Tuesday federal headlines – February 24, 2015

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the FederalDrive 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 Secretary apologizes for misstating his military record. Bob McDonald told a homeless veteran, he served in the military’s special forces. McDonald is an Army veteran who served with the 82nd Airborne Division. But that’s not considered part of special forces. McDonald says he was trying to engage the veteran and misspoke. He says he apologizes to anyone offended by his misstatement. (Federal News Radio)
• A Yahoo technology executive trades barbs with National Security Agency director Adm. Mike Rogers. The Wall Street Journal reports the exchange came during a West Coast cybersecurity summit hosted by the New America Foundation. Alex Stamos, Yahoo’s information security chief, asks Rogers whether the company should give in to demands from other countries — like Saudi Arabia, China and Russia — who want to spy on Yahoo users. Rogers tells Stamos, it would be a lie to think a legal framework for NSA data access could not be worked out. But he says it’s up to Congress to set those policies. (Wall Street Journal)
• With time running out, Senate Majority Leader Sen.Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tries a new tactic to avoid a lapse in funding for the Homeland Security Department. Senate Democrats have repeatedly filibustered a spending bill because it contains language limiting President Obama’s immigration orders. McConnell says he’ll remove that language and put in separate legislation. Still, funding by the Friday deadline is not a certainty. Democrats signal they’re not ready to vote in favor of the resulting funding bill. Plus, that bill still has to be reconciled with the House version, which includes the immigration language. (Federal News Radio)
• Some service members will see a smaller paycheck this Friday because of a processing error at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Service members enrolled in the Thrift Savings Plan’s Roth option will have 100 percent of their monthly deduction taken out, instead of 50 percent. The system didn’t deduct any Roth contributions from the Feb. 13 paycheck. DFAS blames the error on a change in how deductions are calculated. Roth participants used to specify their contribution in dollars. But now they have to submit the amount as a percentage. (Gov Exec)
• The Labor Department extends family and medical leave rights to same-sex couples. It changes the definition of “spouse” in the Family and Medical Leave Act. The rights now apply to all eligible employees in a legal same-sex marriage, regardless of whether the state they live in recognizes the marriage. Under the law, employees can take unpaid, job-protected leave to care for a spouse with a serious health condition. (Labor Department)
• The new Defense Secretary, Ash Carter, wastes no time getting down to business. While on a short trip to the Middle East days after being sworn in, he convenes a war council. Its topic: the Obama administration’s strategy to stop the Islamic State. More than two dozen U.S. diplomatic and military leaders took part in the session at Camp Arif-jan in Kuwait. Carter says the discussions confirmed his belief that ISIS is hardly invincible. He says the strategy is correct but needs better execution. Carter says the coalition supporting the United States needs to get more effective at social media to counteract ISIS messaging. And he says other Middle East nations have to step up their contributions to the effort. Carter is scheduled to brief President Obama today. (Federal News Radio)
• Auditors say the Justice Department needs to improve how it handles whistleblower retaliation complaints from the FBI. The Government Accountability Offices looks at how long it takes Justice to resolve retaliation complaints. It finds DOJ closed 70 percent of complaints within a year. But a quarter of complaints took up to four years and the remaining five percent took more than 10 years. In one case, an FBI agent says she suffered retaliation after reporting her colleagues stole items from Ground Zero after 9/11. DOJ ruled in her favor, but that was ten years later. GAO also finds Justice and FBI’s guidance for reporting wrongdoing isn’t always clear. (GAO)
• The White House opens the ticket lottery for this year’s Easter Egg Roll. The 137th annual event will take place April 6. This year’s theme: Gimme Five. First Lady Michelle Obama asks Americans to share five things they’re doing to live a healthy life. It’s part of her Let’s Move Initiative. Tickets are free and distributed through an online lottery. The lottery closes this Thursday at noon. (White House)
• Denise Turner Roth has been appointed the new acting administrator at the General Services Administration. Roth fills the vacancy left by former administrator Dan Tangherlini. He left GSA on Feb. 13. Roth has been deputy administrator since March 2014. In a video message posted at GSA.gov, Roth says Adam Neufeld moves from chief of staff to acting deputy administrator. She names Christina Harada as acting chief of staff. Before joining the federal government, Roth was city manager of Greensboro, North Carolina. (GSA)

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