Thursday federal headlines - Aug. 9
Thursday - 8/9/2012, 7:35am 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 Internal Revenue Service has been rubber-stamping taxpayer ID applications instead of screening for fraud. A new study by the Tax inspector general says the
practice risks billions in improper payments and also has national security
implications. The IDs are available to non-citizens who must file tax returns but
can't get a Social Security Number. Inspector General J. George Russell, says IRS employees are encouraged to process as many applications as possible. His report says IRS stopped using proven anti-fraud procedures. (Federal
News Radio)
- The Justice Department has appointed a former prosecutor to focus on
whistleblower complaints. Robert Storch will work in the inspector general's
office. As ombudsman, Storch will educate employees about the importance of
whistleblowers to uncover waste, fraud and abuse. Storch became counselor to IG
Michael Horowitz in July. He's been a federal prosecutor for 25 years. (Federal
News Radio)
- The Census Bureau wants to revise its survey forms to update language about race. New surveys would
treat Hispanics as a distinct category regardless of race. Surveys would no longer use the word Negro. And they would offer new ways to let Middle Easterners
identify themselves. Census already experimented with the new forms during the
2010 Census by sending them to 500,000 households. Agency officials say the
results suggest the new forms give higher response rates and more accuracy.
(Federal News Radio)
- Seventy-four of 99 agencies released documents requested under the Freedom of
Information Act at least 90 percent of the time. Only four agencies released
information less than 69 percent of the time. These were among the key findings in
the Justice
Department's 2012 FOIA report released Aug. 7. Justice measures 99 agencies
which fall under FOIA across 14 areas, including processing simple requests in
fewer than 20 days, technology support of the FOIA process and decreasing their
backlog of requests. A majority of the agencies say they decreased both their
request and appeal backlogs in 2010 and 2011. For example, the Department of
State decreased their backlog ny 66 percent. (Justice Department)
- Help is now available for agencies to make sure their PDF documents can be read by people with
disabilities. The Veterans Health Administration is providing online training
to explain portable document format, known as PDFs, accessibility barriers and
ways to fix them. The step-by-step directions and instructional videos helps
agencies improve the real-world accessibility of PDF documents, how to ensure PDF
documents comply with the Section 508 standards and make their content available
to their entire audience. Among the 14 training courses, agencies can better
understand how to use color in an accessible way and how to hide non-meaningful
content. (CIO.gov)
- A new report by a government watchdog group is questioning the real impact
sequestration would have on defense contractors. The Project on Government
Oversight reviewed the workforce size of five of the largest defense contractors and found three of the five were reducing their staffs while the Defense Department's procurement budget ballooned between 2006 and 2011.(Project on Government
Oversight)
- Vendors have a few extra weeks to tell the General Services Administration how cloud brokerage services will work. GSA extended the request for information deadline to Sept. 7. The
RFI asks agencies to answer 22 questions about how a cloud brokerage service would
work for agencies. A cloud brokerage similar to an insurance broker or car
broker would aggregate subcontractors who provide cloud services such as email
or storage and help agencies integrate those technologies or provide advice for
how best to use them. (GSA)
- It hasn't gone viral, but a new You Tube video (watch below) is how the administration's outgoing regulations chief sums up his tenure. Cass Sunstein has been running the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. In a kind of
farewell lecture, Sunstein gives a brief history of regulatory activity going back
to the Clinton administration. He uses a white board and cartoon illustrations to
make his points. Sunstein says the Obama administration has written fewer rules than Clinton or George W. Bush. But he says the economic benefits of the rules, at $90 billion, dwarfs previous administrations. Sunstein heads back to Harvard Law School.
