Topic:
Federal Budget
Latest Headlines
Latest Headlines
Agriculture employees avoid furloughs with congressional approval
The House Appropriations Committee approved a measure that will shift funds within in the Agriculture Department's rural development division to avoid furloughing 4,800 employees due to sequestration cuts, House Appropriations Committee Director of Communication Jennifer Hing said in an e-mail.
House Appropriations approves DHS funding bill
The Homeland Security Department would receive $38.9 billion in discretionary funding in fiscal 2014 under a bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee May 22. The bill (.pdf) passed by a voice vote.
Agencies need to reduce building space and better use existing space, GSA building service commissioner says
Agencies must consolidate offices and better utilize existing offices to help reduce the amount of money and energy spent on maintaining federal buildings, General Services Administration Public Buildings Service Commissioner Dorothy Robyn told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management in a May 22 hearing .
Sequestration eroded GAO ability to produce reports, Comptroller General says
Staffing cuts due to sequestration severely eroded the Government Accountability Office's ability to produce reports and make recommendations to Congress about the efficiency of government agencies, GAO Comptroller Gene Dodaro said at a May 21 Senate Appropriates Committee hearing .
TANF hasn't evolved with changing state programs, GAO says
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program hasn't evolved with changing state programs and there isn't enough information to understand how that has impacted the families needing assistance from the program, a May 15 Government Accountability Office report (.pdf) says.
Treasury will temporarily stop investing in retirement to free up money for federal debt, Lew Says
The Treasury Department will stop investing in federal worker retirement and disability funds since Congress only suspended the debt ceiling until May 18, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in a May 17 letter (.pdf) to Congress. Congress has not approved normal borrowing authority after May 18, Lew said.
Millions could be saved if agencies stop duplicating services, Dodaro tells the Senate
Agencies don't do enough to stop program and services duplication, which costs the government millions of dollars, Government Accountability Office Comptroller Gene Dodaro told the Senate Budget Finance Committee during a May 16 hearing . For example, if the military services jointly purchased uniforms, they could collectively save up to $80 million, Dodaro said.
Federal courts ask OMB for $72.9 million in additional funds
The federal courts system needs $72.9 million in supplemental funding this year to prevent layoffs and other repercussions from sequester-related budget cuts, says the Judicial Conference of the United States. "The judiciary is confronting an unprecedented fiscal crisis that could seriously compromise the constitutional mission of the United States courts," the letter says.
Draft funding bill proposes $147.6 billion for Veterans Affairs
Under House Appropriations Committee spending bill for the coming fiscal year marked up in subcommittee May 15, the Veterans Affairs Department would be funded at a topline of $147.6 billion, with $63.1 billion of that being discretionary spending.
DHS discretionary funding totals $38.9 billion in House Appropriations subcommittee proposal
A House Appropriations subcommittee bill released May 15 would provide the Homeland Security Department with $38.9 billion in discretionary funding for fiscal 2014, a $617.6 million decrease from the fiscal 2013 enacted level. But, based on preliminary scoring from the Congressional Budget Office, that would be a $981 million increase above post-sequestration levels, the committee says in an overview of the bill (.pdf).
