Tuesday morning federal headlines - July 31, 2012
Tuesday - 7/31/2012, 6:48am EDT
The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear
Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp 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 Postal Service says it will default on a payment due tomorrow. Postmaster
General Patrick Donahoe says cash is so low, USPS won't make a $5.5 billion payment
to its retirees' health benefits account. It will probably also miss a $5.6
billion payment in September. Tomorrow's default would be the first ever for the
Postal Service. Donahoe says mail delivery and payroll obligations to current
workers won't stop. But the long term fiscal situation for USPS is deteriorating.
Congress has been debating what to do for months, but can't agree on a plan.
(Federal News Radio)
- The Treasury inspector general is urging the IRS to collect money owed to it by other
federal agencies. In one case, the Treasury Department itself never paid the
IRS $26 million. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration looked at
interagency work done by IRS. It found IRS officials didn't always get an accurate
count on their overhead costs. So they didn't always charge other agencies the
right amount. The IG says that runs against the IRS' own regulations. In 2011,
the IRS took on 89 jobs for other agencies. (Federal News Radio)
- A vote to avoid a government shutdown is likely today on Capitol Hill. As they
head out of town for their August recess, members of Congress are nowhere near a
budget agreement for fiscal 2013, which starts Oct. 1. So Democratic and
Republican leaders are close to an agreement on a
continuing resolution. That would keep the government operating at spending
levels equal to this year's budget. The CR could be as long as six months. But
members still have to deal with how to avoid sequestration, set to occur January
3. That debate is unlikely before the November elections. (Federal News Radio)
- The Labor Department is
trying to calm down contractors fearful of mass layoffs in January. Some
firms have said federal law requires them to warn employees in November, just days
before the presidential election, that they could lose their jobs under
sequestration. Not so, says the Labor Department.
It calls such warnings premature and overly broad. It says sequestration is not a
sure thing. And agencies would have some say in how they would implement the
spending cuts. That means the ax may fall on some contracts but not others.
And it says cuts would not necessarily come right away. Rep. Buck McKeon (R-
Calif.)
dismissed the memo, saying dramatic cuts would force huge job losses. (Federal
News Radio)
- Calling all real estate buyers: You may be able to own a piece of NASA history
soon for as little as a dollar a square foot. The General Services Administration
is placing two
buildings in NASA's Glenn Research Center up for auction. In the 1960s, they
housed NASA engineers and administrative staff. Now they're part of GSA's ongoing
effort to dispose of excess properties. The buildings, located in Fairview Park,
Ohio, contain almost 200,000 square feet combined, plus a parking lot and 10 acres
of land. The starting minimum bid is $200,000. (General Services
Administration)
- GOP lawmakers are blaming five federal workers
in particular for Operation Fast and Furious. The draft report points a finger
at five Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives employees. They
include the agency director down to the special-agent-in-charge of the bureau's
field office in Phoenix. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-
Iowa) sponsored the report.
They say former ATF head Kenneth Melson worried about the gun-tracking program.
But they say he failed to make sure headquarters adequately supervised the Phoenix
branch. Melson stepped down last year amid the controversy. (Federal
News Radio)
- Tax scofflaws could forget about federal work under a bill being debated by
the House today. Sponsor Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) says feds or contractors who
are seriously delinquent on their taxes should be fired or lose
funding.
The House also plans to take up a bill to make Thrift Savings Fund accounts subject
to a federal tax levy. If that's put a frown on your face, here's one that
might make you smile: the chamber could give final passage to a bill that lets
some senior federal officials skip the Senate confirmation process.
Under the bill, the Senate would no longer need to approve officials for roles
like NOAA's chief scientist, the commissioner of education statistics or assistant
secretary of public affairs at Health and Human Services. Read more.(Federal News
Radio)
