President Obama sent Congress a FY2017 budget amendment request last week that would provide $5.8 billion in additional Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). This funding will support U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Middle East The FY 2017 OCO amendment of $5.8 billion [...]
Presidential transition teams open for business this week at federal agencies to provide for the transition of power to the new administration. A prime subject during transition at the Department of Defense is usually how to make the department run more efficiently and effectively. Each new administration develops its own set of defense management and [...]
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced a set of innovation practices that he said supports DoD’s aggressive move “toward a more innovative future.” Speaking at a conference held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) conference (Assessing the Third Offset Strategy) last week, Carter said he will implement three of the recommendations made [...]
Yesterday, Congress approved a Continuing Resolution (CR) that will keep the government running until December 9, 2016. The House passed the CR (H.R. 5325) by a bipartisan vote of 342-85 as 170 Republicans and 172 Democrats voted for passage. Earlier in the day, the Senate passed the CR 72-26. The president is expected to sign [...]
Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Ashton Carter urged Congress to end budget gridlock and achieve budget stability through bipartisanship. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, Carter said budget stability is “critical in order for DoD and our people to address all the national security challenges we face.” Carter identified three areas in the [...]
Continuing budget uncertainty, constrained funding levels, and the threat of sequestration are threatening the military’s ability to achieve and sustain readiness levels necessary to meet current mission demands and build the forces capable of meeting future security threats, military leaders told Congress this week. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), Gen. Mark A. [...]
Congress returns this week (after a seven-week recess) with less than four weeks until the end of the fiscal year and nine weeks until the November elections. Facing this time constraint on FY2017 funding and the desire by members to get back out on the campaign trail, House and Senate leaders will meet this week [...]
President Obama notified Congress this week that he has determined federal civilian employees should receive a 1.6 percent across-the-board pay raise in 2017. This is the same civilian and military pay raises the president included in the FY2017 federal budget request in February. Each year the president is required under Title 5 U.S.C., sections 5303(b) [...]
The Department of Defense (DoD) reported that since August 8, 2014, the cost of U.S. military operations in Iraq and Syria (Operation Inherent Resolve-OIR) against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) totaled $8.7 billion as of July 31, 2016. Flying operations accounted for 43 percent ($3.7 billion) of total costs, while mission [...]
The General Services Administration (GSA) announced this month that federal employees will receive slightly higher daily Per Diem reimbursement rates for official travel in FY2017. Per Diem rates are the maximum amounts a federal employee can receive as reimbursement for allowable expenses while on official duty travel. GSA sets per diem rates for locations in CONUS. [...]