Thursday federal headlines – April 30, 2015

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 new bill in the Senate would make it safer for service members to report wrongdoing. Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) introduce the Legal Justice for Servicemembers Act. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) is also a sponsor of the bill. Military whistleblowers would have similar protections as civilian federal employees. And survivors of sexual assault would also be protected against retaliation. The bill gives inspectors general authority to hold accountable anyone who retaliates against a whistleblower. Boxer introduced the Military Whistleblower Protection Act 30 years ago, but she says changes to that law haven’t kept pace with the laws protecting civilian whistleblowers. (Sen. Barbara Boxer)
• Two whistleblowers at the Transportation Security Administration won’t face more retaliation, thanks to the Office of Special Counsel. Andrew Rhoades reported security violations at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport, where he works. Rhoades says a supervisor was letting TSA screeners improperly handle confiscated weapons. And employees weren’t always putting stickers in checked bags that they opened. Rhoades’ supervisor reassigned him to an airport in Florida, but TSA granted OSC’s request for stay. In another case, Rebecca Roering reported a problem in TSA’s pre-check program. The agency proposed suspending her, then agreed with OSC’s request to let her stay. (OSC)
• Republicans controlling Congress Wednesday unveiled a non-binding budget plan for the upcoming year and beyond. It immediately set up a confrontation with President Barack Obama. It calls for repealing the Affordable Care Act and slowing the growth in spending for Medicaid and food stamps. The resolution would put spending below sequestration caps. Obama and other Democrats want to get rid of the caps altogether. In its 10-year view, the budget resolution would trim projected spending of $50 trillion by 10 percent. Obama says he’ll veto any budget bill based on the GOP plan. (Federal News Radio)
• The State Department’s newest quadrenniel review contains several initiatives designed to bolster the department’s workforce. Officials want to give employees the opportunity to rotate between State and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Some employees will be offered unpaid leave for sabbaticals. The department will use various authorities to speed hiring. The review promises State will build a new online analytics hub to reveal trends and help improve policy-making. Officials want to boost training throughout employees’ careers. Although the report is mainly about future diplomatic efforts around the world, it has several pages devoted to internal operations. Deputy Secretary of state Heather Higginbottom envisions a department that will, in her words, work better, smarter, and more safely and efficiently. (State Dept.)
• A bill to strengthen the patent system gets high marks from Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker. The PATENT Act, or Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship Act, targets abusive patent practices that often get in the way of innovation. The bill forces patent trolls to pay if they file groundless lawsuits. That means defendants would get compensation for legal costs if the plaintiff’s suit isn’t deemed “objectively reasonable.” Pritzker says patent trolls can prevent innovators from bringing their products to the market. She says the PATENT Act is an important step to protect ideas and cutting edge discoveries. (Commerce)
• Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas faces fresh questioning over allegations of ethics violations. He appears before the House Homeland Security Committee today. Members will ask him about a DHS inspector general report from March. That report says the ethics lapses occured when Mayorkas was head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He expedited EB- 5 visa applications on behalf of prominent Democrats, including then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas) calls the IG report concerning. (Federal News Radio)
• Remember the gyrocopter that landed on the Capitol lawn two weeks ago? The Federal Aviation Administration says it looked no different on the radar from a bird, kite or balloon. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta tells Congress, the gyrocopter look like an “irregular symbol” on the radar. But FAA officials didn’t think the object posed any threat. NORAD officials say they couldn’t shoot down the aircraft before it landed. (Federal News Radio)
• A former high ranking general says the United States and Russia should take their nuclear missiles off high alert. Retired Gen. James Cartwright said that could lessen the chance of a cyber attack starting a nuclear war. He says de- alerting the missiles would increase the lead-time before any of them could launch. That would give military officials more time to determine if a provocation was real or the result of cyber mischief. The Obama administration has considered but rejected the idea of taking missiles off high alert. Robert Scher, the Pentagon’s top nuclear policy official, told Congress this month, it doesn’t make any sense to de-alert missile forces. Cartwright retired in 2011 as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He also once headed U.S. Strategic Command. (Federal News Radio)

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