Wednesday federal headlines – October 22, 2014

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on Federal News Radio each day. It is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com reade...

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.

  • Agencies have new directions for tracking, reporting and overseeing improper payments. The Office of Management and Budget has an update to Circular No. A-123 Appendix C. Agencies now have new categories for keeping track of improper payments. OMB also wants agencies to include strategies for correcting improper payments at the program and government level. (Federal News Radio)
  • Federal retirees will receive a 1.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment in 2015. It’s the third year in a row the increase will be less than 2 percent. The 1.7 percent increase will result in an average bump of $22 for retired workers, going from an average of $1,306 per month to $1,328, according to the Social Security Administration. Earlier this year, retirees were on track to get a 1.9 percent increase. But by September, that number was down to 1.6 percent. (Federal News Radio)
  • Two senators are drafting a bill to curb the use of paid administrative leave across government. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) are reacting to news showing 263 federal employees took such leave for more than a year during a recent three-year period. Most of those employees were being investigated for alleged misconduct. Grassley’s office said the legislation would force agencies to decide whether an employee is dangerous, and thus cannot be at work, or is safe and should be assigned to a new position. They want to make sure federal employees are working and not wasting taxpayer money, Grassley said. ( Federal News Radio)
  • Forget the battle against Ebola and military action against Islamic State militants. Instead, the government spends money on massages for rabbits and treadmills for mountain lions — or at least that’s what Sen. Tom Coburn (R- Okla.) said in his annual wastebook. Coburn highlighted what he called “Washington’s worst spending of the year.” The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine designed a machine that simulates Swedish massages. It used the device on rabbits after they exercised. Coburn says the project cost $387,000. He also reported that the National Science Foundation spent $856,000 teaching three mountain lions to use a treadmill. (Sen. Coburn’s Annual Wastebook)
  • The Homeland Security Department gets ready to make more work permits and green cards. In a draft contract proposal, Citizenship and Immigration Services asked for card stock to make the documents. It wants materials for at least five million cards each year. Right now, the agency makes about 3 million work permits and green cards annually. The new contract gives the Obama administration flexibility to issue more permits to immigrants. About 68,000 minors crossed the southwest border in fiscal 2014. More than 10,000 of those were in June. The numbers have been dropping steadily since then. (Associated Press)
  • Some medical devices could have cyber flaws that make them vulnerable to hackers. The Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, or ICS- CERT, is reviewing a number of products, including infusion pumps and implantable heart devices. A Homeland Security official tells Reuters that hackers could cause severe injury or even death. A hacker could, for example, make an infusion pump deliver an overdose to a patient. ICS-CERT is working with manufacturers to repair bugs in their products. The agency started investigating health care devices two years ago. Medical equipment that connects to the Internet is more vulnerable to hacking. (Federal News Radio)
  • The head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is leaving three years early. Allison Macfarlane will step down in January to join George Washington University. She had been confirmed at the NRC for a five-year term ending in 2018. But in a statement, she said she has accomplished what she set out to do. She cited safety improvements at U.S. nuclear sites and increased efficiency and organization at the agency. Macfarlane says she came in to “[right] the ship after a tumultuous period for the Commission.” She had replaced Gregory Jaczko, who had been accused of hostility toward some agency staff. (Washington Post)

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