Tag: Defense Department

Defense Civilians Make Last Ditch Effort to End Furloughs

Defense Civilians Make Last Ditch Effort to End Furloughs

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Beleaguered federal employees have taken to the White House’s petition website to challenge the Pentagon’s decision to furlough most of its civilian workforce for 11 days in fiscal 2013.

“We the People, Department of Defense federal employees, petition the President of the United States to STOP Secretary Hagel for issuing 11 days furlough starting July 8, 2013,” the petition’s author wrote.  “Federal employees have contributed enough in the last three years with pay freezes and lay-offs.” Continue reading “Defense Civilians Make Last Ditch Effort to End Furloughs”

Conservative Report Finds $1.8 Trillion in Pentagon Savings

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Conservative Report Finds $1.8 Trillion in Pentagon Savings

 June 6, 2013
 Cash Stack

“The ‘universe’ of programs and processes in need of reform at the Pentagon is more than large enough to allow for compliance with so-called sequestration while maintaining the strongest and most capable military the world has ever known.” – R Street Institute and National Taxpayers Union, June 2013

We couldn’t agree more. This quote, from a report released Tuesday by the fiscally conservative organizations R Street Institute and National Taxpayers Union, reflects a growing consensus that we can no longer afford to overlook waste at the Pentagon. Defending America, Defending Taxpayers details 100 specific recommendations for cuts to the Department of Defense (DoD)—the nation’s largest agency—totaling over $1.8 trillion, and makes a compelling argument for why these cuts will make our defense budget leaner while keeping us safe. Continue reading “Conservative Report Finds $1.8 Trillion in Pentagon Savings”

MSPB Could Face ‘Unprecedented’ Wave of Furlough Appeals

MSPB Could Face ‘Unprecedented’ Wave of Furlough Appeals

AFGE’s National President J. David Cox
AFGE’s National President J. David Cox AFGE

The Merit Systems Protection Board is bracing for the “unprecedented situation” of mass furlough appeals, according to an agency official.

MSPB — a quasi-judicial, independent agency that adjudicates appeals of “adverse personnel actions” from federal employees — is responsible for issuing rulings on furlough appeals. Bryan Polisuk, general counsel for MSPB, said the board does not know what to anticipate regarding the possibility of a wave of appeals.

“We’re taking a wait-and-see approach,” Polisuk told Government Executive. “We’re considering different things in an effort to handle the appeals, but we have to see if they come.” Continue reading “MSPB Could Face ‘Unprecedented’ Wave of Furlough Appeals”

Pentagon Has No Idea What 108,000 Contractors Are Doing

Photo: AP Photo/Gervasio Sanchez
By DAVID FRANCIS, The Fiscal Times June 3, 2013

The number of contractors working in Afghanistan now vastly outnumbers American troops stationed there, according to a Congressional Research Service report. CRS, along with the Government Accountability Office, also determined that the Pentagon is unable to properly document the work these contractors are doing. And the information DOD is receiving is often unreliable and inaccurate.

According to CRS, there are now 108,000 private workers in Afghanistan, a workforce that dwarfs the 65,700 American troops still stationed there. That means there are 1.6 contractors for every American soldier in Afghanistan. This is an increase from last month, when The Fiscal Times reported that there were 1.4 contractors per American soldier.

Given the size of the private forces, it’s not surprising that CRS found that in recent years, the Defense Department spent more than any other agency to support contractor work.

“Over the last six fiscal years, DOD obligations for contracts performed in the Iraq and Afghanistan areas of operation were approximately $160 billion and exceeded total contract obligations of any other U.S. federal agency,” CRS found. Continue reading “Pentagon Has No Idea What 108,000 Contractors Are Doing”

AFGE Blasts Think Tanks’ Defense Recommendations to Slash Civilian Personnel

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June 3, 2013

Contact:Tim Kauffman
202-639-6405/202-374-6491
kaufft@afge.org

AFGE Blasts Think Tanks’ Defense Recommendations to Slash Civilian Personnel

Failure to Identify Significant Savings in Bloated Contractor Workforce is Short-Sighted

WASHINGTON – The recommendations of a group of think tanks, purporting to provide scenarios for cutting the budget of the Department of Defense, fail to meet the laugh test because they focus on massive, indiscriminate and destructive across-the-board cuts in civilian and military personnel, while in most cases leaving the more expensive and less efficient contractor shadow workforce intact, the nation’s largest federal employee union said. 

American Federation of Government Employees President J. David Cox Sr. blasted the plans as academically lazy and said it is financially disastrous to ignore growing contractor costs while recommending cuts ranging from 10 percent to more than 33 percent of the civilian workforce. The blatant failure to show balance and seriously analyze the true costs associated with various personnel recommendations invalidates the think tanks’ findings, he said. Continue reading “AFGE Blasts Think Tanks’ Defense Recommendations to Slash Civilian Personnel”