Monday Afternoon Federal Newsstand

UPDATE: GSA releases 2010 per diem rates
The General Services Administration this afternoon released the federal per diem rates for fiscal 2010. Per diem is the allowance for lodging — excluding taxes — meals and incidental expenses. GSA establishes per diem rates for destinations within the continental United States.

If you get an e-mail that claims to be from the Department of Homeland Security, be careful! DHS is warning users that the e-mails, which claim to be from the Homeland Security Department’s intelligence division, are fake and contain malicious software. According to a DHS document, obtained by the Associated Press, the e-mails actually originated from Internet addresses in Latvia and Russia. A DHS spokeswoman says, if you see a questionable e-mail in your inbox, don’t open it and report it to your IT department right away.

A new, special anti-terrorism unit has been approved by President Barack Obama. The administration has also decided that all U.S. interrogators will follow the rules for detainees laid out by the Army Field Manual. The new unit does not take the place of or negate the CIA, a White House spokesman said. The unit would be led by an FBI official, with a deputy director from somewhere in the government’s vast intelligence apparatus, and members from across agencies.The unit would be led by an FBI official, with a deputy director from somewhere in the government’s vast intelligence apparatus, and members from across agencies.

More oversight by agency inspector generals and the Government Accountability Office are among the short term solutions to address the ongoing problems with the federal travel card program. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) says more audits, especially of the 10 largest programs, would improve the 10-year-old program that has been problematic from the start. In a July 30 report, first obtained by the Center for Democracy and Technology, CRS details the cases of waste, fraud and abuse found in the program since 1999 and some of the options for Congress to fix it. Since 1999, agency spending through the program increased to $8.28 billion in fiscal 2008 from $4.39 billion. And the number of travel card transactions increased by 45 percent over the same period growing to 45.8 million last year from 31.6 million in 1999.

Lawyers are a predicting a rush of lawsuits against the Veterans Administration alleging negligence in the handling of medical equipment. The Washington Post reports that sterilization problems came to light when officials at a VA Medical Center in Tennesee learned that workers were sanitizing endoscopy equipment at the end of the day instead of after each procedure. All VA facilities were subsequently instructed to review their procedures and identify problems. The VA, while promising full care for those infected, has said that no link has been established between patients’ conditions and the endoscopy procedures.

The First Family is officially on vacation. President Barack Obama, the First Lady and their two daughters are currently vacationing at Martha’s Vineyard. White House officials have stressed that the president is on a private vacation and very little is planned. Analysts have said that the trip was clearly designed to limit exposure of the first family.

Other Stories We’re Following

Negligence Suits Likely Over VA Procedures (Washington Post)

Congress weighs program to groom Defense civilian leaders (GovExec)

Hill balks at most Obama budget cuts (Congress Daily/GovExec)

HHS announces plans for research on specific medical conditions (GovExec)

HHS to industry: Help assess health IT networks (FCW)

Guidelines aim to close gaps in cybersecurity (Federal Times)

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