Tag Archives: President Obama

Defense Intelligence Worldwide Cancelled: Government Events Down, But Budget Savings Up

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Orginally posted by by  on FedConnects

According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last week, efforts to reduce travel and increase oversight in travel and conference spending have saved the federal government roughly $2 billion from fiscal 2010 to fiscal 2012.

Earlier this year, a Market Connections poll showed 38% of government employees plan to attend fewer educational and trade events in FY2013 than last fiscal year.  The majority of poll respondents said budgetary and agency travel restrictions are the cause, and just over one-third of respondents reported that management would not allow them to attend events in 2013.

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Agencies Justify Conference Tabs Above $100,000

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Originally posted by Charles S. Clark on Government Executive

 

Agencies have submitted summaries of conference spending in fiscal 2012 to the Office of Management and Budget that include justifications for training events that exceeded $100,000. The reports are required by a May 2012 memo from Acting Budget Director Jeffrey Zients.

Expanding on a 2011 OMB directive and executive order from President Obama promoting efficient spending, the latest Zients memo requires reductions in travel and conferences in the wake of the spring 2012 scandal involving extravagant spending at a General Services Administration training conference. It prohibits conferences costing more than $500,000 and requires agencies to report on events costing more than $100,000. Reports from all agencies were due Jan. 31.

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Congressman pledges to hold hearings on VA conference spending

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Originally posted by Jolie Lee on Federal News Radio

Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.)

Spa treatments, concert tickets, plus helicopter and stretch limo rides -- the initial details in a Veterans Affairs' Office of the Inspector General investigation could overshadow the General Services Administration conference spending scandal.

A House lawmaker said Monday a preliminary investigation by the VA inspector general revealed two VA training conferences last year in Orlando cost the agency $5 million. In comparison, the GSA conference that set off a series of congressional inquiries cost about $820,000.

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FAA’s last-minute denial of conference funds irks black employee group

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Originally posted by Charles S. Clark on Government Executive

An abrupt decision in late July to deny employees previously approved travel funds to attend a training conference for black aviation employees in Las Vegas has left many at the Federal Aviation Administration disappointed and confused, Government Executive has learned.

A directive from the top levels of the Transportation Department -- handed down, a spokeswoman confirmed, as the Obama administration seeks to reduce conference budgets in the wake of this April's scandal over lavish spending in Las Vegas by General Services Administration employees -- required more than 200 federal employees to either cancel plans for the annual black aviation event or attend using their own money and annual leave.

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VA limits purchasing authority amid probe of pricey conferences

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Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has rescinded the purchasing authority of employees in the departmental division under investigation for two conferences that cost $5 million and may have involved inappropriate gifts. Shinseki also has set up a 90-day independent review of Veteran Affairs Department training policies, VA announced.

In a statement released after news broke Monday that human resources employees at conferences in Florida in July and August 2011 may have accepted thousands of dollars' worth of gifts that included alcohol, concert tickets and spa visits, the department also said it is conducting new ethics training for all personnel involved with the planning and execution of conferences and recertification of contract specialists.

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