Tag Archives: Tangherlini

GSA outlines progress cracking down on bonuses, pricey conferences

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Originally posted by Charles S. Clark on GovExec

The test of whether a federal performance bonus is merited is "whether I can explain it at a Senate hearing," acting General Services Administration chief Dan Tangherlini told a Senate panel Wednesday. Bonuses should be given only for "special, exemplary, extremely justifiable acts," he added, and "the quality of our work should not be dependent on a bonus award but on commitment" to mission.

Tangherlini appeared with GSA Inspector General Brian Miller before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to respond to senators' reviews of lengthy committee questionnaires the agency had completed as part of the ongoing fallout from the April 2012 scandal over lavish spending on entertainment at a GSA training conference in Las Vegas.

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Senator ‘sickened’ by new GSA controversy

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Originally posted by Charles S. Clark on Government Executive
Leaders of the key Senate panel overseeing the General Services Administration responded to news of another conference featuring questionable spending by releasing a redacted version of a letter from the acting GSA chief summarizing progress on his "top-to-bottom" review of the troubled agency's management procedures.

"At a time when Congress must make the toughest budget choices we have ever made, I am sickened to hear more stories about the reckless disregard GSA shows for taxpayer dollars," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, after House Republicans revealed details of a November 2010 Federal Acquisition Service conference held in Arlington, Va.

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GSA blasted for another over-the-top 2010 conference

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Originally posted by Government Executive

The General Services Administration staged a one-day awards conference at two hotels in Arlington, Va., in November 2010 at which some 200 guests were treated to gifts such as time-and-temperature picture frames and drumsticks, according to GSA inspector general figures House Republicans on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released Thursday.  The estimated total cost of the conference was $268,732.

"It's another sad day for taxpayers, another for an out-of-control agency," Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the panel, said at a hastily called press conference to announce a congressional investigation into the matter. "This makes everyone's blood boil among members of Congress and the public."
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