Thursday federal headlines – November 13, 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 Energy Department Inspector General said Sandia National Labs illegally extended a multibillion dollar contract with Lockheed Martin. Staff members of Sandia and the contractor used contract dollars to influence federal officials, including then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and members of Congress. Their goal was to extend the contract non-competitively. Lockheed was hired in 1998 to manage the lab. The contract was supposed to expire in 2012, but it was repeatedly extended without competition. An attempt in March to award a three-year extension caught the eye of the National Nuclear Security Administration Sandia Field Office. That led to the IG investigation.(Department of Energy)
  • The military has scaled back its planned troop presence in Liberia. Army Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky said the Pentagon now plans to deploy 3,000 troops for Ebola response missions, 1,000 less than originally planned. Volesky said private contracting capacity has allowed the Pentagon to reduce the number of troops heading to West Africa. More than 2,000 troops are in Liberia now. Military presence is expected to grow to 2,000 by mid-December. Volesky said it will not grow beyond that, but that the Ebola crisis in Liberia is not over. (Federal News Radio)
  • President Barack Obama has nominated several people to important administration posts. He nominated Antonio Weiss for under secretary of the Treasury, to replace Mary John Miller, who left in September. Weiss is head of global investment banking at Lazard Limited. The President nominated Lauren McFarren to the National Labor Relations Board. She is currently chief labor counsel for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Obama withdrew the nomination of Sharon Block, who served as a recess appointment. Also nominated are: Leigh Bradley, as deputy council at Veterans Affairs; Michelle Lee as under secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and director of the Patent and Trademark Office; Jay Lerner to be inspector general at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and Dava Newman to be deputy administrator of NASA. (The White House)
  • President Barack Obama’s request for $6.2 billion in emergency Ebola funds has bipartisan support from the Senate. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said any spending bill Congress passes should include funding for Ebola. According to USA Today, Mikulski said it’s a national consensus that we need to contain and eradicate Ebola. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said action on Ebola funding is a top priority. McConnell has not said whether he supports the specifics of Obama’s funding request, but he did say Congress needs to address the issue before the end of the year. (USA Today)
  • A block of conservative Republicans say they’ll use the omnibus spending bill to prevent presidential action on immigration reform. Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) say an amendment would prevent any money from being used to carry out an executive order the President has promised. In the House, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) said he has 50 signatures for a similar amendment. Republican leadership has authorized continuing talks on a spending bill. A continuing resolution expires Dec. 11, so the immigration amendment increases the potential for a government shutdown since President Barack Obama would almost certainly veto it. (Federal News Radio)
  • Two lawmakers have urged the House Appropriations Committee not to let the Postal Service close more mail processing centers. In a letter, Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) wrote that it’s unclear how closing the centers would affect Postal Service employees. The Postal Service has already consolidated 141 mail processing facilities, and it plans to consolidate another 82 starting in January. Cummings and Lynch also want to ensure the Postal Service keeps up with service standards for first-class mail and periodicals. Those standards were put in place in July 2012. (House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform)
  • Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is grilling the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Agency for International Development. As ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Coburn has been investigating claims that the IG office removed and altered negative findings from audits before releasing the reports to the public. The Washington Post reports that the committee asked the IG office about an audit of a USAID program in Pakistan. Coburn said the office gave him inaccurate and misleading answers to the committee’s questions. Michael Carroll is acting IG for the agency. He recently withdrew his nomination for inspector general. (Washington Post)
  • Defense Department officials have condemned attacks on service members in Turkey. Bloomberg reports that a group of Turkish youth tried to throw hoods over the heads of three sailors from the destroyer USS Ross. The sailors were ashore in Istanbul. The attackers threw cans of orange paint at the sailors and called them murderers. The attack mimicked a 2003 incident in which U.S. soldiers placed hoods on Turkish soldiers in Iraq. Turkey is a NATO ally but harbors a lot of anti-American sentiment over the invasion of Iraq. An Army spokesman called the men thugs. They are believed to be members of the Turkish Youth Union. (Bloomberg Government)

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