Tuesday federal headlines – November 25, 2014

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 Office of Personnel Management has a video designed to help federal employees better understand the phased retirement process. OPM said it’s prepared to process phased retirement applications. But it said agencies should have a plan for putting phased retirement in place. (OPM)
• The Veterans Affairs Department fired the head of its Phoenix Health Care System. Sharon Helman’s ouster came months after she was placed on administrative leave. Allegations of long waiting lists and falsified records started at the Phoenix hospital in May. They led to a departmentwide crisis that resulted in the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. Helman had joined the VA in 1990. She’s the fifth senior executive to be sacked since the scandal surfaced. The new secretary, Bob McDonald, is working to reorganize VA as prescribed in a law enacted in September. (Federal News Radio)
• Former Defense Undersecretary Michele Flournoy is a top contender to replace outgoing Secretary Chuck Hagel. If selected, she would become the first woman to lead the military. Hagel submitted his resignation letter under pressure from the Obama administration. The White House raised concerns about Hagel’s effectiveness and his management of the Middle East crisis. Other contenders for the position include former Deputy Secretary Ashton Carter and current Deputy Secretary Robert Work. Hagel said he’ll stay on the job until a successor is in place. (Federal News Radio)
• The U.S. and Turkey have come to an agreement over opposition fighters in Syria. Defense News reports Turkish forces will train the fighters and the U.S. will provide equipment. Vice President Joe Biden visited Turkey last week to discuss the issue. A senior Turkish diplomat said Biden’s visit helped iron out differences between the two countries’ position, but they’re not 100 percent on par yet. The U.S. military’s priority is to fight the Islamic State group. Turkey is insisting on a follow-up goal to topple Syrian President Bashar al- Assad. (Defense News)
• A former Navy administrator wass sentenced for hacking. According to court documents, a 2012 cyber breach exposed personal records of more than 200,000 service members. That was on the Navy’s Smart Web Move database. Nicholas Paul Knight allegedly posted links to the records and made them available to the public. Knight pleaded guilty to the charges in May. He will serve two years in prison. His co-conspirator, Daniel Krueger, was sentenced last month to two years in prison. (WTOP)
• The Homeland Security Department is dumping its Secure Communities program in favor of what it calls the Priority Enforcement Program, or PEP. Under Security Communities, Immigration and Customs Enforcement tried to deport criminal aliens held by state and local police. Secretary Jeh Johnson said the program drew criticism and litigation. Under PEP, the department is sharply narrowing the range of offenses for which it will seek deportation. Only the most egregious criminals will be sought out for removal. Specific crimes, including terrorism and sexual abuse, are laid out in a Nov. 20 memo to DHS component heads. Johnson instructed ICE to continue using FBI fingerprint databases for background checks of aliens. (DHS)
• Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work is taking to the hustings to promote the Defense Innovation Initiative. On a TV program produced by Defense News, the deputy Defense secretary said the United States has tried to maintain a technology edge, or offset, relative to adversaries ever since World War II. That’s in contrast to matching enemies tank for tank, airplane for airplane, or soldier for soldier. The latest initiative is aimed at restoring offset. It will incorporate a fresh approach to wargaming and creation of a long-range research and development program. Also, making DoD business practices more innovative. Work also said budget cuts under sequestration undermine the pursuit of the offset advantage. (DoD)
• FAA Administrator Michael Huerta is ordering an overhaul of contingency plans and security protocols. The move came after a 30-day review following an outage at a major control center. A contractor employee set fire to equipment in the Aurora, Illinois center in September. The FAA must improve physical security, and establish data links among control centers to make the system more resilient. The goal of the planned year-long overhaul is to have restoration of full capability within 24 hours of a disaster. Huerta said more funding to speed the adoption of the agency’s NextGen, satellite-based navigation system will help. (FAA)
• IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told employees they’ll receive bonuses in March for fiscal 2014. Members of the National Treasury Employees Union will get the same size bonus as last year. The Hill reports that’s a smaller bonus from previous years, which Koskinen blames on the IRS budget. Managers will receive bonuses around 1 percent of their salaries. Koskinen said employees who have violated the agency’s code of conduct won’t receive bonuses. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found the IRS awarded $2.8 million in bonuses to employees who were delinquent on their own taxes. (The Hill)
• Nearly one-third of Postal Service contract drivers don’t have a valid security clearance. The Postal Service Inspector General said the agency requires contract drivers to have a non-sensitive security clearance renewed every four years. The process is designed to prevent ineligible applicants from accessing mail. But nearly 18 percent of all contract drivers’ security clearances have expired. The IG said management doesn’t have enough oversight to make sure drivers comply with security clearance requirements. It also said management doesn’t properly train personnel on how to obtain screening information from contract drivers. (USPS OIG)

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