Wednesday federal headlines – November 12, 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.

  • Six federal agencies received a very poor customer service rating, according to a new report from Forrester. The Veterans Affairs Department received the highest score. Forty percent of customers say the VA meets their expectations of government. The Internal Revenue Service received the lowest score at 15 percent. (NextGov)
  • A lame-duck Congress returns to Washington today, with a big to-do list. The Continuing Resolution funding agencies is set to expire mid-December. Lawmakers can choose to pass an omnibus bill or another Continuing Resolution. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) chair their appropriations committees. They want a comprehensive measure that would fund the government through fiscal 2015. Congress will also take up the defense authorization bill. It’s expected to pass. The Defense Department wants to trim military benefits and weapons systems. But it’s had a tough time convincing lawmakers that’s a good idea. (Federal News Radio)
  • NASA has reduced its real estate footprint by 1,000 acres in California by signing over management of Moffett Field (near Silicon Valley) to the Google-owned Planetary Ventures. The 60-year deal will generate about $1.2 billion in rent. Google agreed to renovate the gigantic Hangar One, which dates to the 1930s, and pledged to create a visitors center. The property consists of two other hangars, two runways and a golf course. NASA said it will save $6.3 million a year in maintenance and operation costs. The federal government will keep the deed to the property. (NASA)
  • The online ride service Uber is facing political hurdles in the District of Columbia and other cities. But it has a power group of customers. Namely, members of Congress and their staffs. HPS Strategies, a political consulting firm, examined expense reports filed with the Federal Election Commission and found that Uber accounted for 61 percent of congressional rides of less than $100 in the 2014 election season. That works out for 2,800 rides for Uber, versus 1,800 HPS comments. People tasked with drafting the laws and enforcing regulations are also consumers. (HPS Strategies)
  • The Air Force wants to work out a compromise with Congress to retire part of its A-10 fleet. The service says it wants to retire three active-duty squadrons or about 72 aircraft, Defense News reports. That would let more maintenance personnel work on the F-35 planes, which need more than 1,000 maintainers to reach initial operational capability. One Air Force official said the compromise is getting positive feedback from lawmakers. The service and Congress have been going back-and-forth over the A-10s. Air Force officials said retiring A-10 planes will save money, but members of Congress are concerned about retiring the aircraft during a time of ongoing conflict. (Defense News)
  • The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will have a whole new tone when the new Congress convenes, as incoming Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) replaces Rep. Tom Carper (D-Del.). Johnson told Federal Times he’s in favor of removing some job protections for federal employees so it’s easier to fire them. He also said said he’d put the Postal Service into bankruptcy so it could get out from under expensive union contracts. He’d end Saturday delivery and let the Postal Service charge whatever it needs to cover the cost of its services. (Federal Times)
  • The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency put out a request for information on how to transform large planes into drone-carriers. DARPA said it wants to see how feasible the idea is. Drones are useful for military operations because they eliminate risk for pilots, the agency said, but at the same time, they lack the speed, range and endurance of larger aircraft. That’s why DARPA wants to take a so-called “blended approach,” under which a large aircraft would carry, launch and recover multiple small drones. Responses to DARPA’s RFI are due by Nov. 26. (DARPA)
  • Leaders of the American Postal Workers Union are upset they weren’t told earlier about a cyber breach, GovExec reports. The hack exposed personal information about 800,000 USPS employees. The union has filed a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board. Union President Mark Dimondstein said the Postal Service should have bargained over the impact of the security breach. USPS knew about the breach for weeks before going public, citing an ongoing investigation. Dimondstein said he wants to know exactly when management found out about the breach and what it did or did not do. (GovExec)
  • The Obama administration’s request for $5.6 billion to fight the Islamic State militants would pay for a variety of needs, including personnel costs, Bloomberg Government reports. The biggest item in the request — more than $1.6 billion — would cover the cost of training and equipping the Iraqi army. The second biggest amount is $932 million for Air Force operations and maintenance, and would cover training, flying hours, fuel, supplies and repair parts, as well as the acquisition of fresh munitions. Still more money would go to Navy and Marine Corps for F/A-18 repairs and spare parts. Among the likely contractor beneficiaries would be Boeing and Fluor. (Bloomberg Government)
  • Former directors of the Census Bureau are telling Congress to boost funding now. GovExec reports, the next Census goes out in 2020. But in a letter to Congress, the ex-directors said the bureau is running out of time to pick a design and test data collection systems. It also needs to evaluate wording on the questionnaire and assess the accuracy of its counting methods. The former directors call 2015 a “pivotal year” to test new initiatives and prepare for the Census. President Barack Obama requested $1.1 billion to fund the Census Bureau in 2015. (GovExec)
  • Two Treasury agencies see big gains in veteran hiring. In 2014, half of the new hires at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Mint were veterans. Thirty percent of the bureau’s employees are now veterans. And veterans make up more than 35 percent of the Mint’s workforce. That’s about 1,100 total veterans employed at the two agencies. Their efforts follow a 2009 executive order from President Barack Obama. He asked agencies to boost veteran hiring efforts. The Bureau and Mint participated in events that helped service members transition to the civilian workforce. They also have developed materials that match veterans with jobs that reflect their skills. (Treasury)

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