Friday federal headlines – September 26, 2014

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive and In Depth radio shows each day. Our headlines are updated twice per day — once in the morning and once in the afternoon — with the latest news affecting federal employees and contractors.

• A federal grand jury has indicted the former GSA official who was behind the agency’s Las Vegas conference four years ago. Jeff Neely stands accused of submitting false claims to GSA for trips to Las Vegas, Southern California, Guam and Saipan, and then lying to the agency, saying they were business trips when they weren’t. Neely used to be the Pacific Rim Regional Commissioner for the Public Buildings Service. In that job, he arranged for the lavish Las Vegas event that became a symbol of government waste and led to the resignation of the agency’s leader Martha Johnson. (Federal News Radio)
• How many Americans are really fighting in Syria? Government officials and legislators have been citing about 100. Yet FBI Director James Comey says the number is “ballpark-ish, a dozen.” So why the discrepancy? Comey says that the 100 number includes not only those currently fighting on the ground, but also those who fought and returned and those who were detained while trying to travel to the region. These caveats have been omitted by American analysts and members of Congress on both sides. (Associated Press)
• A branch of the State Department draws criticism for a tweet depicting dead Islamic State militants. The tweet, with a composite image of a Sept. 24 military strike and four corpses, was quickly deleted. The Twitter account, “Think Again, Turn Away,” is run by the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications. It’s intended to answer the social media propaganda of Islamic terrorist groups. The Telegraph reports, the tweet disappeared from the account by Thursday. (Telegraph)
• The Homeland Security Department has lost track of tens of thousands of the illegal immigrants who came to this country earlier this year. Seventy percent of the immigrant families have failed to check in with immigration agents after being released from custody at the border. That’s roughly 41,000 people who have now fled into the interior of the United States. DHS isn’t giving a figure publicly. But the Associated Press got a recording of a meeting in which department officials discussed the problem with immigration advocates. (Associated Press)
• The Marine Corps settles a complaint with a high-profile whistleblower and pledges to create a better environment for whistleblowers. Marine Corps civilian scientist Franz Gayl had raised concerns about delays in sending the blast-resistant trucks, known as MRAPs, to Afghanistan and Iraq. His lawyers say Gayl was stripped of his top-secret security clearance, subjected to suspensions and a criminal investigation. Gayl and the Marine Corps reached a deal through the Office of Special Counsel. The service will create a team to develop guidelines re-enforcing whistleblower rights at the Marine Corps. Gayl will be a part of it. (Federal News Radio)
• The Defense Department expands a program that allows immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to serve in the military. The “Military Accessions Vital to National Interest” program is open to immigrants without a proper visa who came to the U.S. with their parents before age 16. That’s all those approved under the Obama administration’s “Deferred Action for Child Arrivals” (DACA) policy. This is according to the Air Force Times. The change lets recruiters target those with high-demand skills like foreign languages or specialized health training. The program is capped at 1,500 recruits per year. On average, the military recruits 5,000 non-citizens a year. Those accepted are eligible for expedited U.S. citizenship. (Air Force Times)
• The Pentagon says it has identified the remains of an Army soldier from Manassas who has been missing since World War II. It is returning the remains of Pvt. First Class Richard Bean to Virginia for burial at Quantico. The Defense Department’s Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command used dental records and DNA analysis to match the remains to a family member of Bean. It’s a triumph for a DoD program that auditors have called bureaucratic and slow. More than 83,000 service members remain unaccounted for. (Associated Press)
• The Navy suspends most nuclear work at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia. The Virginian-Pilot reports, that’s after two incidents of improper handling of potentially contaminated equipment in recent weeks. A shipyard spokesperson calls the two events “minor” and says the safety of the public, the environment and shipyard employees was not affected. All but the most critical nuclear operations were halted on Sept. 13. The shipyard has not stated when work will resume. The Navy will use the time to study and remedy the problem. One former high-ranking Navy official says this is a “significant shutdown.” However, Naval Sea Command says safety pauses are not unprecedented. (The Virginian-Pilot)
• The U.S. government is sending the Navajo Nation more than $500 million. The payment is part of a settlement over federal mismanagement of tribal resources. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell visits the tribal capital in Arizona today to formalize the deal. For decades, the government has leased much of the Navajo land for farming, oil and gas development, mining and housing. The tribe says it has not received royalties due to it. Tribes across the country have filed more than a hundred such cases against the government. The Obama Administration has settled most of them at a cost of more than $2 billion. The Interior Department says it is trying to resolve the rest without going to trial. (Associated Press)

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