Thursday federal headlines – November 20, 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.

  • The number of bid protests from vendors is up 5 percent in fiscal 2014. The number of cases the Government Accountability Office sustains dropped 4 percent. GAO said not following evaluation criteria and unreasonable technical evaluations are some of the most common reasons why the agency sustains a protest. (Nextgov)
  • The Patent and Trademark Office has commissioned an outside review of its telework and office hoteling programs. It hired the non-partisan National Academy of Public Administration to evaluate the PTO’s internal controls against time and attendance fraud. NAPA will also look at whether the telework programs are helping the agency fulfill its mission.The move follows allegations that employees padded their timecards. An internal audit revealed numerous complaints by managers who say they lacked sufficient tools to monitor employees working outside the office. The timecard problem has spurred attention from Congress. (Federal News Radio )
  • Members of the Senior Executive Service get an invitation to meet with President Barack Obama in person. The conference is scheduled for Dec. 9. GovExec reports agency heads have been allocated invitations to award to SESers. Seating is limited and a source said more than 1,000 have already registered. The source said the White House has rented a large space to accommodate the meeting, but it’s not disclosing the location because of security concerns. (GovExec)
  • The Defense Department scaled back the size of the contingency it would send to West Africa to help with the Ebola epidemic. Now it’s scaling back the scope of what it will build there. A Pentagon spokesman said troops will build 10 treatment facilities in Liberia, instead of the earlier plan for 17. Seven of the facilities will have 50 beds each, instead of the 100 originally planned. Two treatment centers are completed. Two more will be stood up this week. The spokesman didn’t give a reason for the scale-back. But the infection rate in Liberia has subsided. (Federal News Radio)
  • The federal government and critical infrastructure operators in the private sector have a new cybersecurity challenge. If they don’t get in front of the coming Internet of things, the consequences could haunt the nation for decades. That’s according to a report from the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. NextGov reports the group was expected to send its latest report to the White House this week. The group said there is a small and fast- closing window to make sure growth in connected devices is managed so that it’s safe from cyber threats. (NexGov)
  • A new audit finds Lockheed Martin sold defective plane parts to the Pentagon. The Defense Department Inspector General said DoD spent nearly $600,000 on labor and replacement-part kits. It also paid contractors $14 million to replace inaccurate diagrams from Lockheed. A hotline complaint last May prompted the IG to investigate the C-5 program. The IG said four of the six allegations were substantiated. (DoD OIG)
  • The Labor Department cites a shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia, for health and safety violations. Colonna’s Shipyard Incorporated faces more than $100,000 in penalties. Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it found a dozen violations, including four repeat violations. Among them, a shipyard worker was 1 foot away from three open manholes. That exposed the worker to a potential drop of 30 feet. OSHA also cited the shipyard for expecting workers to use damaged electrical equipment. The shipyard conducts repairs on Navy ships, tugboats barges and ferries. It has 15 business days to respond to the citations. (Federal News Radio )
  • Senators said veterans at risk of suicide are waiting too long to get treatment from the Veterans Affairs Department. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) tells the VA it needs to start planning and requesting resources now. A group of senators introduces the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention bill, which requires the VA and the Pentagon to submit independent reviews of their suicide-prevention programs. The bill also calls for a website that informs veterans of available mental health services. USA Today reports the number of veterans receiving specialized mental health treatment from the VA is increasing each year. That number was 1.4 million in 2013, compared to about 900,000 in 2006. (USA Today)
  • Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson will create three new immigration task forces. The move comes as President Barack Obama is expected to announce executive action on immigration. USA Today reports the first force will be responsible for protecting maritime ports and other ports of entry across the southeastern United States. The second task force will guard the southwest border and the West Coast of California. And the third will be an investigative group to support the other two. Johnson says President Obama’s action on immigration will include stronger border security. He didn’t give any more details about Obama’s plans. (USA Today)
  • The tides have turned in West Africa’s Ebola epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped its worst-case scenario for Ebola. In September, the agency projected 1.4 million people could be infected by mid- January. But CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden told lawmakers things have changed and he doesn’t think those projections will come to pass. Frieden didn’t give any new estimates. The CDC thinks between 1,000 to 2,000 new Ebola cases are occurring each week in West Africa. That’s in line with the CDC’s best-case- scenario estimates for mid-January. (Federal News Radio)
  • Acting Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy said morale is suffering at the agency. He said low morale could have “dire consequences” for security. Clancy told Congress he wants to establish new procedures, improve communications and strengthen the White House fence. In September, a fence jumper was able to run inside the White House. Clancy said the agency has fallen short of its goal of perfection. Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) told Clancy the Secret Service can’t make mistakes and there’s no margin of error. (Federal News Radio)

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