General Services Administration

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'Record Number' of Lighthouses Up for Grabs

GSA is offering 6 of the obsolete structures for free, with another 4 on the auction block

(Newser) - If you've always pined to own your very own lighthouse—and Willem Dafoe hasn't scared you off of the prospect—now's your chance. Each May, the General Services Administration offers lighthouses to the public under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act , so that any of the federally...

GSA Boss Wants Law Changed
GSA Boss Wants
Law Changed
Nov 23, 2020 7:15 PM CST

GSA Boss Wants Law Changed

Saying she tries 'to do what is right,' Emily Murphy puts her dilemma in personal terms

(Newser) - After it somehow fell to a nationally pressured appointee of President Trump to effectively declare the winner of the presidential election, Emily Murphy explained her delayed decision in personal terms. "I have always strived to do what is right," the GSA boss told President-elect Joe Biden on Monday...

Trump, GSA Tell Biden to Start the Transition

Agency head says she wasn't pressured by White House to delay

(Newser) - Emily Murphy, administrator of the General Services Administration, announced Monday afternoon that she had determined that President-elect Joe Biden is the "apparent winner" of the Nov. 3 presidential election, clearing the way for federal agencies to cooperate with Biden's team on the transition. In a tweet, Trump endorsed...

One Part of Trump Strategy: Expect More Rallies
Trump Appointee Won't Sign
Transition Letter
the rundown
Nov 9, 2020 9:50 AM CST

Trump Appointee Won't Sign Transition Letter

Move prevents Biden team from accessing money, using federal buildings

(Newser) - The inauguration is 72 days away, and President Trump's team is signaling that it intends to make full use of them to try to keep Trump in office. Joe Biden, meanwhile, is quickly moving ahead by lining up his own White House team . Coverage about what to expect in...

Work Orders Offer 'Rare Glimpse' Into WH Maintenance Issues

Like mice, roaches, ants, and a toilet seat for the Oval Office

(Newser) - Remember when President Trump reportedly called the White House a "real dump" ? The New York Post notes that, at least in terms of maintenance issues, that observation may not be entirely inaccurate. Hundreds of work orders for the White House were submitted in 2017, and News4 got its...

Taxpayers Gave Romney $8.9M to Plan 'Transition'

New law provides candidates with resources whether they win or not

(Newser) - The federal government handed Mitt Romney's team millions of dollars to plan a presidential transition that never happened, Freedom of Information Act requests reveal. Romney was the first beneficiary of the Presidential Transition Act of 2010, which provides major party candidates with resources to plan their transitions mid-campaign, Time...

Probe Uncovers $30M in Unreported GSA Bonuses

While another finds more 'questionable conferences'

(Newser) - A Washington-area TV station has uncovered $30 million in bonuses paid out in 2011 that the GSA neglected to mention in an earlier Freedom of Information Act request looking into its finances. In the May report, the Office of Personnel Management listed the GSA as paying a hair more than...

GSA Bash Organizer Steps Down

Jeff Neely had 'swagger' like Jack Abramoff: congressman

(Newser) - The General Services Administration official who organized that extravagant and much-derided Las Vegas conference has left his post. Jeff Neely was acting regional commissioner when the $800,000 conference occurred; after an investigation, he was placed on administrative leave in April. The GSA is continuing to pursue "all available...

It's Not Just Waste: Fraud Rampant at GSA

It clawed back $376M last year

(Newser) - The General Services Administration's Vegas shindig was just the tip of the iceberg. The GSA is so loaded with cash that it's a magnet for fraud and abuse, the Los Angeles Times reports. From October 2010 to September 2011 alone, the agency prosecuted 64 cases in which people...

Taxpayers Footed Travel Bill for GSA Honcho's Wife

Deborah Neely was apparently very good at spending government money

(Newser) - Tales of the General Services Administration's lavish overspending just keep coming. The latest? Turns out Deborah Neely, wife of GSA boss Jeff Neely (the guy who pleaded the Fifth at a House hearing Monday) came along on some of his "work" trips—at taxpayers' expense. Of course, she...

GSA Scandal: Jeff Neely Pleads the Fifth
GSA Scandal: Jeff Neely Pleads the 5th
update
Apr 16, 2012 7:17 PM CDT

GSA Scandal: Jeff Neely Pleads the 5th

Agency to former officials: You owe us Vegas money

(Newser) - Rep. Darrell Issa said never before in his career had a witness at a government hearing refused to testify. But Jeff Neely, former official at the General Services Administration, invoked his fifth amendment right today during a congressional hearing into the agency's use of $800,000 for a Las...

GSA Officials Did 1 Hour of Work on 7-Day Hawaii Trip

Flew out on a Saturday, returned on Friday to attend ribbon-cutting

(Newser) - The General Services Administration is truly the gift that keeps on giving , at least for those who love tales of government malfeasance. Rep. John Mica yesterday revealed another juicy tidbit born from the probe into the agency, reports The Hill . A number of GSA officials traveled to Hawaii on a...

GSA Nixes New Vegas Conference

Sin City conference canceled in wake of uproar

(Newser) - In the wake of all the uproar over its $822,000 conference in Las Vegas in 2010, the General Services Administration has decided it may not be a good idea to return to Sin City this year, the Washington Post reports. Thus, the GSA axed "GreenUP 2012 Training Conference...

GSA Vegas Fallout Claims 8th Victim

David Foley quipped on video about lavish conference

(Newser) - The General Services Administration deputy commissioner who joked on video about the extravagant spending at the GSA's 2010 Las Vegas conference has been placed on leave, reports the Washington Post . David Foley is under disciplinary review for his conduct at the conference, making him the eighth GSA official so...

US Agency's Vegas Scandal: They Had a Talent Contest

The winner rapped about government excess ... seriously

(Newser) - One last cherry on top of that $822,000 Vegas party thrown by the General Services Administration that cost three top officials their jobs: They had a talent contest. Better yet: The winner of the contest is a ukulele-playing federal employee who made a six-minute video in which he raps...

Federal Heads Roll Over $822K Vegas Party

Waste included $6K in coins honoring GSA's work on stimulus

(Newser) - What happens in Vegas ... has come back to bite a federal agency that decided to throw itself an $822,000 conference that was every bit as posh as it was ill-advised. Martha Johnson, the administrator of the General Services Administration, has quit over the brouhaha, acknowledging in her resignation letter...

Census Memo: Please Stop Napping at Work
 Census Memo: 
 Please Stop 
 Napping at Work 
ALSO, EXPLODING TOILETS
Sep 28, 2011 12:19 PM CDT

Census Memo: Please Stop Napping at Work

Another government memo warns of exploding toilets

(Newser) - The Federal Eye blog at the Washington Post picks up on two memos to government employees not of the usual variety (we hope):
  • Nap time: Census Bureau officials fielding increased complaints about workers "sleeping in public areas" of its Maryland headquarters cracked down: “Sleeping on the premises is
...

For Sale: 2 Lighthouses, Very Used

US puts two off Jersey coast up for auction

(Newser) - Looking for an oceanfront (and oceanback) getaway? The government has put two old lighthouses off the Jersey coast up for auction, reports the Star-Ledger . Bidding starts at $10,000 each at the General Services Administration website for the Romer Shoal Light Station and the Great Beds lighthouse. Previous lighthouses sold...

GM-Owning Feds Buy Rival Fords
GM-Owning Feds Buy
Rival Fords
Jun 11, 2009 5:30 AM CDT

GM-Owning Feds Buy Rival Fords

General Services Administration spends $129M on competition

(Newser) - The federal government isn't letting its stake in General Motors and Chrysler stop it from doing business with rivals, the New York Times reports. Ford, the only one of the Big Three not to receive bailout funds, won the biggest order in the General Services Administration's recent stimulus-funded $287 million...

Court Tosses Conviction in Abramoff Affair

Ruling says feds were overzealous in case against GSA official

(Newser) - A key conviction in the Jack Abramoff scandal was reversed today, as a federal appeals court ruled that the Justice Department overreached in its prosecution of David Safavian. The onetime chief of staff at GSA provided inside information on government-owned properties to Abramoff; he was convicted of lying to multiple...

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