Wednesday federal headlines – November 5, 2014

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on Federal News Radio each day. It is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com reade...

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive and In Depth radio shows each day. Our headlines are updated twice per day — once in the morning and once in the afternoon — with the latest news affecting federal employees and contractors.

  • Agency executives are worried about lower employee engagement scores in the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. It’s at 63 percent this year. The President’s Management Council wants to raise the employee engagement score on the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey to 67 percent by 2016. It hasn’t been that high since 2011. (Federal News Radio)
  • Newly elected officials could have a big impact on the federal workforce. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) won re-election. Norton has introduced bills that give points to contractors who support fair labor practices. After last year’s government shutdown, she sponsored a bill to give backpay to furloughed employees. Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) also won re-election for his House seat. He sponsored a bill to expand telework opportunities for feds. Meanwhile, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) kept his role as Minority Whip. Hoyer is known for drafting and securing passage of the Federal Employee Pay Comparability Act, which ensures employees’ pay is comparable to the private sector. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), who succeeds outgoing Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), promised to protect salaries and retirement for military members. (Federal News Radio)
  • A number of workforce issues, including pay and benefits, face challenges as a result of yesterday’s elections. Beginning in January, Republicans will have a majority in the Senate. The party also added 13 seats to their majority in the House, as Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) was replaced by fellow Republican Barbara Comstock. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, a longtime supporter of the federal workforce, was narrowly re-elected, though challenger Ed Gillespie will likely call for a recount. In Arkansas, Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor, a favorite of federal unions, was unseated by Republican Tom Cotton. (Associated Press)
  • President Barack Obama will nominate David Berteau as assistant secretary of Defense for logistics and material readiness. Berteau is a senior vice president at the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies. But he’s no stranger to the Pentagon, having held positions there since 1981. During the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations, Berteau worked in logistics and defense conversion positions. He was also a senior vice president at SAIC. (White House)
  • After three months on the job, Anne Rung, head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, said she wants to simplify federal contracting. Rung spoke at the recent National Contract Management Association meeting, GovExec reports, where she said she wants to increase pay for the acquisition workforce and attract more millennials into it. She said she also plans to push ahead with the so-called “category management approach,” in which a single official has governmentwide oversight of large classes of products. In her previous job at the General Services Administration, Rung helped craft the Common Acquisition Platform, part of the strategic sourcing initiative. (GovExec)
  • The Defense Health Agency wants to cut the number of TRICARE regions from three to two, changing the current regions — North, South and West — to East and West. Under the proposal, companies could bid for both regions, but could only win a contract to manage one region. The Pentagon said the move would save money and increase competition among vendors. It’s also asked for comments on its draft request by Dec. 8. The next round of TRICARE contracts will be awarded in 2017. (Fed Biz Opps)
  • The interagency Vets to Feds program is adding a new career track in February that will help hire up to 100 veterans in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs, GovExec reports. Eric Brown, the V2F program manager in the Office of Personnel Management, said 10 different agencies will participate. V2F launched in 2011 as a way to help skilled veterans find government positions. It already has several other career fields going, including contracting and information technology. (GovExec)
  • A federal homeless assistance program is inefficient and flawed, according to the Government Accountability Office. Auditors say the government has screened more than 40,000 federal properties for use as homeless shelters. But in nearly 30 years, it’s only transferred 122 to homeless assistance groups. The GAO says that’s because most of the properties shouldn’t even be screened in the first place. According to auditors, the process wastes time for the government and the homeless groups. The agency recommends Congress reduce the scope of screened properties. (Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee)
  • An IRS employee was found not guilty of a security breach, the Washington Times reports. IT worker Carl Sheerer mistakenly disclosed the personal information of more than 20,000 employees and contractors after allegedly backing-up agency data on a thumb drive and placing it on a personal network at his home. From there, the information went public and was indexed by Google. Sheerer’s attorney said prosecutors couldn’t provide any evidence that the data breach was intentional. (Washington Times)

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