Monday - Friday, 6-10 a.m.

Hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp bring you the latest news affecting the federal community each weekday morning. Be up-to-date before you step in the office.

Senate panel postpones vote on Hagel nomination

Senate panel postpones vote on Hagel nomination amid Republican calls for more information

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Federal Drive Interviews -- Feb. 7, 2013

John Wagner of CBP talks about his agency's new customer service kiosk. Allyson Robinson of OutServe-SLDN discusses legal hurdles facing gay service members seeking equal treatment. Gary Barlet of USPS' Inspector General Office talks about smartphones and tablets. Greg Juneman of IFPTE discusses the impact of potential furloughs on members of his union. Former NASA CIO Molly O'Neill discusses Fed-RAMP security testing.

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Thursday morning federal headlines - Feb. 7, 2013

The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp discuss throughout the show each day. The Newscast is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com users more information about the stories you hear on the air. In today's news, workforce problems at the IRS are raising red flags and a House bill would extend a veterans education benefit.

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Goodbye Saturday mail? Postal Service plans cuts

Financially strapped Postal Service plans to cut Saturday mail, but continue package delivery

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Postal Service's IG's office proclaims 2013 as year of mobile

Gary Barlet, the OIG's chief information officer, is taking a three-pronged approach to helping employees access data from anywhere, at anytime. The steps include virtualization, a BYOD strategy and cloud services.
February 7, 2013

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Pentagon to pare back military pay increase request for 2014

DoD's 2014 budget will ask Congress for a 1 percent increase in military pay, down slightly from previous projections.

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USPS employees to see less overtime, more buyouts under 5-day delivery plan

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the service can no longer afford to delivery first class mail six-days a week. He said cutting back by one day a week would save about $2 billion a year. USPS still would have a $14 billion deficit and needs help from Congress to address other fiscal challenges.

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Brennan's CIA bid chance to strike back at critics

Brennan's second bid to lead CIA offers a chance to strike back at critics and defend drones

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E-government bolsters satisfaction with federal services

For the second year in a row, the number of citizens who report being satisfied with government services rose, according to a new report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index. The higher governmentwide score was driven in large part by the increasing satisfaction with government websites, which rounded out the year at near all-time highs.

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GOP sequestration plan calls for reducing federal workforce

Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have proposed an alternative to the automatic budget cuts set to go into effect next month that includes reducing the size of the federal workforce by 10 percent through attrition.

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DoD, VA accelerate schedule for integrated health record

The two departments are looking for "quick wins" in their integrated health-record strategy, aiming to bring the most important capabilities online three years early.

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AP sources: Pentagon extending benefits for gays

AP sources: Pentagon to extend some benefits to same-sex partners of military members

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Letter carriers union denounces move to five-day mail delivery

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Federal Drive Interviews -- Feb. 6, 2013

Forrest Morgeson, director of research at the American Customer Satisfaction Index, has some good news for some agencies. Agriculture Department official Kevin Concannon says USDA is claiming victory in its battle against fraud. Jordy Yager of The Hill newspaper explains why some on Capitol Hill are talking about Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) Tom Day, USPS' chief sustainability officer, shares news of the Postal Service's successful conservation efforts.

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Wednesday morning federal headlines - Feb. 6, 2013

The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp discuss throughout the show each day. The Newscast is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com users more information about the stories you hear on the air. In today's news, a House committee holds a bipartisan retreat.

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Homeland Security secretary touts border safety

Napolitano says call for border safety before immigration reform is flawed argument

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Congress considers putting limits on drone strikes

Uncomfortable with the Obama administration's use of deadly drones, a growing number in Congress is looking to limit America's authority to kill suspected terrorists, even U.S. citizens.

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Agencies turn to HRStat to make better sense of workforce data

The Office of Personnel Management is doubling the number of departments to 16, taking part in data-driven reviews. The goal is to take the mounds of information available about an agency's workforce and spot trends to help plan for the future.

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Feds retire in droves in January

Federal employees retired in droves last month, with more than 22,000 filing retirement claims with the Office of Personnel Management -- about about 1,000 more than OPM expected. The agency processed 12,527 retirement claims last month, also beating its projections.

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Civilian agencies set to release sequestration details to employees

Civilian federal agencies are expected to begin telling their employees how automatic budget cuts set to go into effect in March will affect them, according to federal-employee unions who were briefed by Obama administration officials. The Office of Management and Budget gave agency heads the go-ahead to begin communicating to their employees as early as Tuesday about the possible effects of sequestration, including employee furloughs.

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