Wednesday federal headlines – December 10, 2014

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.

• Thirteen of 24 agencies met all the requirements for reducing improper payments in fiscal 2013. But 10 agencies did not satisfy all criteria in the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act. The Government Accountability Office said most agencies didn’t meet their planned reduction targets and have improper payment error rates just below 10 percent. (GAO)
• An update to a 12-year-old cybersecurity law received Senate approval. The Federal Information Security Modernization Act assigns agencies with specific responsibilities for securing the dot-gov domain. It also improves the security review process that agencies typically filed on paper. (Senate)
• With time running short, House and Senate negotiators agreed to a $1.1 trillion 2015 spending bill. Passage is required to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the day tomorrow. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he’ll push for a Thursday vote. The bill includes a 1 percent pay raise for federal employees. It adheres to caps called for in the Bipartisan Budget Act. After all the horsetrading, the departments of Labor, Education and Interior will have smaller budgets than in 2014. Winners include Agriculture, FDA, the Government Accountability Office and NASA. The bill funds the Homeland Security Department only until Feb. 27. (Federal News Radio)
• Secretary of State John Kerry asked Congress for new war powers in the fight against the Islamic State militants. He told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Congress should not limit U.S. military action to Iraq and Syria. He said the President should have the option to deploy ground troops if necessary. President Barack Obama has been relying on post 9/11 authorizations for the air assault on the Islamic State group and for sending 3,000 to train the Iraqi army. Both Democrats and Republicans on the panel told Kerry the White House should have sent its desired language to Capitol Hill months ago. (Federal News Radio)
• Customs and Border Protection is in the midst of a drive to recruit women to become agents. Applicants must be under 37 and fluent in Spanish. New hires will go through a two-month training program in Artesia, New Mexico. The agency said the recruitment drive will end Wednesday, but women are welcome to apply at any time. The number of women crossing the U.S. border has tripled over the last three years to more than 120,000. An agent in Nogales, Arizona, told The Wall Street Journal that CBP needs more women to deal with the people they encounter. Of the 21,000 Border Patrol agents, 5 percent are women. (CBP)
• An inspector general found the IRS paid at least $6 billion in child tax credits to people not eligible to receive them. The tax credit is part of President Barack Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus package. It gives $1,000 credit per child to families who don’t make enough money to pay federal income tax. J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, said the payments went to families that mistakenly claimed the tax credit or claimed the wrong amount. Fraudsters also collected some of the payments. The tax credit expires at the end of 2017. (Federal News Radio)
• Foreign food service companies pleaded guilty to overcharging the military. The case involves private Dutch corporation Supreme Group BV and its subsidiaries — Supreme Foodservice GMBH of Switzerland and Supreme Foodservice FZE of the United Arab Emirates. The companies held a contract to provide food and water for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. But the firms inflated the price of fruits and vegetables, bottled water and other products. According to court documents, Supreme Group and its subsidiaries overcharged the government by $48 million in four years. The companies agree to pay $288 million in fines and restitution. (Federal News Radio)
• A contract employee is charged with stealing military aircraft documents and then attempting to transport them out of the country. Federal prosecutors said Yu Long stole reports on the development of advanced titanium for military aircraft. Police arrested Long in early November for allegedly trying to fly to China with the documents. He’s a Chinese citizen and U.S. permanent resident. Long worked nearly six years as an engineer for defense contractor United Technologies Corporation UTC which, along with other defense contractors, had been researching titanium for the Air Force to see if the material could lower metal costs. (Federal News Radio)
• Federal employees have until today to sign up for flexible spending accounts. The program extends its deadline from Monday because of technical issues. Flexible spending accounts allow employees to set aside pre-tax dollars to pay for health care expenses. Feds can enroll online or by calling 1-877-F- S-A-FEDS (FSA Feds)

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