Wednesday federal headlines – May 27, 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 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 Small Business Administration doesn’t always follow the right procedures when its employees or contractors leave. The SBA Inspector General said 73 computer network accounts for employees who leave the agency were still active between fiscal 2013 and 2014. The IG also said fewer than half of employee separation checklists are filled out correctly. (SBA)
  • The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee wants to hear your complaints about the government Freedom of Information Act process. The committee has an online form on its website. It will hear from agencies, accountability groups and the media during a hearing on the FOIA process next week. (The Washington Post)
  • IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said all financial institutions are battling the same types of thieves who stole the personal information of 104,000 taxpayers. He said the thieves are not amateurs. The IRS managed to shut down its online application called “Get Transcript.” It offers previous years’ tax returns and other filings. To get the information, the fraudsters had to somehow obtain Social Security numbers, home addresses, date of birth and filing status of those whose returns they took. The IRS has launched a criminal investigation, and it’s offering credit monitoring to those affected. (Federal News Radio)
  • Locality pay will increase at 13 new cities starting this next January. Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director Beth Cobert relayed the information to the American Federation of Government Employees. The President’s Pay Agent recommended raising the cities’ locality pay back in 2013, but the administration didn’t act on it. The cities are Albany, Albuquerque, Austin, Charlotte, Colorado Springs, Davenport, Harrisburg, Kansas City Missouri, Loredo, Las Vegas Nevada, Palm Bay Florida, Saint Louis and Tuscon. (Federal News Radio)
  • President Barack Obama urged the Senate to extend provisions of the Patriot Act before they expired in four days. Those provisions would let the National Security Agency collect bulk data from phone companies. Obama said the law needs to be extended, to keep Americans safe and secure. The Senate blocked the USA Freedom Act, which would let the NSA collect phone records, but only on a case-by-case basis. The House and the Obama administration also supported the bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he would call the Senate into session on Sunday, but it’s unclear if a resolution would come before the deadline. (Federal News Radio)
  • The State Department filed a proposal to resume the release of emails from former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s private account. State wants to start posting on June 30, and add more every 60 days. That plan must be approved by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras. He’s presiding over a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking the emails. Last week, State posted about 300 emails relating to the 2012 attack on the State Department outpost in Benghazi, Libya. (Federal News Radio )
  • The Postal Service postponed dozens of facility closures, according to GovExec. The agency was going to close 82 facilities this year as part of what it called “network rationalization.” The plan is to shorten hours and consolidate facilities in an effort to save money. The agency closed 141 facilities in the first round and said that was saving $865 million each year. But some lawmakers and postal unions are against the closures, saying they’ll cost thousands of jobs. The Postal Service didn’t give a reason for delaying this year’s closures. (GovExec)
  • Marine Corps officials said they’ve completed at-sea, night testing of the F-35B. The short-takeoff, vertical landing plane has been operating off of the USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship. Tests are taking place in the mid- Atlantic Ocean. The Marine Corps said the F-35 will eventually be its maintstay attack aircraft. To pass muster, each pilot had to complete four takeoffs and landings in the dark. Maj. Michael Rountree Jr., an F-35 pilot and trainer, said last night’s tests were the first in an operational environment. Members of the Royal Navy and Air Force are embedded with the Marines. Great Britain will use the F-35B on its Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers, now under construction. (Marine Corps)
  • As the summer months approach, the Veterans Affairs Department is enlisting volunteers to help veterans. VA facilities will hold open houses at the end of June to get volunteers interested in the Summer of Service initiative. By Labor Day, VA wants to have 100,000 volunteers supporting benefits programs and local events. The agency already has about 76,000 volunteers. VA also accepts online donations to medical centers through the Summer of Service portal. (VA)
  • The Defense Department wants to eliminate the stigma around receiving mental health care. The department has four times as many mental health professionals as it did 10 years ago. They’re all over the country and some psychiatrists are embedded in deployments. Navy Capt. Michael Colston said troops need to know that mental health care, psychological care and substance abuse treatment are all on par with other forms of health care. He said anxiety and depression are extremely common among active-duty and transitioning service members. (DoD)
  • If you want to virtually watch the National Zoo’s orangutan habitat or clouded leopard exhibit, you only have five days left. The zoo will take five of its camera feeds offline on June 1. FCW reports, the cameras date back to 1996 and run on a Windows 2003 operating system. Support for that system will end this July. The cameras also don’t work on Apple and Android phones and tablets. But don’t worry —the panda cam is staying online. (FCW)

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