Tech

OPM opens USAJOBS Web site to competition

Agency wants bids by the end of August from firms interested in operating the official government employment portal.

Management

Lawmakers, analysts weigh new audit requirements for agencies

Sarbanes-Oxley standards for private companies would add a another layer for federal agencies, in response to corporate accounting scandals.

Pay & Benefits

Senior executive corps to see base salary increases

Agencies must implement new performance evaluation systems for Senior Executive Service members.

Defense

House, Senate send Defense appropriations bill to president

$417.5 billion measure cuts $1.6 billion from President Bush's budget request.

News

Senator seeks reasons for archivist's dismissal

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., wants to know why the White House dismissed John Carlin as head of the National Archives.

Defense

Congress approves bill to boost Coast Guard funding, hiring

The fiscal 2005 spending bill increases active-duty Coast Guard personnel from 37,000 to 45,500.

Management

Contractors contend spending bill would stifle competition

The $417.5 billion defense bill would extend provisions on outsourcing Pentagon civilian personnel jobs.

Defense

Director of 9/11 panel says CIA threat center not realizing potential

Commission recommends new management plan based on private sector models.

Tech

Agriculture chooses EDS for huge eTravel program

Contract is largest yet under new GSA eTravel arrangement.

Defense

Lawmakers call for investigation of security procedures at Los Alamos

Two computer disks with classified information are reported missing from the lab and there are claims of e-mail violations.

Defense

9/11 commission plans to release additional staff reports

Staff studies cover terrorist financing, border and immigration issues and transportation security.

Pay & Benefits

Detecting Diploma Mills

You might be attending a diploma mill if . . .

Defense

Bipartisanship evaporates on Homeland Security authorization

Republicans and Democrats on Homeland Security Committee lob charges and counter-charges of partisanship.

Defense

Appropriators take aim at high-profile Pentagon projects

All three services hit with funding cuts, restructuring plans and reporting requirements on big weapons programs.

Pay & Benefits

OPM begins annual process of adjusting special pay rates

Agencies asked to recommend 2005 increases for about 140,000 employees by mid October.

Management

Federal bureaucracy thickening, study finds

The Bush administration is not paying enough attention to the growth, a Brookings Institution scholar concludes.

Pay & Benefits

House panel backs 3.5 percent civil service pay raise

Lwamakers say civilian employees deserve the same pay adjustments as military personnel.

Defense

9/11 commission scolds government over attacks, calls for major reforms

Panel members and victims’ families plan to lobby hard for changes.

Management

Contracting imperiled by war, lax management, auditors say

Inspectors general of Coalition, Interior Department criticize procurement of interrogators as outside the scope of their contracts.

Management

Agency Reconstruction

Officials at the Public Building Service clarified what the agency did, then reconfigured the workforce to meet that mission.