idea_factory_goes_dhs-wide.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Fri,30 Oct 2009 14:49:45 GMT I essentially agree with everything Joe Davidson has to say in his column today about the need for bills and regulations to be written in plain language (although I don't particularly know anyone who doesn't!). As frustrating as they are... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/10/formatting_plain_language.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/10/formatting_plain_language.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Fri,30 Oct 2009 13:18:15 GMT This DipNote diary by James Liddle, a desk officer in the State Department's Africa bureau on his time in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is really well-written and powerful. I just wish they'd published it in installments,... http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/10/state_department_diaries.php http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/10/state_department_diaries.php webmaster@govexec.com (Alyssa Rosenberg) Thu,29 Oct 2009 14:53:47 GMT