GovCentral

Senate Democratic aides say that Majority Leader Harry Reid and his leadership team have begun searching for a fix on the public option.

Imagine working for an outfit with a 3-step rank-in-person system instead of 15 grades. A system where outstanding employees could be rewarded, big time, and losers could be punished financially (maybe losing annual leave) and, if necessary fired quickly without red tape and endless appeals. Imagine that if the boss proposed to fire you, you could demand a trial, complete with ...

WASHINGTON – For consumers, the health care bills taking final shape in Congress don't rate close to a perfect 10.

WASHINGTON - Suddenly the Federal Reserve is everybody's punching bag.

  The Feds Have No Faith in Recovery Michael Pento Hellenic Shipping Worldwide November 7, 2009   The stock market has enjoyed a significant rally since the end of the first quarter. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported last week that the economy grew at a 3.5% annual rate in the third quarter–a figure they achieved by that claiming inflation was ...

Legislation moves to floor after Thanksgiving as Dems overcome key hurdle

Key lawmaker announces he'll vote Saturday to begin debate on the bill

In greater detail than he has before, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry outlined his thinking on remaking the federal personnel system during a speech this week. His address to a Human Capital Management: Federal conference was part of a series of discussions he is holding to help in the monumental task of developing a new civil service system. With ...

Measure would add coverage for 31 million, reduce deficit over 10 years

Obama, Dems hail 10-year, $849 billion measure as GOP readies for battle

The U.S. Postal Service posted a $3.8 billion net loss during the fiscal year that ended in September, despite $6 billion in cost-cutting moves. Total mail volume fell more steeply than ever -- by 25.6 billion pieces, or almost 13 percent, more than double any decline in postal history. Worse, the Postal Service expects that 2010 mail volume will drop by ...

WASHINGTON – West Virginia Sen. Robert C. Byrd has become the longest-serving lawmaker in congressional history, a milestone to be marked Wednesday with a Senate resolution. "I look forward to serving you for the next 56 years and 320 days," Byrd said in a statement marking the occasion. His only regret, Byrd said, was that his late wife, Erma, was not ...

Most Americans have a neutral to negative opinion of federal agencies, according to a Gallup poll released on Monday. The poll, conducted during the summer, asked more than 40,000 Americans to rate their individual experience with federal agencies to understand the public's overall perception of government. Nearly half (46 percent) viewed agencies neutrally, while 34 percent reported negative opinions and 20 ...

WASHINGTON - From federal government clerk positions to grocery store cashiers, the competition for jobs is phenomenal. Applications for all types of positions are flooding in. "We are pretty much overwhelmed with the number of applications that we are receiving for every job posting," says Deputy Associate Director of the Center for Talent and Capacity Policy at the U.S. Office of ...

Head of central bank pledges to keep interest rates at record lows

The number of political appointees converting-or burrowing-into career positions is minute, according to the Office of Personnel Management. In 2008, OPM says it reviewed 58 conversions and found only two of the required further evaluation. This is out of more than 1,600 political positions. The minority staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee reported in 2005 that the Bush ...

MIAMI – For three years, the federal agency in charge of preventing Medicare fraud repeatedly ignored internal watchdog warnings about swindlers stealing millions of dollars by scamming several programs, documents show.

NEW YORK – The move to put the self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind on trial just blocks from ground zero raises a host of legal, political and security questions, chief among them: Can a fair-minded jury be found in a city still nursing deep wounds from the attack on the World Trade Center?

Record imbalance could endanger economy, Democrats' political prospects

Slow, methodical approach to war decision leaves him open to critics