Wednesday federal headlines – March 18, 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 members of the House Appropriations Committee are worried the General Services Administration will lose money on its plan for a new FBI headquarters. GSA plans to exchange the FBI’s current building on Pennsylvania Avenue for the construction of a new space in Maryland or Virginia. GSA is asking for $12 million more in fiscal 2016. (Federal News Radio)
• Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy said he didn’t learn about two agents who crashed a car into a White House barrier on March 4 until five days after it happened. And even then, Clancy found out from an anonymous email. Lawmakers grilled the director at a House Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday. Clancy told the panel that he was “very frustrated” by the late notice on the incident. He said he needs time to earn employees’ trust and change the agency’s culture. Clancy also wants a new training facility for agents. He asked for $8 million to build a replica of the White House that will give officers a more realistic training experience. (Federal News Radio)
• Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) said he would resign at the end of the month. Schock had decorated his congressional office in the style of the TV show “Downton Abbey,” courtesy of an interior designer who donated her services. Schock used taxpayer and campaign funds to pay for private air travel and tickets to a Katy Perry concert. The congressman repaid the government $40,000 from his personal bank account. (Federal News Radio )
• House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) released his $3.8 trillion budget plan. It calls for federal employees to contribute more to their retirement plans. It would require everyone to pay 6.6 percent of their paychecks. The current highest rate is for those hired in 2014, who pay 4.4 percent. Employees hired before 2013 pay less than 1 percent into the Federal Employees Retirement System. The bill has few details about the 1.3 percent pay raise offered by President Barack Obama in his budget request. Nor does it address a 3.8 percent raise sought by House Democrats. (Federal News Radio )
• U.S. forces lost contact with one of their drones flying over Syria. The Syrian state-run news service said government air defenses brought down the MQ-1 predator in the coastal province of Latakia. Defense officials acknowledged the loss of contact, but said they could not confirm the plane was shot down, according to the Wall Street Journal. Syria has let the United States operate drones and manned warplanes over areas controlled by the Islamic State militants. Those forces have conducted hundreds of air strikes against Islamic State militants since September. (Wall Street Journal)
• An Air Force veteran accused of plotting to join the Islamic State said he will plead not guilty. Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh is charged with attempting to support a terrorist group and obstructing justice. Authorities stopped Pugh at a Turkish airport. He was carrying a laptop with information on Turkey-Syria border crossings, 180 jihadist propaganda videos and a letter saying he would use his talent and skills to defend the Islamic State. Authorities also found photos of a machine gun and airplanes on his cell phone. (Federal News Radio)
• The Defense Department plans to invest in new weapons and capabilities in 2016. Deputy Secretary Bob Work said the department needs to modernize to stay ahead of other nations. He said DoD is “chronically under-investing” in new technologies and that means military superiority isn’t assured. The White House has approved more funding for the Future Years Defense Program. That covers areas including missile defense, cyber, advanced sensors and the nuclear deterrent force. DoD is also working on a Defense Innovation Initiative to develop breakthrough technologies that will sustain military dominance over other countries. (Defense.gov)
• Two senators want to improve oversight of geospatial data. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced the Geospatial Data Reform Act. It would require agencies to report how much they spend on such data as part of annual budget submissions to the President. The measure would also require the Federal Geographic Data Committee to report every two years on agency performance related to geospatial data management. The federal government is the largest buyer of such data, but auditors have found that agencies don’t consistently track or report on geospatial investments. The result is often duplicative programs. In a statement, Warner said the bill would bring transparency and accountability to the collection of geospatial data. (Federal News Radio )
• The Office of Management and Budget is seeking public comment on the best way to ensure every federal website uses a secure protocol within two years. The draft proposal calls for agencies to use a secure version of the common hypertext transfer protocol, known as HTTPS. It encrypts data between a website and a visitor. The White House itself made the move to secure HTTP earlier this month, as did the Federal Trade Commission. The proposal calls for all new federal sites to use the secure protocol, with the existing ones to follow. (Federal News Radio )

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