This was originally published as an exclusive to Politico.

Congress and President Barack Obama have been treating federal workers like the nation's piggy bank. They have imposed a two-year pay freeze to reduce the budget deficit, raised pension contributions of future civil servants to...

As our nation confronts historic deficits, federal leaders are being asked to dramatically slash budgets and shrink government. There are no easy or painless ways to make the deep spending cuts on the horizon, but there are many bad ways that will damage government's ability to effectively serve the American...

Congress and the Obama administration are chopping away piecemeal at the salaries and benefits of federal workers, focusing on short-term political payoffs while ignoring a more effective way to reform and manage our nation's government.

While political leaders are right to tackle skyrocketing deficits, this ad hoc approach to the...

At the recent Gridiron roast for politicians and journalists, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius jokingly suggested moving the Transportation Security Administration into her department. Such a merger, she deadpanned, would allow airline passengers to obtain "a boarding pass and a colonoscopy at the same time."

A more reasonable...

This was originally published as an exclusive to The Washington Post.

President Obama, much like John F. Kennedy 50 years ago this month, arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. with a promise to reinvigorate faith in our government and to make federal service "cool" again.

But Obama has yet...

Federal workers are America's new favorite target. Last week, President Obama proposed freezing their pay for two years. "Getting this deficit under control is going to require some broad sacrifices," he said, "and that sacrifice must be shared by the employees of the federal government." Meanwhile, the president's bipartisan deficit...

This was originally published as an exclusive commentary for Politico.

President Barack Obama has worn many hats these last two years -- including commander in chief, presiding over two wars; and legislator in chief, in his many battles with Congress.

As he regroups after the mid-terms for a...

This was originally published as an exclusive to AOL News.

As attacks from makeshift roadside bombs wreaked havoc in Iraq and later in Afghanistan, Teri Glass and colleagues at Fort Detrick in Maryland worked tirelessly to develop a state-of-the-art medical evacuation system that has since helped medics quickly...

The House Republican "Pledge to America" proposal that would impose an across-the-board freeze on non-security federal hiring may sound reasonable at first blush, especially given the budget deficit, the increased role of government and the economic pain being felt across the country.

After all, why shouldn't government tighten...

This was originally published as an exclusive to Politico.

The litany of recent government regulatory failures -- the oil-gushing catastrophe on the Gulf Coast, financial agencies turning a blind eye to fraud and Wall Street excesses, the worst coal mine disaster in a quarter-century, undetected accelerator problems in...

Recent polls from the Pew Research Center and others have shown a troubling amount of distrust in our federal government, indicating that the public does not believe government is working for them or meeting their needs and concerns. This distrust has been magnified by economic uncertainty and no...

This was originally published as an exclusive to McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

Partisan gridlock, high unemployment, record budget deficits, Wall Street bailouts -- the litany of unsettling news has led to growing anger toward our federal government.

A national poll taken this month found that 67...

This was originally published as an exclusive to Roll Call.

The financial reform proposals now before Congress will place greatly increased demands on our government if enacted, potentially creating new federal agencies, reorganizing others and adding hundreds of legal requirements to administer and enforce.

The current politically charged...

ONE OF the first policy pronouncements by Senator Scott Brown was his assertion that to reduce spending and cut the budget deficit, "we need to put a freeze on federal hires and federal raises because, as you know, federal employees are making twice as much as their private counterparts.'' If...

This was originally published as an exclusive to Politico.

The recent withdrawal of President Barack Obama's pick to head the Transportation Security Administration means that an important homeland security post will continue to remain vacant for some time, an unfortunate occurrence that is symptomatic of a much larger...

This was originally published as an exclusive to Federal Computer Week.

President Obama has finally named the first-ever White House cybersecurity coordinator--an individual who now must focus government efforts to better protect vulnerable computer networks from attack by foreign nations, criminal intruders, hackers and terrorist organizations.

The new...

This was originally published as an exclusive to McClatchy-Tribune Information Service.

Anti-government sentiment has been prevalent across the country, fueled in part by the acrimonious health-care debate, anger over the Wall Street and auto industry bailouts, anxiety over high unemployment rates, and worry over increased spending and ballooning budget...

This was originally published as an exclusive to The Washington Post.

There you go again, Mr. President.

After promising to restore faith in our government and make it "cool" and "competent," you slighted our public servants by derisively referring to them as "bureaucrats" in an effort to appease those...

As part of its oversight responsibilities, Congress constantly calls senior administration officials to Capitol Hill where they offer well-guarded and carefully crafted answers about conditions at their agencies.

If our legislative leaders really want a clearer picture of what's going on within the executive branch, they would be wise to...

This was originally published as an exclusive to The Washington Post.

Whenever government breaks down, there is tremendous political pressure on our elected leaders to do something about it, lest they be castigated by the voters for sitting on their hands. What do they often wind up doing? Changing...