The fallout continues from the furor over an expensive General Services Administration conference, as the feds have cancelled a major energy issues gathering set for next month and asked internal investigators to review the process of how it was set up.
"GovEnergy 2012, August 19-22, 2012, St. Louis, MO is Cancelled," read the simple statement about the conference on its web site.
"GSA has decided to postpone the GovEnergy conference because of new standards that GSA has put in place for conferences and contracts surrounding conferences," the statement added.
Since the conference was only a few weeks away, the feds agreed to reimburse those who had planned to attend.
The move to scrap that conference came as the acting GSA Administrator announced several cost-cutting measures, like chopping bonuses for top GSA officials by 85 percent and a temporary hiring freeze.
"I believe it is prudent to temporarily suspend new hiring and to cut executive bonuses to ensure they are aligned with the outcomes of our rigorous review," said GSA Chief Dan Tangherlini in a statement posted on the GSA web site.
"We are committed to doubling down on our core mission of promoting efficiency, driving steeper bargains, delivering better value, and creating greater opportunities for government-wide savings," Tangherlini added.
The GSA moves came as lawmakers were pressing the feds for information about travel conference costs on a variety of fronts.
Senate investigators have been focusing on the costs of a public-private partnership known as Brand USA, which promotes tourism in the United States.
In the House, Rep. Sandy Adams (R-FL) is again pressing the Commerce Department to give out more information about a conference held by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, accusing officials of telling only part of the story.
"NIST also continued to misrepresent the true cost of the conventions to the federal taxpayer, conveniently leaving out the cost to attend," said Adams, who has asked two different House committees to investigate.
