How tight can your belt get?

We ask whether our readers have a sense yet for how much they'll have to cut expenses in fiscal 2012.

Shared keyboards, chairpooling and other budget-cutting proposals

FCW cartoonist John Klossner suggests some unorthodox ways to trim costs from government operations.

House panel proposes steep funding cuts for agencies

The House Appropriations Committee has mapped out its spending blueprint, including proposing double-digit cuts for some federal agencies.

Professional, service contracts will come up short in 2012 budget

The 2012 budget is expected to be lean, and details of some of the proposed cuts are beginning to emerge.

DOD budget cuts target contractors, IT programs

Reductions to personnel, IT and major weapons programs are DOD targets as the Pentagon faces $13 billion less than requested in the fiscal 2012 budget.

Funding rules might challenge Obama IT reform effort

When Federal CIO Vivek Kundra unveiled the White House IT management reform plan earlier this month, he said one of its toughest elements would be aligning the budget process with the technology cycle.

Federal shutdown a possibility

The federal government's money runs out at midnight Dec. 18 unless the Senate takes quick action.

Agencies' unique coding systems hinder Recovery Act oversight, official says

The board that oversees money from the stimulus law ran into an old problem: agencies doing things their own way and forgetting about unity, official says.

Existing procurements got bulk of Recovery Act contract dollars

Pressure to act quickly on high-priority projects drove agency officials toward existing contracts, GAO reported.

Is your company on the Do Not Pay list?

The Obama administration is developing a governmentwide Do Not Pay List to track debarred contractors, deceased individuals and others ineligible for federal payments.

HHS awards $267M for health IT regional centers

The Health and Human Services Department funds centers designed to help doctors and rural hospitals use health IT.

A practical way to spice things up for new contracting employees

Give high-school grads some of the routine work, so the specialists can engage their minds with bigger challenges.

Coast Guard hopes third time is the charm for troubled Deepwater program

The Coast Guard has nearly finished the third fleet mix analysis of its $27 billion Integrated Deepwater System asset acquisition project, at a time when the program continues to have problems with affordability and management, according to a new report.

Flat IT budget no problem for VA, CIO says

Roger Baker, the Veterans Affairs Department's CIO, told a House panel today that although the fiscal 2011 budget is flat for information technology, it is enough to fulfill the department's needs.

Food-safety, public health surveillance IT highlight FDA fiscal 2011 budget request

The Food and Drug Administration wants a 23 percent increase in its budget for fiscal 2011 in part to expand several information technology programs.

Obama wants faster program reviews and more agency input

The administration wants to continually streamline what works and eliminate what doesn't work.

HHS budget highlights IT initiatives

The Health and Human Services Department's proposed $81 billion discretionary budget for fiscal 2011 includes a few nuggets of increased IT spending.

VA freezes IT budget for 2011

The Veterans Affairs Department is looking at a flat level of $3.3 billion for information technology in fiscal 2011, but managed some increases for benefits automation and telemedicine.

Budget request highlights push for efficiency

The White House's $79 billion IT budget includes plans for centralizing IT services, consolidating data centers and more cloud computing.

Virtual border fence would lose under budget

The administration wants $43.59 billion for the Homeland Security Department in fiscal 2011 compared with the $42.60 billion that the department got for this year.