Friday federal headlines – May 8, 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 Postal Service ended the second quarter of the fiscal year with a $1.5 billion net loss. It’s operating revenues are up more than $220 million. That’s mostly because of a 14 percent increase in shipping and package volumes. USPS recorded a $1.9 billion loss this time last year. (Federal News Radio)
  • The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee wants to know why more hasn’t been done to stop another cyber attack on federal retirement accounts. Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-Del.) wrote to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. (Federal News Radio)
  • Officials from the Justice and State departments defended federal performance in fulfilling Freedom of Information Act requests. That’s after a report showing the FOIA backlog rose 70 percent last year. Joyce Barr is assistant secretary of State for administration. She told the Senate Judiciary Committee that State’s FOIA workload rose 300 percent since 2008. She said many requests to FOIA-exempt agencies end up at the State Department. Melany Pustay, director of Justice’s Office of Information Policy, said the ranks of FOIA officers fell last year to a six-year low. She said the remaining 4,000 officers are highly efficient. Six departments, led by Homeland Security, account for most of the government’s backlog of 160,000 FOIA cases. (Federal News Radio)
  • As Public Service Recognition Week draws to a close, one member of Congress wants a way for federal employees to receive appreciation any time of the year. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) launched an email box where people can send thanks to feds who helped them. Connolly called it his Thank-a-Fed Initiative. He sent a message to 100,000 constituents in Virginia’s 11th district, encouraging them to send in thank-yous. Connolly is co-chair of the Congressional Public Service Caucus. That mailbox: ThankAFed@house.mail.gov. (Rep. Gerry Connolly)
  • The board running the Thrift Savings Plan is receiving more questions about cybersecurity. The Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R- Wis.) and Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-Del.) wrote a letter to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, asking how it planned to better secure its networks and how it was using cyber resources from the Homeland Security Department. Johnson and Carper also wanted to know why the board didn’t send in its security data, as required by the Federal Information Security Management Act. A data breach in 2011 exposed the information of 123,000 TSP participants. (HSGAC)
  • The Defense Department is too slow telling whistleblowers who claim reprisal, the status of their cases. By law, DoD has 180 days to decide reprisal cases and tell people what’s going on. The Government Accountability Office found the DoD inspector general only meets that requirement about half the time. Auditors found the IG takes an average of 526 days to close cases. The GAO found the department lacked a common system for tracking cases across the armed services, and recommended it build one. The DoD IG’s office was unaware of one in five reprisal investigations going on in the armed services. The Defense IG, Jon Rymer, accepted the GAO’s findings but said auditors failed to acknowledge progress his office has made.
    (GAO )
  • A bill from Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) — the Protecting Communities and Police Act — would change programs that give military equipment to police A task force would decide which equipment should go to law enforcement and what’s prohibited. The bill increases training to use that military equipment. Under the measure, police wouldn’t get an armored military vehicle called MRAP. McCaskill said her bill addresses what she calls “excessive militarization” of police that she witnessed during protests in Ferguson, Missouri. Civil rights groups, including the NAACP, said they supported the bill. Rep. William Lacy Clay(D- Mo.) plans to introduce a companion bill in the House next week. (Federal News Radio)

    The Pentagon watchdog found employees used government credit cards for gambling and adult entertainment. The report from the Defense Department inspector general isn’t public yet, but Politico obtained a copy in advance. Civilians and service members used the cards at casinos and for escort services. The IG suspected employees might have used the government card to hide the charges from their spouses. (Politico)

  • Starting tonight, it’s going to be tougher for would-be fence climbers to get onto the White House grounds. The Secret Service will be installing a row of steel spikes along the top of the fence on the north and south sides. The plan has the approval of the National Capital Planning Commission. A diagram shows the spikes sticking outward from the top edge of the fence. The Secret Service has submitted a more comprehensive, long-term fence security plan for the White House. It’s under review by the planning commission and the Commission on Fine Arts. In September, a man climbed over the fence, ran by Secret Service agents and ended up in the White House East Room before being stopped. (Federal News Radio)
  • A report from Brookings shows the Social Security Administration’s inspector general’s office is getting the greatest return on investment. Brookings looked at operating costs of 19 agencies between 2010 and 2014. Researchers also looked at receivables, which included money that an IG returns to an agency through an investigation or audit, along with how much the IG was able to prevent the agency from spending. SSA’s ROI of $43.60 topped the list. Veterans Affairs was second, with $38 received for every dollar spent. Brookings found three agencies with negative ROI’s. The Justice Department receives 43 cents for every dollar spent. (Brookings)

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.