Tuesday federal headlines – March 31, 2015

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.

  • One person is dead and two injured after a shooting at the National Security Agency. The NSA said an SUV with two people didn’t follow an officer’s instructions to leave Fort Meade. Instead, the driver accelerated and hit a police car. Police then fired at the vehicle, killing one in the car and critically injuring the other. An NSA police officer was also injured. Authorities are still investigating why the two men in the car were dressed as women. CBS News reports investigators found weapons and cocaine in the vehicle. Follow our sister station WTOP for the latest updates on the developing story. (Federal News Radio/WTOP)
  • The Veterans Affairs Department cuts its disability claims backlog by 67 percent. The department said the claims backlog now stands at fewer than 200,000. That’s down from a high of 611,000 in March of 2013. The VA attributes the drop to claims processors putting in extra hours. It said they’re working evenings and weekends to cut down on the backlog. The department also is encouraging more veterans to submit claims online. The VA’s goal is to completely eliminate the backlog by the end of this year. (VA)
  • Pentagon employees are trying out smartphones known for being spy-resistant. NextGov reports the firm Silent Circle created the Android-based phones. Users log onto the same phone under multiple personas with separate security restrictions. So a user could browse Facebook and family photos under one persona, and classified work emails on another. But it’s all on the same device. A former Navy SEAL founded Silent Circle. It’s now based in Switzerland. The Defense Department, not Silent Circle, configures mobile email so that it goes through military servers. (NextGov)
  • Defense Secretary Ash Carter is considering relaxing military enlistment standards. No details yet, but he’s said to be looking at ways to get more people in for technology-intensive jobs, including cybersecurity. It could mean overlooking minor criminal offenses such as marijuana convictions, or admitting people older than currently allowed. The Defense Department relaxed enlistment standards at the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars because it couldn’t meet its annual goals. It let in more recruits with criminal records. (Federal News Radio)
  • Two former federal agents stand accused of stealing $1 million in digital currency during the course of an investigation. Carl Force was a Drug Enforcement Administration agent. He was arrested in Baltimore and was in custody as of yesterday. Former Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges is free on bail in San Francisco. Prosecutors said the pair used their computer skills to steal bitcoins from the operator of an online drug bazaar. They say the pair appears to have been working independently of one another. Force and Bridges are accused of wire fraud, money laundering and theft of government property. The operator of the web site, known as Silk Road, was eventually convicted. (Federal News Radio)
  • Two Republican lawmakers introduce a bill to end so-called official time — federal employees doing union work during their regular work hours. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) say official time wastes money. Hice called it a shady practice that benefits only unions. The Federal Employees Accountability Act would bar employees from collective bargaining while on the government’s dime. Official time was established under the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act. Last year employees spent more than 3.4 million hours on union work, costing the government $157 million. (Rep. Jody Hice )
  • President Obama said he’ll respond to the recommendations of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission by April 30. The commission completed its work in January. In a letter to congressional leaders, Obama said he supports the objectives of the commission. But he wants another month to refine the specific proposals. The commission’s ideas include restructuring the retirement benefits system and moving family members to private health insurance. (White House)
  • The National Science Foundation partners with its counterpart in Japan to support big data research. The two agencies award grants for using big data and data analytics to help with disaster response. NSF and the Japanese agency announced joint support for six projects at universities in both countries. The researchers will look at how to capture and process data related to disasters. That spans the entire disaster, from predictive warnings, to during the disaster and in the aftermath. Researchers will also work on improving resilience of computer systems after a disaster happens. (NSF)

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