Tuesday federal headlines – January 20, 2015

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.

  • Agencies have until Oct. 1 to set up their own digital services office. The Office of Management and Budget is requiring agencies to set aside a certain percentage of their IT budgets to set up the group. They have until February to submit an implementation plan to the E-Government and IT office. (Federal News Radio)
  • Government agencies are often better at responding to cyber attacks than private companies. That’s according to an annual security report from Cisco. It described 43 percent of the public sector as having a “highly sophisticated” security response. (Cisco)
  • President Barack Obama will call for free community college, improving access to broadband Internet and paid sick leave for workers when he addresses Congress tonight in his seventh State of the Union speech. Sure, you could watch it on TV. Even You Tube or Google Plus. But the White House is hoping you’ll use its website, where it is rolling out what it calls “A River of Content.” It says it will provide state-by-state and demographic data in real time. Tomorrow, White House officials will hold a daylong Q&A on social media. They’re calling it the Big Block of Cheese Day. (White House)
  • Federal employees will share a little bit of the spotlight when President Barack Obama gives his State of the Union address tonight. Several feds will be among the 22 special guests sitting with the first lady. Computer scientist Kathy Pham has gone from Silicon Valley to the U.S. Digital Service. The White House said she is working to improve health technology and expand veterans’ access to benefits. Also in the audience will be astronaut Scott Kelly. He’s about to spend a year at the International Space Station. He and his crew will compare medical data on him and his twin brother, astronaut Mark Kelly. Judy and Alan Gross, the contractor who was recently freed from Cuba after five years, will also sit with Michelle Obama during the speech. (White House)
  • Reverse auction host FedBid is splitting into two separate organizations. Former White House Procurement Policy Chief Joe Jordan will lead its federal practice. FedBid’s founder and former CEO Ali Saadat will head the second firm, catering to businesses. Jordan said the plan has been in the works since he joined FedBid a year ago. But it follows a damaging report by the inspector general of the Veterans Affairs Department. The IG accused Saadat and some other officials of shady conduct meant to improperly influence the department’s business. Jordan said FedBid has hired an outside law firm, launched a stronger ethics program and appointed a chief compliance officer since the report came out. (Federal News Radio )
  • A California lawmaker wants to make cuts to the Defense civilian workforce. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) introduced the Rebalance for an Effective Defense Uniform and Civilian Employees — or REDUCE — Act. He said the measure would make the civilian workforce more efficient. Calvert said the cuts would let the Pentagon maintain a strong national defense in the long term. The civilian workforce has grown 15 percent since 2001. Calvert wants to reduce the civilian workforce by that same percent by 2022. He estimates his bill would save $82.5 billion in five years. (Rep. Ken Calvert)
  • Data companies may have access to HealthCare.gov users’ personal information. The firms track consumers on the site to create profiles for advertisers. And the government uses the information to measure performance on the website. Former Chief Information Officer Theresa Payton said vendor management can be the weakest part of a privacy and security chain. Some of the personal details could include age, income, ZIP code and whether someone smokes or is pregnant. Investigators find no evidence that the information has been leaked or misused. (Federal News Radio)
  • It’s time to file your tax return. The IRS today opened its filing season. It is offering new online services that it said will help taxpayers know what to do under requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The agency said it expects to issue 90 percent of refunds due taxpayers within 21 days of filing. That’s despite budget cuts that have forced the agency to scale back on temporary workers and overtime pay. The taxpayer advocate warns that half of people who call the IRS with questions won’t be able to reach a real employee. (IRS/Federal News Radio)
  • The Veterans Affairs police force renewed its calls for more staff and resources and better training. The move came after a fatal shooting two weeks ago at a veterans hospital in El Paso, Texas. A veteran shot and killed a psychologist at the clinic before killing himself. A former police chief at a VA medical center said safety and security has gone unaddressed for years. But he said the problem has grown recently, in light of the scandal over patient wait times at the agency. VA officials promise to address staffing shortages and install more security systems this year. (Washington Post)
  • More than 130,000 pages of Air Force UFO files are now online. Air Force Times reports UFO enthusiast John Greenewald posted records from Project Blue Book on his online database, called “The Black Vault.” The Blue Book contains Air Force files on UFO sightings and investigations. The Air Force recorded more than 12,000 sightings of strange phenomena in the 1950s and 1960s. But it stopped investigations after concluding that the sightings didn’t pose a threat to national security. Greenewald spent nearly 20 years filing Freedom of Information Act requests for government data on UFOs. He says his webpage is the first time the files are posted online in a searchable database. (Air Force Times)

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.