Thursday federal headlines – January 29, 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.

  • President Barack Obama’s budget request will reverse sequestration in 2016. Obama will likely ask for more in defense and national security spending next fiscal year. His full budget request is due Monday. (Federal News Radio)
  • A new bill will make the details, costs and performance metrics of every federal program more transparent. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) introduced the Taxpayers Right to Know Act. Lankford said the bipartisan bill would expose government waste and improve accountability. The Government Accountability Office identifies duplication in federal programs each year. But Lankford said the agency doesn’t have the tools to eliminate the overlap. The measure creates a central database for financial data and performance metrics. Each agency would have to submit an annual report card for all of its programs. (Sen. James Lankford)
  • The Justice Department has pushed back the court dates for thousands of immigrants who are waiting for hearings — way back. The Wall Street Journal reports Justice has set a new court date of Nov. 29, 2019. That’s the day after Thanksgiving. The notices are going to low priority cases, people living freely without the threat of deportation. The five-year delay is evidence of how crowded immigration court dockets have become. A surge of unaccompanied minors crossed the border last summer. Those cases have become a high priority. (WSJ)
  • An independent panel will recommend changes in the military health and retirement system designed to save $20 billion over the next four years. The report from the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission is due out today. Service members would still get free health care at Defense Department facilities. Family members and retirees would choose from a variety of insurance plans and receive allowances to cover premiums and co-payments. The panel will recommend grandfathering many of the benefits current service members receive. Still, the proposals face an uphill fight in Congress. (Federal News Radio)
  • The Veterans Affairs Department makes housing for homeless veterans a priority. The agency launches a master plan to build permanent housing at the West Los Angeles VA Campus. The city has the largest population of homeless veterans in the nation. VA Secretary Bob McDonald will appoint a special assistant to the plan. The assistant will oversee the plan’s implementation and report directly to McDonald. The master plan is scheduled to be completed in October. McDonald said veteran homelessness is down 33 percent since 2010. But he said the VA won’t be satisified until every veteran has a home. (VA)
  • An officer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory let a big cat out of the bag. The employee misclassified information that should have been kept secret, but instead was made public. The Energy Department Office of Inspector General said this happened six times. The IG found the officer was lax about letting his staff know what information must be kept secret. The IG report didn’t give any more specific details about the classified material that was released. (Federal News Radio)
  • Federal contractors may have to follow new rules around prohibiting sex discrimination. The Labor Department updated guidelines from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs that were originally issued in 1970. Labor’s proposed rule reflects demographic changes since then, including more women in the workforce. The proposal also takes into account the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, passed in 1978. The rule will appear in the Federal Register tomorrow. The public has until March 31 to comment on the proposal. (Labor Dept.)
  • The Air Force suspended reverse auction contractor FedBid from new contracts and follow-ons. The suspension started Monday. FedBid’s listing in the System for Award Management stated the Air Force is proposing to debar the company. The suspension is in response to a report from the inspector general at the Veterans Affairs Department last year. The IG accused the company of procurement fraud, lies to investigators, retaliations against whistleblowers and misuse of agency resources. FedBid executives allegedly promised to pressure VA acquisition executive Jan Frye after he suspended the use of reverse auctions. FedBid CEO Joe Jordan said he’s cooperating with the Air Force and that the company has taken steps to fix the problems. (Federal News Radio)
  • Some future President is going to get one heck of an airplane to ferry him — or her — around. The Air Force has settled on the Boeing 747-8 as the next Air Force One. The decision was made by Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and the Pentagon’s top buyer, Frank Kendall. The only other plane considered capable of the presidential mission is the Airbus 380, which is assembled in France. The decision isn’t a procurement, but it authorizes a sole-source buy from Boeing. The Air Force will have a long list of modifications to the planes it will eventually buy. It wants to be able to handle the maintenance itself for the plane’s planned 30-year lifecycle. The current pair of Air Force Ones are older 747s, delivered during the term of President George H.W. Bush. (DoD)

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