Monday federal headlines – April 20, 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.

  • The House Veterans Affairs Committee wants answers on VA’s overseas network access. The inspector general found VA let contractors access the agency’s network on personal computers in foreign countries. In one case, a contract employee was working in China using an un-encrypted computer. He then left the laptop in China. The House panel wants to know if VA validates foreign connections, and if it gives loaner computers to employees traveling abroad. The panel also wants to know if VA does forensic examinations of devices when they return from a foreign country. ( Federal News Radio )
  • Congress starts the long slog this week leading to a 2016 budget. First on the agenda is a non-binding budget resolution. Although they differ in detail, the House and Senate will seek cuts to domestic programs as a way of reducing deficit spending. Food stamps, student loans, Pell grants, and rural air service subsidies are all in the crosshairs. So is Saturday mail delivery. Republicans want to boost military spending by way of the overseas contingency operations account. Also on the agenda are proposals to end Saturday mail delivery. (Federal News Radio)
  • The Homeland Security Department appoints five new members to its advisory council. The council members come from state and local governments, academia and the private sector. They advise Secretary Jeh Johnson on homeland security issues. Elaine Duke has 28 years of federal service, including nearly two years as DHS undersecretary for management. David Martin is a law professor at the University of Virginia, researching immigration and constitutional law. Matt Olsen directed the National Counter-terrorism Center for three years. Bob Rose has served on security and cyber boards in government. And Paul Stockton was assistant secretary for Homeland Defense at the Defense Department. (DHS)
  • The Broadcasting Board of Governors will offer employee buyouts starting today. GovExec reports, the authority runs until May 29, and that will be it for 2015. To be eligible for the $25,000 buyouts, employees must be at least 50 years old with 20 years or service. Or have 25 years of service at any age. Those accepting will leave the agency between June 30 and September 30. People in both the Civil Service Retirement System and the Federal Employees Retirement System are eligible. BBG oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and the International Broadcasting Bureau. It’s been marked by turnover at the top. CEO Andrew Lack left after only weeks on the job to return to Comcast. Voice of America Director David Ensor has announced his resignation. (GovExec)
  • The Interior Department looks for feedback on fees for drilling on federal land. The fee right now for oil and gas companies to drill is a 12.5 percent royalty. The Government Accountability Office said the Bureau of Land Management should be able to raise or lower that royalty at its discretion. BLM looks for public comment on whether the government should have that flexibility. Some auditors and watchdogs says the 12.5 percent royalty is too low. Others say raising the royalty would lessen gas production and in turn raise prices at the pump. ( Federal News Radio)
  • The Army will shut down some of its specialized care units for wounded warriors. The Army says the number of service members with complex physical, mental and emotional wounds has decreased dramatically as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down. The Army has 25 warrior transition units open. It plans to close 10 of them by next August. Officials said they have the option to re-open them and restart the care if needed. About 3,600 service members are in the care units now. (Federal News Radio )
  • The Homeland Security watchdog says Immigration and Customs Enforcement could have saved millions of dollars through better management. The inspector general finds ICE left empty seats on flights sending detained immigrants to their home countries. Most of those flights were going to Central and South America and the Caribbean. The IG said ICE pays an average of $8,500 per hour for charter flights. That’s regardless of the number of passengers. ICE strongly disagrees with the IG, saying empty seats on flights isn’t a good measure of efficiency. (Federal News Radio)
  • The Justice Department tells a senator it may have been wrong when it denied that the head of the U.S. Marshals Service improperly influenced hiring. The Wall Street Journal reports, Justice made the admission in a letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). He’d been looking into whistleblower allegations that Marshals Service director Stacia Hylton used her influence to land a job for a candidate she knew that lacked the stated qualifications. After Justice denied that allegation, emails surfaced that were sent from Hylton’s personal account. The emails appear to depict Hylton pushing hard on the candidate’s behalf. Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik wrote to Grassley, “We are extremely concerned that we may have provided you with inaccurate information.” (Wall Street Journal)
  • The coming fiscal year could be the beginning of the end for separate military commissaries. A source tells the Fairchild Republic in California, members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are warming up to the idea. The Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission recommends combining the Army, Navy and Air Force exchanges. It cites eventual yearly savings of $426 million. Some in the Defense Department propose ending DoD’s price subsidies for domestic exchanges. That could spell their demise, if they’re unable to compete with off- base discounters. A group called the Coalition to Save Our Military Shopping Benefits says without exchanges, tens of thousands of jobs would be lost. It says young and fixed-income families would be hurt by the absence of the exchanges. ( Daily Republic)

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