Discouraged by pay freezes and budget cuts, employees' job satisfaction rankings at federal agencies took a major hit in 2012.

In response to the September attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, the Senate has passed a measure to add 1,000 Marines to embassy security forces, nearly doubling the size of the force in 130 countries.

Federal agencies will have until March 31 to have in place a standard secure ID that can be used across agencies, as required by the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12, according to a draft Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo.