Wednesday federal headlines – May 6, 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 Office of Personnel Management is making it easier for agencies to hire digital services experts. OPM Director Katherine Archuleta approved the use of excepted service appointments for online whizzes. Agencies can hire them for up to two years at the GS-11 through GS-15 levels. The White House wants every agency to have a digital services team to build better online, citizen-facing applications. The General Services Administration’s 18F group is a model for such teams. GSA used excepted service appoints to hire 100 people. (Federal News Radio)
  • The Office of Management and Budget is telling agencies to hold the line at 2016 levels when preparing their 2017 budgets. It wants agencies to cut discretionary spending by 5 percent, but also invest more in presidential priorities. It told agencies to list new investments separately and in priority order. In a memo to agency heads, OMB Director Shaun Donovan said the net should be no increase in spending. The White House is also asking agencies to find ways to reduce duplication and overlap in federal programs. (Federal News Radio)
  • The Senate passed a GOP approved budget by a vote of 51-48. The House adopted it last week. The non-binding measure would balance the budget within a decade by cutting domestic agencies and programs like Medicaid and food stamps. It also called for cuts to transportation spending and student aid and would curb tax breaks for the poor. It promised a $38 billion increase for the Pentagon and would set up a possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act. The budget plan does not go to President Barack Obama, who has promised to veto similar budget plans. (Federal News Radio)
  • A bipartisan group of senators will introduce legislation calling for deeper and wider investigations of the Veterans Affairs Department. They’re not satisfied with VA’s progress in reducing its disability and pension claims backlogs. Their bill would order the Government Accountability Office to investigate all 56 VA regional offices for mismanagement. Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) is co-chair of the Senate VA backlog working group. He said the whole system is due for an overhaul. He’s joined by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa). VA said it has a backlog of 161,000 claims. The VA inspector general has questioned the accuracy of the data. (Federal News Radio)
  • Republican senators might try to offer a short-term extension on the Patriot Act, according to NextGov. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said lawmakers are looking at that option because they’re running into time constraints. The surveillance provisions of the act expire on June 1. Sources said the extension could be four to six months. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) introduced a bill last month that would extend parts of the Patriot Act through 2020. McConnell said he doesn’t plan to take up the House’s USA Freedom Act, which would require court authorization for the National Security Agency to collect metadata. (NextGov)
  • The House Armed Services Committee is getting ready to take up the 2016 Defense authorization bill. Bloomberg reports that could come as early as next week. The 700-page bill will be loaded with policy statements and reporting requirements. In particular, the committee wants the Government Accountability Office to assess the Ohio-class nuclear missile submarine. The price could hit $95 billion for 12 copies. The committee also wants the GAO to review the Air Force’s plans for a new long-range bomber. The Air Force wants to spend $14 billion over the next five years developing a new plane. (Bloomberg)
  • It’s taking longer for the Office of Personnel Management to process retirement claims. By the end of April, OPM had processed less than three-quarters of claims in 60 days or less. That’s the lowest percentage since OPM started using that metric last May. The agency also processed 1,000 fewer claims than projected. The inventory now stands at about 18,000. That’s down from an 18-month high in February, but still 4,000 higher than OPM’s goal for the month. (OPM)
  • The government is continuing to send aid to Nepal, more than a week after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the country. The U.S. Agency for International Development announced another $11 million in assistance, for a total of $26 million in aid. The money will go to emergency shelter materials, medical supplies, safe drinking water and hygiene kits. Military aircraft are delivering those supplies. NASA is helping Nepal too, through data and technology. NASA is using satellite images to create maps that show areas with the most damage. The space agency also dispatched a ground-based radar that can locate people buried 30 feet below debris. The Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate developed that radar. (USAID/NASA)
  • Defense hawks speculate who might replace Gen. Joseph Dunford as Marine Corps commandant. President Barack Obama nominated Dunford to serve as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. If the Senate confirms him, the Marine Corps has a big gap to fill. Some of the top contenders for commandant include Gen. John Kelly, chief of U.S. Southern Command. The Washington Post reports he was most recently a top military assistant in the Pentagon as a three-star general. Gen. John Paxton Junior is another possibility. He’s been assistant commandant since 2012. Other options — Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the director for joint force development with the Joint Staff and Lt. Gen. Ronald Bailey, the deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations in the Marine Corps. (Washington Post)

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