Oversight
Partisan Sniping Muddles Timeline for Finishing Bill to Avoid Shutdown
House leaders kicked off the week by blaming the other side for slow negotiations.
Management
Why We’re Losing the Brand War Against ISIS
A better narrative could end terrorism once and for all.
Management
Republican Senators Want to Expand VA Firing Authority to the IRS
Lawmakers look to change perception that "anything goes at the top tiers of the federal bureaucracy."
Management
Why Justice Is Investigating the Chicago Police Department
Given the department’s long history of police brutality, an audit is long overdue.
Defense
How Obama's Gun-Control Push Inverted the Politics of the No-Fly List
Democrats, once critics of Bush-era terror policies, have decided they’re a useful tool, while Republicans have rediscovered the importance of due process.
Oversight
Congress Backs Crackdown on $125B in Improper Payments to the Dead, Others
Lawmakers temper expectations for actual savings from soon-to-be law.
Oversight
Newly Reauthorized Export-Import Bank Will Get Ethics Office, Risk Manager
President Obama asks customers for patience while the stalled agency resumes full services.
Route Fifty
Idaho Looks at a Partial Alternative for Medicaid Expansion; Wooing the NFL With a No-Drone Policy
Also: Bus drivers using hand signals to boost safety and new Kansas state slogan suggestions.
Nextgov
Pentagon Aims to Revamp Global Command and Control System
DOD is looking specifically at deploying data in cloud-and mobile-based environments.
Route Fifty
Big Data Is Big News, Especially in State Governments
The Pew Charitable Trusts is starting an 18-month review of how the 50 states are utilizing data to improve decision-making and government performance.
Nextgov
OPM Says Dead Federal Employees Also Need ID Theft Protection
The agency is mailing about 300,000 notification letters addressed to the departed
Management
Agency Energy Use Reduced to 40-Year Low
Defense Department accounts for lion’s share of conservation progress.
Defense
Homeland Security to Announce New Terrorism Alert System
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says the president will soon announce a new terrorism threat alert system to address what he called intermediate-level threats to the United States.
Oversight
Congress Will Race This Week to Avoid a Shutdown
Lawmakers will look to pass an omnibus spending bill and push forward on tax extenders, reconciliation and education.
Management
President Obama's Pending Executive Action on Guns
The president appears poised to bypass Congress, and impose stricter regulations on the purchase and sale of firearms.
Tech
The Postal Service Will Try Emailing Your Mail to You
The agency is testing a new email "notification" service.
Defense
Obama Speaks on San Bernardino: 'This Was an Act of Terrorism'
The president addressed the mass shooting in a televised speech from the Oval Office on Sunday.
Nextgov
Hackers Blast Anti-Semitic Texts, Decelerate Roadrunner Wireless, and Infiltrate Key Australian Supercomputer Agency
Just another week in ThreatWatch, our regularly updated index of noteworthy data breaches.
Oversight
Play of the Day: Obama's Aiming a Little High
The American people don't have the strongest vocabulary skills, so "existential" might be a little aggressive a word for the president to use.
Route Fifty