Bottom line up front, we are looking at a gain of approximately 28 seats for Democrats in the House, more than enough to take over the majority.  If there’s a wave, Democrats probably top out around a 40-seat gain.  I’m looking at what that means in terms of committee...

The MGT Act is one step closer to being enacted but it wasn’t without a little drama. Late Friday afternoon it looked very much like the Udall/Moran MGT Act Amendment would not be included in the Senate National Defense Authorization Act.  They had missed the deadlines...

When people around government talk about shared services, you always hear one big thing – cost savings.  In March 2015, the Partnership for Public Service released a report, Building a Shared Services Marketplace, which pegged savings from consolidating “back office” f...

Republicans are the opposition party.  Well, not really, they actually control both the Executive and Legislative Branches of the federal government but they still think and act that way. 

Beginning in the 72nd Congress (1931), Republicans were the majority party i...

When I was a congressional chief of staff I was always pleased when a constituent came up to me after a contentious meeting or town hall and told me “I disagree with your boss on issue X but I appreciate his thoughtful consideration and his willingness to come out and...

The election of Donald Trump is going to change things in Washington.  What changes and how it impacts those of us that live and work in the federal market, remains to be seen. Trump comes to the White House without any government experience but with a “shake things up...

I have been saying for 10 years that in order to fairly evaluate shared services, you need to weigh the cost of migration against the potential savings.  In March of 2015 the Partnership for Public Service published a report on shared services noting potential savings...

A year ago this week marked the official launch of Hettinger Strategy Group (HSG).  When we launched I had one client and a vision of the type of firm that I wanted to create and the type of clients with which I wanted to work.  Today our client roster boasts 5 innovat...

As 2015 winds down, I have seen a lot of year end wrap ups of the year's most popular stories and an equal number of "what to expect in 2016" columns focused on things like big data, the rise of IoT, the future of FITARA and how FedRAMP might evolve. 

If you're a f...

To its credit, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has done a good job overseeing the implementation of the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) with a pledge by IT Subcommittee Chairman Will Hurd (R-TX) to drill down deeper into FITARA complianc...