Monday Morning Federal Newscast – December 6th

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.

• The House gears up to vote on another continuing resolution. This one would fund government through the end of fiscal 2011. Congressional aides from both parties tell the National Journal that Democrats are pushing for a vote this week. The bill would then go to the Senate, where Democrats want to add an omnibus spending measure. The existing CR expires on December 18th.
• Federal employees are being warned not to look at documents leaked by WikiLeaks website. The White House Office of Management and Budget has sent out a memo forbidding unauthorized feds and contractors from accessing classified documents that are available on Wikileaks.
• Look for a reshuffle of embassy staff, military personnel, and intelligence operatives whose work was exposed in WikiLeaks. The Independent in the UK reports that the Obama Administration is facing a crisis in its diplomatic service thanks to the publication of the cables, which could make normal work difficult, if not dangerous, for State Department employees all over the world. The paper reports that the Pentagon, the CIA and the State Department are trying to identify which members of their respective staff were named in some of those memos, so they can be shifted from the more strategically-important posts.
• The time it takes to process a security clearance may be shrinking, but auditors say federal agencies have put up a roadblock. The Government Accountability Office says agencies are reluctant to honor clearances granted by other agencies and organizations. Reciprocity is required by law. GAO is recommending an interagency security clearance performance group headed by OMB come up with metrics to track reciprocity.
• Your comments on Facebook, Twitter and blogs may help the National Archives and Records Administration declassify more than 400 million pages of historic records. NARA says it will use social media and other forms of public input to decide which kinds of documents to tackle first. The agency is working thru a backlog of national security and presidential records that need to be declassified. Federal Computer Week reports the goal is to clear the backlog by December of 2013.
• OPM has changed the government’s sick leave policy. Federal employees can now take up to 26 weeks under the Family and Medical Leave Act to care for a seriously injured or ill service member. They can also take the time to care for family members struck by serious transmitable disease, like pandemic flu.

More news links

NY sen. seeks bill to deter body scan image misuse

Legislation would hold Army accountable for Arlington’s graves (Washington Post)

US works to secure networks as hackers advance

US cable: China leaders ordered hacking on Google

Visited porn? Web browser flaw secretly bares all

Obama: Kennedy Center honorees gave gift of arts

Sailor remembers Pearl Harbor attack 69 years ago

THIS AFTERNOON ON FEDERAL NEWS RADIO

Coming up today on The DorobekInsider:

** How might the deficit commission’s recommendations impact defense spending? We’ll talk to an expert.

** We’ll continue looking at the big stories of 2010. Today, Carol Bonasaro of the Senior Executive Association about her big story that impacted government’s senior executives.

** And we’ll look at how your TSP did in November.

Join Chris from 3 to 7 pm on 1500 AM or on your computer.

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