Wednesday Morning Federal Newscast – June 1st

Some feds make more than governors, House committee cuts agency budgets by 14 percent, Assad named director of defense pricing

The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Amy Morris 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.

  • More than 77,000 federal workers are better compensated than the governors of the states they work in. A new Congressional report finds the majority of those top-earning feds were doctors, air-traffic controllers and IT professionals. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma requested the report by the Congressional Research Service. The Washington Times reports, about seven percent of feds in Maryland made more than Governor Martin O’Malley’s $150,000 salary in 2009. In 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Government, excluding the Postal Service, employed about 2.0 million civilian workers.
  • Military operations in Afghanistan may be too reliant on unmanned drones. The Defense Science Board says publicly available data and information from intelligence officers are taking a back seat to heavily used drone data. The Washington Times reports, the board says drone intelligence lacks social and behavioral data needed to carry out successful counterinsurgency missions. The board recommends recruiting more human agents and better training military analysts.
  • The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will not consider a bill aimed at increasing federal government transparency. At least not now. Chairman Darrell Issa of California rules out a vote on the Transparency and Openness in Government Act. He cites failure of its provisions last year in a Senate vote. Committee ranking member Elijah Cummings, who backs the bill, says it would streamline things by combining five pieces of legislation. Issa wants to see global standards for government data included in any transparency legislation. His staff tells Federal News Radio, a revised bill will be forthcoming.
  • A bid to raise the nation’s debt ceiling was voted down in the House yesterday. The 317-to-98 vote was a bipartisan rejection of raising the debt limit, without major federal spending cuts attached. Republicans leaders will meet with President Obama today to talk about their deficit reduction ideas. Congress has until August 2 to raise the debt ceiling before the U.S. begins defaulting on its debts.
  • A House committee voted to cut spending by 14 percent at the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration. The Appropriations Committee action is a precursor to a long budget battle. Federal Times reports, the $17 billion measure is $5 billion below President Obama’s 2012 proposal. It’s $2.7 billion less than the current year appropriation. The committee’s Republican chairman, Hal Rogers of Kentucky, says it’s too late to put off hard choices. Ranking Democratic member Sam Farr of California calls the proposed budget “emaciated.” Committee Republicans want to cut Federal discretionary spending by 3 percent in 2012.
  • New rules are on the way for green purchasing by federal agencies. The Federal Acquisition Regulations Council’s proposed rule would require practically every procurement to require use of energy-efficient, recycled or environmentally safe products. Especially affected would be construction contracts. Both the Bush and Obama administrations strongly encouraged green procurement but the FAR changes would mandate them. The FAR Council is accepting comments on the rules until August 1.
  • President Obama will nominate John Bryson as the next Secretary of Commerce. Bryson is a businessman and environmentalist. He was chairman of Edison International, a California energy company, until 2008. And he is a founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council. He was also a board member of Walt Disney and Boeing. Senate Republicans have renewed their threat to block the nomination until President Obama submits legislation for international trade treaties. If confirmed, Bryson would replace Gary Locke, whom the president has nominated as ambassador to China.
  • Defense procurement policy chief Shay Assad has been named the new director of defense pricing. Assad has served as the Defense Department’s director for procurement and acquisition policy since 2006. A graduate of the Naval Academy, Assad has also served as a procurement officer at the Naval Sea Systems Command. The Pentagon has not yet named his replacement.
  • The Social Security Administration has put online personal benefits statements on the fast track. NextGov reports SSA has been reluctant to put citizens’ annual statements online because of fears over identity theft. But now the agency wants to add more sophisticated authentication to prevent unauthorized access. Alan Lane, the associate CIO, says SSA is experimenting with one-time passwords texted to pre-registered cellphones. And it will use a third party to supply user names and passwords. No deadline for when statements will go online.

More news links

GOP questions federal rules on healthier eating

FEMA eyes debt take-back as hurricane season looms

Govt cuts rates for hard-to-insure patients

Vilsack continues roadless rule in nat’l forests

US army chief: Impact of OBL death still unclear

TSA receiving fewer theft claims, rejecting more (WFAA-TV in Dallas)

Gay Archie Comics character takes on Army life (AssociatedPress via ArmyTimes)

Farm appropriations bill targets stink bug for top priority research projects (Bartlett, Roscoe (R-Md.)

THIS AFTERNOON ON FEDERAL NEWS RADIO

Coming up today on In Depth with Francis Rose:

–Getting training right at the Pentagon…advice for the Army and the Marine Corps from the Government Accountability Office.

–Cutting through information overload…there’s success at Veterans Affairs…you’ll hear how they’re doing it.

Join Francis from this afternoon after National’s baseball on 1500 AM or on your computer.

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