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.

Monday morning federal headlines - Jan. 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, HUD is "vigorously" enforcing new anti-discrimination rule and the Library of Commerce has archived about 170 billion tweets.

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White House to mandate machine-readable open data

The guidance is two months late, but OMB is expected to issue it in early 2013. Todd Park, the federal CTO, said the White House also is updating the Data.gov platform and expanding the approach to healthcare data to other sectors.

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CBO: 'Cliff' deal leaves big deficits in place

Legislation passed this week to avert the "fiscal cliff" could still leave in place deficits averaging more than $900 billion a year over the coming decade if Congress fails to follow its tax increases up with further spending cuts or tax hikes, the nonpartisan scorekeeper for Congress said Friday.

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OGE clarifies gift-giving rules as inauguration approaches

With President Barack Obama's second inauguration - along with the flurry of balls, receptions and other related ceremonies - just weeks away, the Office of Government Ethics has issued new guidance to agency ethics officials.

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FDA proposes sweeping new food safety rules

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed the most sweeping food safety rules in decades, requiring farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake of deadly outbreaks in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens.

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Pipe bomb explodes in Treasury official's mailbox

Officials are investigating an apparent pipe bomb that destroyed a mailbox at the Virginia home of the Treasury Department's inspector general.

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Federal Drive Interviews -- Jan. 4, 2013

Certified financial planner talks about Thrift Savings Plan numbers for 2012. Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments sheds light on DoD's recent shopping spree. Jim Treat of the Census Bureau discusses the Web-first approach to the American Community Survey. Attorney Sandy Hoe discusses a recent case in which a contractor sued the Air Force. Dr. Gerald Dillingham of the GAO talks about possible changes in leadership at the FAA.

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Friday morning federal headlines - Jan. 4, 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, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner may be calling it quits and USDA has closed down the Microbiological Data Program.

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GSA changes its model for the next generation telecom effort

The Network Services 2020 initiative will not be a large worldwide contract as the Networx and FTS procurements were over the past 20 years. GSA still is developing the overall strategy, but plans to use a similar approach it used with DISA on the recent satellite communications contract.

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Farm bill extension evidence of lost clout

A patchwork extension of federal farm programs passed as part of a larger "fiscal cliff" bill keeps the price of milk from rising but doesn't include many of the goodies that farm-state lawmakers are used to getting for their rural districts.

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Md. lawmakers say federal facility's move delayed

Members of Maryland's congressional delegation say plans to relocate about 450 jobs from Prince George's County have been delayed until the end of 2019.

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CBP turns inward to modernize IT infrastructure

Charlie Armstrong, the agency's assistant commissioner for the Office of Information and Technology and chief information officer, said a new cloud initiative is the target environment for mission support systems. CBP recently moved all of its employees to email-in-the-cloud.
January 3, 2013

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More fiscal clashes loom as new Congress opens

A new Congress opened for business Thursday to confront long-festering national problems, deficits and immigration among them, in an intensely partisan and crisis-driven era of divided government. "The American dream is in peril," said House Speaker John Boehner, re-elected to his post despite a mini-revolt in Republican ranks.

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Lawmakers 'committed' to postal reform in new Congress

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said they were committed to working together to pass postal reform legislation in the new Congress. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe renewed his call for congressional action, saying the agency faces an "unsustainable" financial path.

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In case involving Gallup, man to plead guilty

A former Federal Emergency Management Agency employee intends to plead guilty in a criminal case alleging that he helped secure federal funds for The Gallup Organization while he was negotiating to go to work for the polling firm, his lawyer said Thursday.

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Army major pleads guilty to accepting gratuities

A U.S. Army major has pleaded guilty to accepting thousands of dollars in gratuities from contractors while in Iraq.

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Federal Drive Interviews -- Jan. 3, 2013

John Kamensky from the IBM Center for The Business of Government talks about two decades of a results-oriented federal performance management system. Allan Holmes of Bloomberg Government discusses the top technology issues facing the government in 2013. Jeffrey Neal of ICF International sheds light on OPM's new guide to executive development. Jacque Simon of AFGE discusses legislation that could freeze federal pay to the end of the year.

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Thursday morning federal headlines - Jan. 3, 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, Michael Huerta was confirmed as the permanent administrator of the FAA.

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Cliff averted, it's on to the next fiscal crisis

Onward to the next fiscal crisis. Actually, several of them, potentially. The New Year's Day deal averting the "fiscal cliff" lays the groundwork for more combustible struggles in Washington over taxes, spending and debt in the next few months.

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Obama signs cliff deal to boost taxes on wealthy

President Barack Obama has signed a bill that boosts taxes on the wealthiest Americans, while preserving tax cuts for most American households.

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