Tuesday federal headlines – October 14, 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.

  • The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee wants to know if the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act is actually helping agencies prevent abuse with the Government Purchase Card program. Members within the Office of Inspector General at the Homeland Security Department, Labor Department, Air Force and Environmental Protection Agency will testify before the committee. (House)
  • The State Department is concerned about the planned sale of New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel to a Chinese insurance company. The department uses the landmark hotel for diplomatic purposes each year. It maintains a suite on floor 42 as a residence for the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The President stays there for a few nights during the general assembly. State officials are concerned that a planned renovation of the Waldorf by the Chinese would turn it into one big eavesdropping site. A spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the U.N. said State is reviewing details of the sale. Hilton Worldwide agreed to sell the Waldorf for nearly $2 billion. (FederalNewsRadio)
  • Are budget cuts to blame for the lack of an Ebola vaccine? National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins thinks so. Collins told the Huffington Post that stagnant spending over the last 10 years has slowed down medical research. He said NIH has been working on Ebola vaccines since 2001. The agency’s purchasing power is down nearly a quarter from 10 years ago. Its budget was less than $30 billion in fiscal year 2013. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which conducts research on vaccines, has a budget of only $4.25 billion. That’s down from $4.3 billion in 2004. Some lawmakers want to increase the NIH budget by more than $15 billion dollars in seven years, but it’s unclear if the bill would pass any time soon. (Huffington Post)
  • Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel repeated his warning that climate change poses a threat to militaries around the world. Phenomena such as rising sea levels and natural disasters could harm bases and installations, and could contribute to political instability. Hagel spoke to a group of military leaders meeting in Peru. He delivered his remarks as the Pentagon released its latest road map for dealing with climate change. The road map says the military must deal with rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, more extreme weather and rising seas. Hagel called climate change a threat multiplier for problems such as infectious disease and armed insurgencies. (Federal News Radio)
  • HealthCare.gov gets a makeover as the second enrollment season approaches. The health website became infamous for its technical glitches and server problems. But the new version can withstand 125,000 users at once. The Spanish version of HealthCare.gov also improved. Poor translation created problems for Latinos trying to use the website. Enrollment opens on Nov. 15. The Congressional Budget Office estimates enrollment will reach 13 million users next year. That’s up from about 7 million users in 2014. (Federal News Radio)
  • The FAA has restored full operations at its Chicago En Route center early Tuesday morning. The Aurora, Illinois, facility was badly damaged in an arson fire two weeks ago. The agency says a full shift reported to work at 1 a.m. The FAA had temporarily reassigned 200 employees while Chicago En Route was out of commission. Most airplane traffic was back to normal a few days after the fire. The FAA says it’s conducting a 30-day investigation of contingency plans for its major facilities. (FAA)
  • Army officials said they want more minority officers in the service. Among 26 brigades, only one colonel is African American, and the Army has only three African American generals with a four-star rank. USA Today reports the Army plans to recruit officers from major metropolitan areas. Brig. Gen. Peggy Combs, who leads the Army Cadet Command, said the Army will expand recruiting efforts in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Dallas and Phoenix. The service is also mentoring youth minority officers to put them on the path toward higher ranks in the Army. (USA Today)
  • Agencies have two years to start using a new standard approach to identifying contract awards and other procurement actions. The new rule came from the Federal Acquisition Regulations Council, and changes the numbering system agencies now use. The new system will take effect on Oct. 1, 2017, but the FAR Council is telling agencies to stick with the existing system until then. The Government Accountability and Transparency Board first proposed the new numbering system, and it was adopted as a requirement by the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act. (Federal News Radio)
  • NASA awarded 41 contracts under its Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement, also known as SEWP. These contracts are part of SEWP V’S Group C. Twelve of the companies on the vehicle are based in Virginia, and nine are in Maryland. Dynamic Systems, Integration Technologies Group, and Accelera Solutions are among the awardees. They’ll provide server support and multi-functional devices to agencies. The contracts are effective for 10 years. Any NASA center or other agency can buy from the contracts. NASA announced the fifth generation of SEWP on Oct. 1. (NASA)

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