Tuesday federal headlines – December 23, 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.

• Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) wants the next Congress to make Postal Service reform a top priority. The Delaware Democrat said lawmakers need to get rid of financial and legislative constraints that are tying down the Postal Service. He said that will give it a chance to modernize and grow through innovation. Carper and outgoing Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) introduced the Postal Reform Act of 2014, which aims to protect postal jobs and let USPS adapt to a digital age. But it didn’t pass in the Senate. Carper also wants senators to act soon on nominees for the Postal Board of Governors. The Senate adjourned for the year before considering the nominees. (Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee)
• A former Pentagon official got five years in prison for sex offense charges. Dan Haendel was a senior executive with the Defense Technology Security Administration. He allegedly tried to solicit sex from a child online. Haendel was arrested in May when he tried to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl. It turned out the girl was actually an undercover police officer. Haendel didn’t plead guilty but he said there’s enough evidence to convict him. (Federal News Radio)
• Construction restarted on the stalled Veterans Affairs hospital in Aurora, Colorado. The Denver Post reports the VA agreed to pay contractor Kiewit-Tuner $157 million for work it’s already done. Kiewet executive Scott Cassels said the company will ramp up and bring back its subcontractors. The company walked off the job earlier this month after the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals ruled the VA had acted in bad faith. The court found the million-square-foot facility has been plagued with cost overruns caused by VA mismanagement. Last week, VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson publicly apologized for the botched project. VA has enlisted help from the Army Corps of Engineers to help manage the completion. ( Denver Post)
• The Army will finish the last of its Ebola treatment units in Liberia by the end of December. Next month, military leaders will decide whether to send some troops home or re-deploy them elsewhere in West Africa. The Wall Street Journal reports, the U.S. task force has completed 14 treatment hospitals. Four were built by Army and Liberian engineers. The rest were built by contractors supervised by the Army and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky is the Army’s commander in Liberia. He said the number of new cases has shrunk to three per day. At its worst, the Ebola epidemic was producing 52 new cases per day. (Wall Street Journal)
• The U.S. Cyber Challenge is partnering with Monster.com to build a cyber workforce community. CyberCompEx.org will launch next spring. Federal Times reports the website will include resumes and profiles of cybersecurity professionals. Employers and cyber experts can also interact securely through the site. Employers will be able to use the site to fill cybersecurity positions at agencies and in the private sector. Most of the resumes will come from participants in the Cyber Challenge camps. The challenge launched in 2010 with the goal of adding 10,000 new employees with cyber skills. (Federal Times)
• The General Services Administration is looking for ideas for what to do with the Ronald Reagan Building International Trade Center. The downtown D.C. building has space for federal offices and facilities that are open to the public. GSA’s goal is to find a better way to manage the public parts of the Trade Center. In a request for information, GSA asked the private sector for different ways to operate, manage and maintain the building. Right now, the agency manages the Trade Center through a fixed-price contract. The building is the second largest federal facility in the D.C. area, with about 4 million square feet of space. (GSA)
• House lawmakers are drumming their fingers on the table, figuratively, as they await answers from Veterans Affairs on cybersecurity questions. Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) sent a letter to VA Secretary Bob McDonald. She wants more information on a year-old cyber breach that exposed data about more than 5,000 veterans. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) said he’s waiting for answers to questions he asked in November. He wants copies of reports prepared by Deloitte concerning VA cybersecurity and IT management. He also wants to see a cyber report prepared by Mandiant. VA’s Chief Information Office Steff Warren said the Mandiant report was to be completed this month. (Federal News Radio)
• Two large government contractors will pay tens of millions of dollars in fines to settle False Claims Act lawsuits. The Justice Department said Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems would pay $27.5 million to resolve allegations it overbilled the Army for an employee who was under-qualified for the position. A Lockheed spokesman said the settlement is not an admission of guilt, but instead the company wanted to avoid litigation. Justice said Iron Mountain paid $44.5 million to settle claims it overcharged agencies through its General Services Administration’s schedule contract. Those alleged overpayments took place over 13 years. Both cases are evidence of Justice’s aggressive pursuit of vendors under the False Claims Act. (Federal News Radio)
• The Federal Aviation Administration is teaming with three non-profit flying interest groups to promote drone safety. It produced a Christmas video with safety instructions for people who receive unmanned aircraft as gifts. FAA’s partners are the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and the Small UAV Coalition. They represent commercial drone operators. Also involved is the Academy of Model Aeronautics, which represents hobbyists. The groups said they plan to distribute safety pamphlets at industry events. They’re working with aircraft manufacturers to include safe flying information in drone packages. (Federal News Radio)

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