Friday Morning Federal Newscast – Dec. 3rd

The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Amy Morris discuss throughout the show each day. The Newscast is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com users more information about the stories you hear on the air.

• Congress has cleared another continuing resolution. It’ll fund government through December 18th. The Senate passed the bill last night — following House passage earlier this week. The current CR expires tonight. The extension awaits the president’s signature.
• A Senate bill that could help stabilize finances at the Postal Service is getting support from both management and employee groups. The 2010 U.S. Postal Service Improvements Act would provide greater flexibility to set alternative delivery schedules and change pension funding requirements. GovExec reports that the bill would allow USPS to move to a five day delivery, saving 40-billion dollars over ten years. It would also require the Office of Personnel Management to recalculate the Postal Service’s obligations to the retiree health benefit plans. Deputy Postmaster General and Chief Operating Officer Patrick Donahoe takes over for outgoing Postmaster General John Potter today.
• The Government Accountability Office has jabbed the Veterans Affairs Department, and VA has has come back swinging. At issue: a new GAO report. GAO says the cost of a major VA claims processing system has doubled from its initial estimate of $95 million. Plus, it’s late. But VA’s CIO, Roger Baker, sharply disputes the GAO’s findings. He said auditors don’t understand the development process VA has used in the project. And he called the resulting claims processing system a stunning success.
• Congress passes a bill to teach federal managers and contractors about managing green buildings. The Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act gives GSA 18 months to identify core skills for managing government facilities and to work on certification courses. The skills include building performance measures, energy management, and sustainability. The training requirements also apply to contractors that help with operations and maintenance. The bill now goes to the president for signature.
• An upgrade to the Homeland Security Department’s financial management systems is on hold yet again. DHS awarded the $450 million contract for its Transformation and Systems Consolidation program, to CACI last month, but now it’s facing a protest from competing contractors. The specifics of the protest are not being released. This contract was also awarded awarded back in 2008, but delayed after a protest.
• The Federal Trade Commission has the chops to strengthen policies for protecting consumer privacy online. But it would need more authority from Congress to enforce stronger policies. That’s what David Vladeck, the FTC’s top consumer official, told a House subcommittee. The Wall Street Journal reports, some lawmakers worry about the cost and viability of a federal system to let users block online monitoring. Meanwhile, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration plans to issue a report about online privacy. It will call for development of minimum online privacy standards.
• No money, no whistleblower office. The Securities and Exchange Commission is delaying establishment of five new offices, including one to process whistleblower claims. The reason? A lack of funding. The new office is required by the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul law. But the government is operating at 2010 budget levels. Congress has yet to pass 2011 funding for most of the federal government. The Wall Street Journal reports, SEC chairwoman Mary Shapiro told lawmakers the agency simply can’t get the new law implemented. Dodd-Frank calls for nearly doubling the SEC’s budget over the next few years.
• GSA continues to grow it’s online presence – this time with the launch of an online social media directory. NextGov reports, the directory brings together links to all of GSA’s social media profiles on one page. That includes their pages on Facebook, Twitter, youtube and blogs among others.

More news links

Inside the Ring: Counterspies hunt Russian mole inside National Security Agency (WashingtonTimes)

Army, Marine chiefs cast doubt on gay service

Mrs. Obama launches new lodging for vets’ families

Lockheed Martin Proposes Manned Mission to the Dark Side of the Moon (Popular Science)

NASA to Discuss Space Shuttle Discovery’s Launch Plans (SPACE.com)

Attractive Women May Be Less Likely to Get Hired (LiveScience.com)

THIS AFTERNOON ON FEDERAL NEWS RADIO

Coming up today on The DorobekInsider:

** Performance reviews — you get them. You may even give them. But are they effective? We’ll talk to two experts about how to make them MORE effective.

** And we’ll continue looking at the big stories of 2010. Today, Jonathan Breul of the IBM Center for Government. We’ll talk about some of the federal management events in 2010.

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