The Obama administration and some lawmakers have pointed to one untapped source of revenue for the government: excess federal properties, which they say could net $15 billion in savings and sale revenue combined.

Here is how complicated the federal government's process for calculating new retiree pensions has become. The Office of Personnel Management has more than 80 different systems , some of which are so old they run on antiquated COBOL programming language. Those 80 systems have to talk to 400 other personnel and financial systems scattered throughout the rest of the government.

A change in federal law to keep experienced officers in uniform allows top generals and admirals to make more in retirement than they did on active duty, Pentagon and congressional records show.

A handful of Republican senators introduced a plan Thursday that would delay Defense Department spending cuts required under sequestration by extending the current pay freeze for civilian employees through June 2014 and cutting the federal workforce by 5 percent.

The Defense Department plans to spend $18 million to fund six programs aimed at reducing energy use in combat zones.

Sen. Charles Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is demanding answers from the Food and Drug Administration about allegations that it monitored the email of employees who were whistle-blowers.

The General Services Administration will be cutting even more corners to finish the new Coast Guard headquarters on time, according to a spending plan sent to Congress Jan. 27.

Rep. Buck McKeon, Republican chair of the House Armed Services Committee, did not mince words when asked what he would do to a Pentagon request for domestic base closures.

House Transportation Committee leaders Tuesday unveiled a $260 billion bill to fund federal transportation programs. Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla., said the five-year transportation authorization bill will create jobs and reduce reliance on imported energy.

The Obama administration will send a bill to Congress in the next couple of weeks that seeks "fast-track" authority to reorganize federal agencies.

Whistle-blower advocates are lauding a new federal lawsuit that seeks to ban all federal agencies from targeting whistleblowers with selected electronic surveillance and monitoring.

The Air Force improperly retaliated against four civilian employees at Dover Air Force Base, Del., for revealing the mishandling of remains at the military mortuary there, according to an Office of Special Counsel report.

Federal employees overall receive 16 percent higher pay and benefits than they would in the private sector, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Monday.

A bill that would freeze pay scales one more year will come up for a full House vote on Wednesday.

The Defense Department's fiscal 2013 budget plan to cut $259 billion from spending over the next five years is unlikely to damage America's defense industrial base largely because it sidesteps major program cuts in a presidential election year, according to analysts.

Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., who chairs the House panel responsible for federal pay and benefits, says he eventually wants to get rid of a defined benefit pension for federal employees.

At a time when bipartisanship on Capitol Hill has essentially disappeared, an intriguing example of cross-party consensus has emerged in a relatively obscure area of foreign policy: closing overseas military bases.

Department of Homeland Security contractors will soon be able to submit all bids electronically , most are submitted on paper now , in one of the improvements department officials promised Thursday at DHS Industry Day in Washington.

A subcontractor tied to a brazen federal contracting fraud case has been charged with bribery by the Justice Department, according to court documents.

Efforts by several lawmakers to avert drastic downsizing at a federal inspector general's office appear to have failed.