Friday federal headlines – March 13, 2015

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.

• Some recently introduced bills in Congress could affect feds’ jobs and salary. A bill from Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) would reduce six figure salaries by 8.7 percent. That affects civilian feds and elected officials, but not active duty military. That would remain in place until the economy recovers to pre-recession levels. Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) introduced a bill that would reduce and eliminate some agency programs. The measure establishes a commission of nine members to assess efficiency of agency programs. Each year, it would recommend which ones to realign and which to eliminate. (Federal News Radio)
• How big is the federal contractor workforce? It’s a mystery. The Congressional Budget Office writes a letter to Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) who requested information on government contracts. CBO says it doesn’t have any comprehensive information on the size of the contracted workforce. But the office does know how much agencies spend on contractors and products. In 2012, that number was about $500 billion dollars. CBO said the Federal Procurement Data System is the only source for spending on federal contracts. But its data are not complete and some government reports question its accuracy. (CBO)
• Navy prosecutors found male submarine sailors trading videos of female officers undressing. The USS Wyoming is the first submarine allowing women to serve alongside men. One sailor made the videos using his smartphone. He secretly filmed women undressing and getting in the shower without their consent. A prosecutor said the sailor then traded the illicit videos “as if they were Pokemon cards.” But the defense attorney says the videos are not graphic. He says the videos are poor quality and only show partial nudity. They were never posted online. (Federal News Radio)
• Don’t take it personally, but Americans’ confidence in the federal government has reached new lows. That’s according to a survey by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. And it’s true for all three branches. Only 23 percent of Americans have a high level of confidence in the Supreme Court. And only 5 percent fully trust Congress. Those are 40-year lows. The Executive Branch has a near-record-low confidence rating at 11 percent. Media don’t fare much better. Only 7 percent of Americans have a lot of confidence in what they read or watch on TV. One bright spot is the military. It enjoys high confidence from 50 percent of Americans. (AP-NORC)
• Thieves posing as IRS agents have targeted more than 366,000 people with harassing phone calls demanding payments and threatening jail. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said it’s the largest scam of its kind in the history of the agency. Since 2013, more than 3,000 people have been conned to the tune of $15.5 million dollars. IG Timothy Camus said in many cases, the scammers have obtained people’s Social Security numbers before they call. Some of the calls originate from call centers in India, but show up on caller ID as an IRS phone number. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) says he got a call, as did the inspector general himself. (Federal News Radio)
• The Senate Intelligence Committee approved a cyber-sharing bill on a vote of 14 to one. The measure would encourage the public and private sectors to share information on cyber threats. The move came after several cyber attacks, including one on Sony. Large tech companies, including Microsoft and Lockheed Martin, support the bill. But some privacy advocates oppose it. They say the bill would lead to more government surveillance on Americans. The measure is likely to pass in the full Senate. (Reuters)
• The Homeland Security Department will save $100 million a year thanks to whistleblowers. Employees sounded the alarm on abuse of overtime pay at Customs and Border Protection. Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime was designed for last-minute circumstances, such as responding to criminal activity. But the Office of Special Counsel said those payments were mismanaged and handed out routinely. Some employees even got overtime pay for watching videos on their computers or going to the gym. Whistleblowers coming forward about the issue prompted Congress to pass legislation reforming pay for Border Patrol agents. The policy change saved DHS $84 million last year. (OSC)
• The Senate confirmed Christopher Hart as chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. He’s been acting chairman since April, when Deborah Hersman left. Senators also approved Tho Bella Dihn-Zarr as a board member. Hart joined the board as vice chairman in 2009. Earlier, he held senior jobs a the FAA, including deputy director for air traffic safety oversight and assistant administrator for system safety. (Federal News Radio)
• Don’t rule out another year of budget caps for Defense spending. Analyst Nora Bensahel said she’s very pessimistic about whether budget caps will go away in 2016. If not, she says it will force military planners to use the Overseas Contingency Operations appropriation as a slush fund. Bensahel said she expects the armed services to receive numerous billions of dollars less than they are asking for. Retired Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro is more optimistic. He said he’s not ready to slit his wrists in March. Punaro said he believes the world is more threatening now than when the Budget Control Act was enacted in 2011. He said key appropriators in Congress understand this. He and Bensahel spoke at a Bloomberg Government forum.

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