Tuesday federal headlines – December 16, 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.

• The Veterans Affairs Department is launching a two-year pilot that aims to save time for physicians. VA awards a $6.8 million contract to IBM for its Watson technology. The technology was made famous three years ago on the TV show Jeopardy. IBM’s Watson will ingest thousands of VA medical documents and research papers. VA will study how the technology can let doctors quickly search through the records and make faster evidence-based clinical decisions. Interim Undersecretary for Health Carolyn Clancy says the technology could save valuable time for physicians, giving them more time to interact with veterans. (VA)
• The Senate confirms Dr. Vivek Murthy as U.S. Surgeon General. The job has been vacant since July 2013. The vote was close, 51-43 with three Democrats joining with Republicans to oppose Murthy. But because of Senate rule changes, nominations no longer need a 60-vote super-majority. Murthy is a physician at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He drew opposition because of statements that gun violence should be considered a public health issue. He’s also a co-founder of Doctors for America, a group that advocates in favor of Obamacare. (Associated Press)
• Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) blocks a bill that aims to reduce the number of veteran suicides. The outgoing senator said the bill wouldn’t accomplish its goal and that duplicate programs already exist. The $22 million bill would require the Veterans Affairs Department and the Pentagon to submit independent reviews of their suicide prevention program. It would also establish a website with information on mental health services for veterans. The House passed the bill last week. Sens. Harry Reid, Richard Blumenthal and others support the bill. But Coburn said lawmakers should hold VA accountable for failing to serve veterans. About 22 veterans commit suicide each day. (Associated Press)
• Agencies have to decide how many Senior Executive Service members they will have in 2016 and 2017. A memo from the Office of Personnel Management asks agencies to submit requests for a specific number of SES, senior level and scientific, professional positions. Agencies are required to examine their needs for SES positions every two years. OPM Director Katherine Archuleta says the requests allow her agency to assess whether executive resources are being used in the most efficient manner. Agencies have until the end of the year to submit allocation requests. (Chief Human Capital Officers Council)
• Federal employees in Washington are back in the office Tuesday after a power outage sent many employees home Monday. The Office of Personnel Management said its employees were evacuated because of an electrical fire in the headquarters building. The fire also cut power at some nearby federal buildings, including the General Services Administration and the Labor Department. A separate construction mishap cut power at the State Department. No one was injured in the outages. ( Associated Press)
• The Office of Personnel Management launches a new approach to how it measures the effectiveness of the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program. Its goal is to make it easier to compare one health insurance plan with another. It’s asking for comments in a rule-making proposal. OPM now analyzes FEHBP contracts using one of two methods. That results in non-comparable ratings. In its proposal, OPM says it wants to use the same criteria for all plans. It’s proposing clinical quality, customer service, use of resources and contract oversight as the basis for evaluating insurance plans. Comments are due Jan. 14. (Federal News Radio)
• The Defense Department team responsible for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons has won an international award. It came from a British association of chemical, biological, radio-logical and nuclear threat mitigation companies called CBRN U.K. It’s the first time the group has given its Innovator of the Year award to a non-U.K. organization. The DoD team developed, under time pressure, a way of neutralizing chemical weapons that could be installed on a ship. Aboard the converted freighter Cape Ray, the team got rid of more than 600 tons of material in 2013. Team members came from various Army components and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. It was lead by Timothy Blades, a director in the Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense, and product manager Lloyd Pusey. (DoD)
• The minimum wage goes up to $10.10 for federal contractors working for the Defense Department, General Services Administration and NASA. Three agencies issued an interim rule changing the Federal Acquisition Rule. Wages are set to go up Jan. 1, 2015. (Federal Register)

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