'Back-Door' Base Closures
Biden Talks Loss With Fallen Troops' Families
Neely Out at GSA
More USPS Buyouts
Gimme My Discount! Deals for Feds
Buyout Watch: Who's Offering What
AUTHOR ARCHIVES
Former adviser gives Obama an 'A-' on defense policy
January 22, 2010 Before the faltering economy hijacked the 2008 presidential race, President Obama's campaign was largely defined by his bold defense promises. He differentiated himself from then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries by his opposition to the Iraq War. Later, during the general election, he pledged to engage America's enemies, shutter ...
Homeland Security halts deportations to Haiti after earthquake
January 13, 2010 The Homeland Security Department announced Wednesday afternoon that it will halt the deportation of illegal Haitian immigrants in the wake of a devastating 7.0 earthquake in that country. But some lawmakers and immigration advocates are lobbying President Obama go further and grant Haitians in the U.S. a safe haven through ...
Vetting vexes State Department
August 24, 2009 When Paul Farmer, the physician and globe-trotting Harvard professor celebrated for his work on public health in Haiti, pulled out of the running this month to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development, critics were quick to blame the vetting process. "I still think the proper response is to throw ...
Funding fight sparks debate on Peace Corps' future
August 14, 2009 As a candidate, Obama praised the program as a cornerstone of American soft power and pledged to double the number of volunteers by 2011. Online applications in the days surrounding Obama's inauguration tripled from the year before, and applications overall rose 12 percent in the first six months of 2009. ...
White House Web presence gets low marks
April 27, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
Barack Obama's presidential campaign was an online juggernaut, and the new administration has proposed to use that technological wizardry to make government more transparent. But while new media observers give the team's two most ambitious Web sites -- the overhaul of WhiteHouse.gov and the stimulus-tracking Recovery.gov -- an "A" for ...
Digital divide thwarts online diplomatic efforts
April 24, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
The State Department is rapidly moving its diplomatic outreach efforts online, with a digital SWAT team of Arabic, Farsi and Urdu speakers to post on chat boards in the Muslim world and a social networking site and video contest to generate excitement about Western-style democracy. But for all the talk ...
Will Twitter add a new wrinkle to campaign fundraising?
April 7, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
Twitter boasts scores of congressmen on its rolls, it helped monitor polls on Election Day and it has enabled at least one high-profile "Twitterview." But one test remains for the micro-blogging site's true value inside the Beltway: Will politicians be able to tap their networks of followers for campaign cash? ...
Agencies struggling to make connections online
February 2, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
When President Obama signed an executive order instructing federal agencies to disseminate more information online and open more channels for feedback, the media duly applauded while good-government groups breathed a sigh of relief. But agencies are already using social media; most just haven't been successful. Bureaucratic inefficiency is partly to ...
Agencies struggle to make connections online
February 2, 2009 When President Obama signed an executive order instructing federal agencies to disseminate more information online and open more channels for feedback, the media duly applauded while good-government groups breathed a sigh of relief. But agencies are already using social media; most just haven't been successful. Bureaucratic inefficiency is partly to ...
Obama promises oversight, quick spending
January 28, 2009 President Obama sought to reassure skeptics of his proposed stimulus package at a midday press conference, promising to quickly pump the funds into the economy and provide transparency through a new Web site. Obama, who has tried, unsuccessfully thus far, to woo Republican support for the plan, said he understood ...
