Official is on call for overseas emergencies

(Jabin Botsford / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST)

As managing director of overseas citizen services, Michelle Bernier-Toth is prepared for almost anything that might affect the well-being of Americans around the world. For this daily vigilance, she has been nominated for a Heyman medal.

Federal Eye

Federal government’s largest union elects new president

Jeffrey David Cox, Sr. is a nurse who worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

How has military medical consolidation affected employees and service members?

How has the consolidation of military medical care at Bethesda’s Walter Reed National Military Medical Center affected the lives of employees and service members?

(U.S. Army)

GSA freezes federal travel rates

Federal per diem travel rates will remain at 2012 levels through fiscal year 2013.

Department of Veterans Affairs under investigation for conference spending

The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $5 million—and set aside $4 million more — last year for two training conferences whose organizers are under investigation for breaking ethics rules by improperly accepting gifts, congressional committees and government sources said Monday.

More details released on federal employee phased retirement

The government is working to put in place a new authority allowing employees to phase into retirement, but the benefit will be limited in several ways.

Federal Diary

Soccer Outsider: United-K.C. match diary, player ratings

KANSAS CITY, KS - AUGUST 11: Josh Wolff #16 of the D.C. United tries to clear the ball away from Teal Bunbury #9, Paulo Nagamura #6 and Michael Thomas #88 of the Sporting Kansas City in the second half at Livestrong Sporting Park on August 11, 2012 in Kansas City, Kansas. Sporting won 2-1. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)

Soccer Outsider Jeff Maurer cursed the Injury Gods, who have wreaked havoc with D.C. United.

Ryan’s budget hits federal employees

The spending plan authored by Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, Mitt Romney’s pick as the Republican vice presidential candidate, has drawn strong opposition from federal employees.

Victory lap for the AFGE’s John Gage

HANDOUT IMAGE: John Gage is the current president of the American Federation of Government Employees. Mr. Gage plans on stepping down from the position at the end of August 2012. (Courtesy of American Federation of Government Employees)

AFGE President John Gage retires with a major victory: negotiating a contract for transportation security officers.

In the Loop

In the Loop: Hello, kitty!

A Guantanamo inmate’s lawyer says an al-Qaeda member who agreed to testify against a top planner of the Sept. 11 attacks is getting a perk for his cooperation: a cat.

Rep. McCotter’s long, strange slide

The five-term Michigan lawmaker’s drop from presidential aspirations to resignation amid criminal charges against his staff for filing fraudulent voter petitions.

Junior is a male, DSH kitten.

Kittens for Gitmo

One detainee’s lawyer says cats are being used as reward.

The Influence Industry

Need to donate on run? Send a text.

File photo of a Nokia Lumia 900 smartphone at the Consumer Electronics Show opening in Las Vegas January 9, 2012. Struggling cellphone maker Nokia has found a software bug in its new flagship Lumia 900 model, dealing a blow to its ambitions to re-enter the lucrative U.S. smartphone market. The glitch, which Nokia said April 11, 2012, it would fix early next week, can in some cases cause the phone to lose its data connection. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/Files (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY TELECOMS)

The FEC has approved legal guidance that would allow small political donations to be added to cellphone bills when a campaign supporter sends a specific text message.

Miracle-Gro goes out on a limb with donation

: Obama and Romney: Rallying support and rounding up dollars: President Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney hit the campaign trail.

Fertilizer company donates $200,000 to the Restore Our Future super PAC supporting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, making it among the first public companies with well-known consumer brands to publicly enter the new world of campaign funding.

Small group makes big dent on super PAC individual donations, study says

Just 47 people account for more than half of the $230 million raised by super PACs from individuals.

In Session

Congress favors status quo in funding itself

IN SESSION | The Capitol Police and auditors at the GAO would fare well under the House funding bill, while a project to restore the Capitol Dome would take a hit.

No slogan necessary?

The last three minority parties to seize control of the House had platforms to rally around and an opposing-party president in the White House.

Where will Romney find his vice president? Probably on the Hill

FILE - In this April 17, 2012, file photo Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney,listens to Pittsburgh area residents in Bethel Park, Pa., during a campaign stop. Government spending differences are among the starkest between Romney and President Obama. Romney's campaign proposes few specifics: a 10 percent cut of the federal workforce through attrition, the end of federal family planning money, the privatization of Amtrak,  and cuts in foreign aid. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Members of Congress have a hard time being elected president, but the No. 2 job tends to come more easily.

The High Court

Campaign contribution or bribe?

Former Gov. Don Siegelman speaks to the media outside the Federal Courthouse in Montgomery, Ala., after being sentenced to 78 months in prison on Friday, Aug. 3, 2012. Siegelman has already served nine moths of his sentence and will report in September. (AP Photo/Montgomery Advertiser, Amanda Sowards)

THE HIGH COURT | Supreme Court guidance is thin with the question of when a donation becomes something illegal, a debate that shows no signs of fading in this election year.

A constitutional right to the insanity defense?

In this photo released by the Ada County Sheriff's Office John Joseph Delling is shown. Delling was being held in the Ada County Jail in Boise, after being driven from Sparks, Nev., Saturday, April 14, 2007. He is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of University of Idaho student David Boss in Moscow on March 31. Police also suspect him in the slaying of Boise State University student Bradley Morse in Boise a few days later, and the March 20 shooting of University of Arizona student Jacob Thompson. Thompson survived the attack outside his Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ada County Sheriff's Office)

Lawyers for John Joseph Delling, a convicted killer who described himself as “a type of Jesus,” are asking the Supreme Court to rule that states must allow an insanity plea.

Should Supreme Court justices Google?

US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia speaks as he along with Justice Stephen Breyer testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing entitled, “Considering the Role of Judges Under the Constitution of the United States' at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, on October 5, 2011. AFP Photo/Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

The manner in which justices use generalized facts about the world in their legal decisions has become a new focus of legal academic research.

Fine Print

Navy special forces units: How many needed?

: Photos from around the world: The week of Aug. 12: From Syrian airstrike, to India Independence Day to an earthquake in Iran, some of the best photos from around the world.

Questions remain about how much money the Navy is spending on irregular warfare and counterterrorism forces that are different from activities better performed by other services.

Obama’s critics on Middle East should consider the numbers

This US Navy handout image shows the US Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Rappahannock (T-AO 204) as it awaits the US 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), not shown, March 21, 2011 to come alongside for a replenishment at sea. The Pentagon announced July 16, 2012 that the Rappahannock fired on a small boat that got too close after having been warned.  'An embarked security team aboard a US navy vessel fired upon a small motor vessel after it disregarded warnings and rapidly approached the US ship near Jebel Ali,' an Emirati port city, it said in a statement. = RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT ' AFP PHOTO / US NAVY/CALE HATCH/' - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS =HO/AFP/GettyImages

Walter Pincus notes a steady buildup in the number of U.S. ships and aircraft available for possible new military action.

Defense’s money-management woes

FINE PRINT | The Defense Department has problems managing the huge sums of money it has received during a decade of warfare, when hundreds of billions of dollars overwhelmed its ability to oversee outlays.

The Federal Buzz

How has military medical consolidation affected employees and service members?

How has military medical consolidation affected employees and service members?

How has the consolidation of military medical care at Bethesda’s Walter Reed National Military Medical Center affected the lives of employees and service members?

Federal Player

Kelsey Stafford

Monitoring water quality of local streams

While many of her peers have congressional internships or jobs that have kept them inside air conditioned office buildings, Kelsey Stafford has spent her summer working outdoors examining the environment of the nation’s capital.

PostPolitics on Twitter

postpolitics

Ryan's hometown: Auto plant shutdown sharpens campaign question of right route to prosperity http://t.co/p1umVa5O

postpolitics

.@ShethePeople: The 93-year-old face of Pennsylvania voter ID law http://t.co/0hfNVhiK

postpolitics

Campaign’s fierce rhetoric on Medicare dims hope for a solution, experts say http://t.co/sKReCe4A

More tweets

aviatorjason

RT @CBSRadioNews: .@DanRaviv reports who will be moderating the presidential debates: http://t.co/Dk4cv7ja #campaign2012

wbfavors

@OregonNow He'll be there Saturday, too. #campaign2012 #countyfair

CBSRadioNews

[Podcast] Eye on the White House: 08/17 #campaign2012 http://t.co/GqCRIycS on #SoundCloud

More tweets

neilabercrombie

Governor: We are committed to the University of Hawaii http://t.co/j9yqnbut

neilabercrombie

Governor at UH West Oahu opening reception http://t.co/mkOo8eWG

neilabercrombie

RT @TheMichaelsOrg: @neilabercrombie calls Michaels' Kuhio Park Scholarship Recipients "Role Models for the community & state."

More tweets

Politics Videos

Paul Ryan: First week on the campaign trail

Paul Ryan: First week on the campaign trail

GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan is wrapping up his first week on the campaign trail. Here are some of the highlights from his rigorous first week campaigning for presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
The Medicare debate on the campaign trail

The Medicare debate on the campaign trail

The Medicare debate on the campaign trail
Young illegal immigrants line up for right to work legally in US

Young illegal immigrants line up for right to work legally in US

Young illegal immigrants line up for right to work legally in US
Trail Mix: The presidential campaign’s down-ballot impact in Iowa

Trail Mix: The presidential campaign’s down-ballot impact in Iowa

The Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe on two congressional races where enthusiam toward Romney and Obama could play a big role.
Plaintiff in Penn. voter ID challenge speaks out

Plaintiff in Penn. voter ID challenge speaks out

Plaintiff in Penn. voter ID challenge speaks out
Obama rarely misses chance to down a cold one on the trail

Obama rarely misses chance to down a cold one on the trail

President Obama has referenced beer at almost every stop during his three day swing across Iowa. But more than quenching his thrist, the president is reinforcing the contrast between his rival Mitt Romney and himself. Traveling with the president, the Washington Post’s Amy Gardner reports from Davenport, Iowa.
Obama: Republicans think compromise is a dirty word

Obama: Republicans think compromise is a dirty word

Campaigning in Dubuque, Iowa, President Obama said the country has much going for it except politics in Washington. He said his Republican opponent Mitt Romney is a standard-bearer for no compromise, top-down economics.
5 in 5 Project: In the Midwest, Ryan rallies Republicans and riles Democrats

5 in 5 Project: In the Midwest, Ryan rallies Republicans and riles Democrats

The Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe gives his reading on how Republicans and Democrats are reacting to the presidential election from Illinois.
Linda McMahon wins Republican Senate nomination

Linda McMahon wins Republican Senate nomination

Former WWE chief executive Linda McMahon won a Republican Senate nomination from Connecticut for the second time. She defeated former U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays in Tuesday's primary.
Trail Mix: In Iowa, Obama sharpens Romney-Ryan contrast

Trail Mix: In Iowa, Obama sharpens Romney-Ryan contrast

The Washington Post’s Amy Gardner reports from Iowa where President Obama wraps up his three-day campaign tour of the swing state.
Biden

Biden "put you all back in chains" remark causes stir

Biden "put you all back in chains" remark causes stir
Paul Ryan: Obama made economy worse

Paul Ryan: Obama made economy worse

Mitt Romney's running mate told people gathered at a Colorado high school that the Republican ticket is going ”to give America the kind of leadership they deserve to get this economy growing.”
Raw video: Obama bus tour stops in Oskaloosa, Iowa

Raw video: Obama bus tour stops in Oskaloosa, Iowa

President Barack Obama is taking his three-day Iowa bus tour into rural areas where many voters have been skeptical about the Democrat.