Monday federal headlines – January 5, 2015

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 rea...

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.

  • Medical files for nearly 500,000 Postal Service employees were exposed in a USPS cyber breach. Hackers accessed the files during a previously reported cyber attack. It happened back in September, but the agency is just learning about the health data breach now. UsPS is tracking down current, former and retired employees who might be affected. (Federal News Radio)
  • Congress is returning to Washington tomorrow with some new faces. The House welcomes 58 new members and the Senate will have 13 newcomers. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R- N.Y.) is the youngest woman elected to Congress at age 30. This Congress also has more minorities and women than ever before. One hundred and four women will serve, which equals 20 percent of the total Congress. Ninety-six members, or 18 percent, are racial minorities. Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah) becomes the first black female Republican to win a seat in Congress. (Federal News Radio)
  • When the new Congress gets underway tomorrow, House Republicans will still be in charge but with many new committee leaders. In all, nine committees will have new chairmen even as Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) continues as Speaker. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the 2012 vice presidential nominee, will take over the Ways and Means Committee. His slot at the Budget committee will be taken by Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.). Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) will take over as chairman of the Armed Services Committee. And Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) will take over Oversight and Government reform from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). Some chairs aren’t changing. Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) will stay atop the Veterans Affairs Committee. ( AP)
  • Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the new chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, announced subcommittee assignments. They include Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) for Government Operations, Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) for Information Technology and Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) for the National Security subcommittee. Chaffetz also said he plans to focus on energy and environment issues. The 114th Congress convenes tomorrow with Republicans controlling both the House and Senate. (Rep. Jason Chaffetz)
  • The Navy is sending another ship to help with search efforts for a missing Air Asia flight. The USS Fort Worth joins the USS Sampson, which has been stationed in the Java Sea since Dec. 29. That’s where an Air Asia flight disappeared on its route from Indonesia to Singapore. The Navy assisted the Indonesian government in the search, using search equipment and helicopters to look for the aircraft’s black box and other debris. The USS Sampson has found 12 bodies so far. (DoD/Navy)
  • The National Institutes of Health is putting together a 20-year, 500-page plan for its Bethesda campus. The agency said leased space is its highest operating cost. It wants to transform old research buildings into administrative space and replace outdated facilities with new ones. NIH said it will construct 17 new buildings with a total of 4.5 million square feet. The buildings will include space for labs and research, along with three new parking garages. The agency also wants to upgrade infrastructure, including the central heating plant, campus steam, chilled water and electric power distribution systems. (NIH)
  • The Office of Personnel Management addressed changes to veterans preference. It issued an interim rule in response to two laws. The Hubbard Act expanded the category of eligible veterans to include sole survivorship discharge. That’s when a service member is the only surviving child in a family where a sibling or parent served in the armed forces and was killed or permanently injured. The Hire Heroes Act required agencies to extend preference to active duty service members. OPM requests comments on the rule by Feb. 27. (Federal News Radio)
  • Most funds in the Thrift Savings Plan returned in the negative in December. The I fund dropped more than 4 percent and all of the lifecycle funds fell by less than 1 percent. The S, G and F funds are the only ones that return in the positive. The S fund gains the most, just shy of 1 percent. But all funds except the I fund still end the year in the black. The C Fund ended 2014 with the biggest gain, nearly 14 percent. The S Fund came in second at 7.8 percent. (Federal News Radio)
  • Federal hiring is improving, but rather slowly. That’s if improvement is measured in managers’ satisfaction with the process. GovExec reports the latest satisfaction surveys from the Chief Human Capital Officers council show tiny improvements — 45 percent of hiring managers say they actively and personally participate in recruitment and outreach for vacancies, an increase of 1 percent. Sixty-two percent are satisfied with the quality of applicants they receive, up 2 percent. The number of managers who say they’re involved in workforce planning didn’t change much either in the latest survey. (GovExec )
  • The Pentagon confirmed that a U.S. airstrike killed the intelligence chief of the al-Shabab extremist group in Somalia. The strike, by an unmanned aircraft, hit Tahlil Abdi-shakur using Hellfire missiles. They struck a vehicle he was traveling in. Pentagon officials said Abdi-shakur’s death will significantly impact Al Shabab’s ability to conduct terrorist attacks on Somalia and U.S. allies in the region. Al-Shabab is a militant group linked to Al Qaida. It’s know for its strict interpretation of Sharia law. (AP)

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