Agencies lay out contracting regulations coming this year The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive. The Veterans Affairs Department fired three more senior executives at the Phoenix VA hospital. The center’s associate director, Lance Robinson, Chief of Health Administration Service Brad Curry, and Chief of Staff… Read more »

'At the limit,' Mexico buckles under migrant surge to U.S. Central American migrants rest next to the train tracks while waiting for the freight train 'La Bestia', or the Beast, to travel to north Mexico to reach and cross the U.S. border, at Arriaga in the state of Chiapas January 10, 2012. Reuters/Jorge Luis Plata/File Photo Mexico is struggling to stem the flow of Central… Read more »

DHS funding for new headquarters slashed in FY 2017 bill A House Appropriations subcommittee delivered a major setback to the funding of a consolidated Department of Homeland Security headquarters campus on Wednesday. The $41.1 billion DHS funding bill passed the subcommittee, but cut $126 million in funding from the St. Elizabeths headquarters campus in Southeast Washington,… Read more »

House appropriations bill amendment would delay enforcement of CFPB payday loan rule According to a Politico report, the House Appropriations Committee has advanced a bipartisan amendment to the FY17 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill that would block the CFPB from enforcing a rule regulating payday and vehicle title loans until the CFPB submits a detailed… Read more »

DHS funding for new headquarters slashed in FY 2017 bill A House Appropriations subcommittee delivered a major setback to the funding of a consolidated Homeland Security Department headquarters campus on Wednesday. The $41.1 billion DHS funding bill passed the subcommittee, but it cut $126 million in funding from the St. Elizabeths headquarters campus in Southeast Washington,… Read more »

99 percent satisfaction at TSA? Congressman questions agencies’ customer service data Agencies are too selective about what they choose to include — and omit — in their quarterly customer service reports onPerformance.gov, one congressman said. And he wants agencies to start holding themselves to higher performance standards, preferably measures they don’t create… Read more »

A recently passed law that will bring an estimated $18.2 billion in funding for highways and other transportation projects in Texas came at a good time for the Lone Star State's ailing oil and gas sector, Congressman Will Hurd told energy industry leaders. During a late Friday afternoon speech before the Eagle Ford ConsortiumConference in San Antonio, Hurd (R-Helotes) said… Read more »

WASHINGTON — Election Day may be five months away, but Texans in Congress have only about half that time to get anything done. Members have about 10 weeks to debate and act on measures that affect all walks of American life. By mid-July, a scheduled summer recess, re-election campaigns and the summer conventions will soon eat into the remaining legislative… Read more »

The effort to change Cuban immigration policy EL PASO, Texas. A viewer named Kyle complained about U.S. immigration policy. He asked me why it's so easy for Cuban immigrants to get residency in this country compared to other Latin American immigrants. As I explained last Thursday, it's because of a federal law created a half-century ago during the Cold War. It gives Cuban immigrants… Read more »

Olson’s Ozone Bill Could Use a Vehicle, But the Energy Bill’s Out Rep. Pete Olson’s controversial bill pushing back against the Obama administration’s ozone standards needs a bipartisan vehicle to be signed into law. But it’s not clear what that vehicle is. Olson spokeswoman Melissa Kelly initially told Morning Consult on Tuesday that Olson would try include… Read more »