Federal Drive

Tuesday Morning Federal Newscast – April 12th

Federal workforce thanked for their patience

Federal News Network Staff

April 12, 2011 9:39 am

3 min read

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.

More details are emerging about the $38 billion dollar deal lawmakers say they reached to keep the government from shutting down. Some cuts were made by pruning money left over from previous years. More than half of the cuts affect education, labor and health programs. A vote in the House is expected as early as Wednesday and the Senate must pass it by Friday to prevent a shutdown.
President Obama is thanking federal employees for their “patience and professionalism” during the past few weeks of budget negotiations. The Washington Post reports President Obama sent out a letter Monday to every agency, with instructions to distribute them to rank and file feds all over the country. In it, the President ackowledges the past few weeks have been a time of uncertainty for feds and their families and thanks them for their patience and their service to country.
Newly introduced legislation promises to improve workplace safety for federal employees. The Secure Facilities Act would add 150 guards to the Federal Protective Service payroll. It would also require a program to evaluate performance of the 15,000 guards who work for the agency under contract, and provide more training resources. FPS protects 9,000 federal buildings, and has taken heat for poor management and employees performance.
A new bill is seeking to increase the probationary period for new federal employees. Republican Congressman Dennis Ross of Florida introduced legislation that would extend the probation period to up to two years. It would also require two-years probation on current employees every time they receive a transfer, are reassigned, promoted or demoted, regardless of prior service. The National Treasury Employees Union has come out strongly against the proposal.
Google has to show that its Google Apps for Government service is FISMA approved. The search engine giant has said that it meets Federal Information Security Management Act standards for its cloud offering. But recently released court documents show Google Apps for Government is not FISMA certified. Those documents were released by Microsoft…which is competing against Google for the chance to provide the Interior Department with cloud email and collaboration services.
The Federal Acquisitions Institute may be on the move. A new bill would make the training academy for federal acquisitions officers part of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. Currently, FAI is managed by the GSA, with input from OFPP. Gov Exec reports, the bill would also reorganize the school’s leadership, and all training programs will follow OFPP set guidelines.
A third team is protesting a Health and Human Services lease. King Farm Associates had a site in the running for the nearly million-square-foot lease. GSA decided last month that HHS would stay in its current Parklawn building location. The Washington Business Journal reports that King Farm had proposed a mixed-use building near the Shady Grove metro station with residential units, office space, retail space and a hotel. King Farm believes its option would have saved the government money.