Layoffs begin for tens of thousands of federal workers

[NOTSMC]

I wonder how long those "laid off" will continue to get paid for, right now they are getting paid leave.

I wonder that too. I do not trust that what they agreed to is going to be honored.

 

[BOP]

The average government worker doesn't have the ability to do this. All purchases, no matter how small have to be approved by their supervisor, then it goes off to a purchaser who does the purchasing, and finally it has to meet certain guidelines.

Where the real waste comes in is the laws governing this sort of thing. Can't buy from Amazon, if I need something only amazon sells because it isn't a small business, isn't a woman or minority owned business a middle company that buys said item from amazon comes in charges a fee plus marks the price up, only then can I buy the item.

I needed some Windex (not for washing my window either btw) but because it had to go through the Hazmat coordinator it ended up costing a bit over $20, but the purchaser's branch fee adds a couple hundred to that it ended up costing a lot. I would have just brought some in from home to do the job, but because Windex is hazmat I could have gotten in big trouble for doing that.

But that isn't even where the real waste is, the real waste involves end of year money, if you don't spend all your money you have to blow it or the bean counters will say you don't need that much and next year will give you less. Cant tell you how many "smart boards" are sitting in the box that were bought with end of year money.

People I know have been pressured to sign off on things vendors delivered not working so they can get a bonus for being early when the job clearly was not completed. They know not to ask me to do that.

I've called the fraud, waste and abuse hotline multiple times throughout the years only for nothing to happen. I'm pretty sure the hotline is waste itself.

I can't speak to other agencies, but we in the DoD are so micromanaged year-in/year-out, all year long.

All we can do is submit our budgets and pray we don't get cut, and write our reclamas if we do.

If a person was to follow our budget processes, you'd swear there is no waste, fraud, or abuse anywhere. We even had contractor personnel going over the cost of stuff we buy from NAVICP, for example, to see if they're gouging us. Most of the time, they are, by the way.

But yeah, the biggest opportunity for waste is the end-of-year give-backs. It doesn't help that field activities will hold on and hold on to money we give them from the program office - telling us when we check on whether they're using the funds "oh, yeah, no problem!" and then giving it back at the last minute when nobody can spend it, so we have to give it back to Congress, and look like total tools in the process.

Okay, that, and telling Congress your program is "just an upgrade to an existing T/M/S, and that you are totally not building new" only to turn around a few years later and tell Congress that you need to build new, because the average aircraft went high time just after Vietnam.

 

[NOTSMC]

I can't speak to other agencies, but we in the DoD are so micromanaged year-in/year-out, all year long.

All we can do is submit our budgets and pray we don't get cut, and write our reclamas if we do.

If a person was to follow our budget processes, you'd swear there is no waste, fraud, or abuse anywhere. We even had contractor personnel going over the cost of stuff we buy from NAVICP, for example, to see if they're gouging us. Most of the time, they are, by the way.

But yeah, the biggest opportunity for waste is the end-of-year give-backs. It doesn't help that field activities will hold on and hold on to money we give them from the program office - telling us when we check on whether they're using the funds "oh, yeah, no problem!" and then giving it back at the last minute when nobody can spend it, so we have to give it back to Congress, and look like total tools in the process.

Okay, that, and telling Congress your program is "just an upgrade to an existing T/M/S, and that you are totally not building new" only to turn around a few years later and tell Congress that you need to build new, because the average aircraft went high time just after Vietnam.

 

[SamSpade]

I've seen - and been a part of - end of fiscal year waste. And it sucks, but it's reality - if you don't spend the money, you'll get less in the coming year. You get NO incentive to save money. That's not to say purchasing stuff isn't laborious, and has onerous requirements along the way.

But there's seriously no incentive to save money - the only time I ever hear is - when stuff gets denied. Like, training or materials for a new language we're all required to transition to.

 

[WingsOfGold]

I've seen - and been a part of - end of fiscal year waste. And it sucks, but it's reality - if you don't spend the money, you'll get less in the coming year. You get NO incentive to save money. That's not to say purchasing stuff isn't laborious, and has onerous requirements along the way.

But there's seriously no incentive to save money - the only time I ever hear is - when stuff gets denied. Like, training or materials for a new language we're all required to transition to.

Damn, nothing has changed in 50 years!

 

[kwillia]

Marylanders... don't worry! Our governor just announced his tax payers will be covering your bills!

 

[SamSpade]

Damn, nothing has changed in 50 years!

No sht. What’s frustrating is, some years you may purchase something like development software or training - and you won’t need to buy it next year EVEN though the training covers more than a year. It’s not always going to be something easily broken out by year. But you are still penalized for saving money even if you can demonstrate how you made it under budget.

Over the years I’ve seen efforts to reverse this - find a way to reward being efficient and frugal. They just don’t last.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

I can't speak to other agencies, but we in the DoD are so micromanaged year-in/year-out, all year long.

All we can do is submit our budgets and pray we don't get cut, and write our reclamas if we do.

If a person was to follow our budget processes, you'd swear there is no waste, fraud, or abuse anywhere. We even had contractor personnel going over the cost of stuff we buy from NAVICP, for example, to see if they're gouging us. Most of the time, they are, by the way.

But yeah, the biggest opportunity for waste is the end-of-year give-backs. It doesn't help that field activities will hold on and hold on to money we give them from the program office - telling us when we check on whether they're using the funds "oh, yeah, no problem!" and then giving it back at the last minute when nobody can spend it, so we have to give it back to Congress, and look like total tools in the process.

Okay, that, and telling Congress your program is "just an upgrade to an existing T/M/S, and that you are totally not building new" only to turn around a few years later and tell Congress that you need to build new, because the average aircraft went high time just after Vietnam.

I get people all the time coming to me in early September asking if I can spend a crap ton of money before the end of the year, every year the answer is "no contracts needed to be in two months ago, and you remember when I told you I needed that much back in April?"

 

[SamSpade]

Marylanders... don't worry! Our governor just announced his tax payers will be covering your bills! View attachment 184848

While only a small portion of feds live here - the highest concentration of federal employees are in the DMV.

 

[kwillia]

While only a small portion of feds live here - the highest concentration of federal employees are in the DMV.

You made me go look:

There are approximately 160,000 federal civilian jobs in Maryland, representing approximately 6% of jobs in the state. Maryland has the second highest concentration of federal employees in the nation, behind only Washington, DC. Additionally, approximately 225,000 jobs in Maryland in 2023 were directly supported by federal contract dollars.

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/...rkers-impacted-by-recent-federal-actions.aspx

 

[WingsOfGold]

You made me go look:

There are approximately 160,000 federal civilian jobs in Maryland, representing approximately 6% of jobs in the state. Maryland has the second highest concentration of federal employees in the nation, behind only Washington, DC. Additionally, approximately 225,000 jobs in Maryland in 2023 were directly supported by federal contract dollars.

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/...rkers-impacted-by-recent-federal-actions.aspx

Unfortunately that 6% is mostly in PG and Mont Counties. Not really Maryland at all but they manage to phuck it up.

 

[Blister]

I can't speak to other agencies, but we in the DoD are so micromanaged year-in/year-out, all year long.

All we can do is submit our budgets and pray we don't get cut, and write our reclamas if we do.

If a person was to follow our budget processes, you'd swear there is no waste, fraud, or abuse anywhere. We even had contractor personnel going over the cost of stuff we buy from NAVICP, for example, to see if they're gouging us. Most of the time, they are, by the way.

But yeah, the biggest opportunity for waste is the end-of-year give-backs. It doesn't help that field activities will hold on and hold on to money we give them from the program office - telling us when we check on whether they're using the funds "oh, yeah, no problem!" and then giving it back at the last minute when nobody can spend it, so we have to give it back to Congress, and look like total tools in the process.

Okay, that, and telling Congress your program is "just an upgrade to an existing T/M/S, and that you are totally not building new" only to turn around a few years later and tell Congress that you need to build new, because the average aircraft went high time just after Vietnam.

Can we get this Government Gobbledygook speech translated into English.

 

[herb749]

Marylanders... don't worry! Our governor just announced his tax payers will be covering your bills! View attachment 184848

Yeah, he'll hire them .

 

[BOP]

Can we get this Government Gobbledygook speech translated into English.

No; you're not part of the in-group.

 

[BOP]

No sht. What’s frustrating is, some years you may purchase something like development software or training - and you won’t need to buy it next year EVEN though the training covers more than a year. It’s not always going to be something easily broken out by year. But you are still penalized for saving money even if you can demonstrate how you made it under budget.

Over the years I’ve seen efforts to reverse this - find a way to reward being efficient and frugal. They just don’t last.

Yep, had my pee-pee whacked more than once, even though I could demonstrate that I'd saved the Gov't money.

 

[glhs837]

1. I can't speak to other agencies, but we in the DoD are so micromanaged year-in/year-out, all year long.

2. All we can do is submit our budgets and pray we don't get cut, and write our reclamas if we do.

3. If a person was to follow our budget processes, you'd swear there is no waste, fraud, or abuse anywhere. We even had contractor personnel going over the cost of stuff we buy from NAVICP, for example, to see if they're gouging us. Most of the time, they are, by the way.

4. But yeah, the biggest opportunity for waste is the end-of-year give-backs. It doesn't help that field activities will hold on and hold on to money we give them from the program office - telling us when we check on whether they're using the funds "oh, yeah, no problem!" and then giving it back at the last minute when nobody can spend it, so we have to give it back to Congress, and look like total tools in the process.

Okay, that, and telling Congress your program is "just an upgrade to an existing T/M/S, and that you are totally not building new" only to turn around a few years later and tell Congress that you need to build new, because the average aircraft went high time just after Vietnam.

Can we get this Government Gobbledygook speech translated into English.

1. I assume you know what micromanaged means.

2. Reclamas are like a saving throw in games. A hail mary pass in football. Your last ditch effort to save the whatever. In this case money.

3. There's very little money you can point to and say that's wasteful. We are generally not blowing money on gold plated whatever's. The waste is in the process, not usually the price. And quite often the things you do hear about are actually solid cases of spending, just blown out. The hammer and toilet seats, for instance. Those were not wasteful spending.
One was an accounting 'trick' to pay the vendor the complete amount they were owed. The cost of a hammer bought for the project was an easy to make the total paid equal what we contracted to spend. The other wasn't a toilet seat at all. But a complex fiberglass molded part that the mold had been tossed since the aircraft was kept in service far past projected lifespan. So a new contract needed to be written and the costs of developing the mold paid off and the amounts needed were small, driving up cost.

4. I always keep a list of "small" stuff, but its always stuff on existing contracts or straight purchases. One year it was 250K to buy some search and rescue kits to tide us over until a full on one was ready. The wasteful part was that since the vendor selling them didn't have them in the federal system, we had to buy them through a third party who had some sort of purchase order thing I don't understand. It allowed us to buy these kits quicky and fill a need. Added 30% to the cost, but the rules were the rules.

5. Related to 4. Your outfit has say 25 million to spend for a given fiscal year. So you budget it, but the reality of supporting aircraft means the numbers never work out. I set aside 150K to pay a guy to write 'new work' publications and the org he works for to turn his work into actual published books, all based on an estimate of hours needed that he wrote based on what new projects we have coming in. And the logisticians set aside another 100K for keeping the books up to date and incorporate Fleet requested changes. So, for the new weapon he said he needed 200 hours and three trips to support, well, that schedule slid so only half that work happens this fiscal year. But the Fleet submitted three times as many change requests than average.

But, here's the thing. New work is paid out of one bucket of money, sustainment from another bucket. And we cannot legally pour money from one to another. And now I have money good for this year that I cant spend on him. But the needs more from the sustainment folks, but they are already broke. And this is simplified. Some money can be carried over, but some cant. Takes an expert to make it work. And a good one is worth their weight in gold.

 

[Blister]

Thanks, now if someone will tell me what a NAVCIP is I will sleep better tonight.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

I've seen - and been a part of - end of fiscal year waste. And it sucks, but it's reality - if you don't spend the money, you'll get less in the coming year.

Ok. Can you, or someone else here, explain something, which I am sure others would like to know and understand. If your budget is reduced because of not spending all of a previous year's budget allocation, and during the new budget year your agency, dept, say four months to the end of the fiscal year, need to replace a major system due to failure, or need to unexpectedly purchase an absolutely mission critical necessary upgrade/part, and there is no money left in the budget to do so, what happens? Do you go without and wait for the next fiscal budget allocation? Or is there a mechanism in place to get additional funding to purchase what is necessary? Inquiring minds.

 

[BOP]

Thanks, now if someone will tell me what a NAVCIP is I will sleep better tonight.

Naval Inventory Control Point, formerly ASO (Navy Aviation Supply Office) in Northeast Philly.

It's all part of NAVSUP WSS now, which is Naval Supply Systems Command, which is out of Virginia, Weapons Systems Support.

We said for several years that NAVSUP would take over the entire supply system world, and apparently, they have.

It's enough to make your head spin, really.

About NAVSUP WSS

 

[Merlin99]

For your consideration ...





Ok. Can you, or someone else here, explain something, which I am sure others would like to know and understand. If your budget is reduced because of not spending all of a previous year's budget allocation, and during the new budget year your agency, dept, say four months to the end of the fiscal year, need to replace a major system due to failure, or need to unexpectedly purchase an absolutely mission critical necessary upgrade/part, and there is no money left in the budget to do so, what happens? Do you go without and wait for the next fiscal budget allocation? Or is there a mechanism in place to get additional funding to purchase what is necessary? Inquiring minds.

You normally find someone with the right kind of money that can MIPR it over to you. If you can’t find it you do without.