Friday federal headlines – April 2, 2015

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.

• One hundred and eighteen small, disadvantaged businesses earnned a spot under NASA’s Solutions for Enterprise Wide Procurement contract. Awards go to 25 service disabled veterans owned businesses, 14 historically underutilized business zone companies and 79 other small businsses. SEWP V will likely start in May. (Federal News Radio)
• The Veterans Affairs Department appointed four new members to the VA Advisory Committee on Women Veterans. The panel advises the secretary on programs affecting women veterans and recommends administrative and legislative changes. Women make up just less than 10 percent of the total veteran population. VA estimates by 2040 that figure will grow to 16 percent. The new members are Octavia Harris, retired from the Navy and a program manager at the San Diego Naval Medical Center; Louisa Long Jaffe, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army; Dr. Joyce Johnson, a retired rear admiral and Shannon McLaughlin, a major serving in the Massachusetts National Guard. The committee members serve two-year terms and can be reappointed. ( VA)
• It’s good news, bad news for the Postal Service. The Postal Regulatory Commission found the agency made its first operational profit in six years — $1.4 billion. But the Postal Service still lost $5.5 billion in 2014. That’s more than 10 times its net loss the year before. The loss brings the Postal Service to a total deficit of $51.7 billion since 2007. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) said the agency doesn’t have enough assets to stay competitive in the future, such as modernizing its fleet and mail processing centers. (Postal Regulatory Commission)
• A senator said Congress might spare the National Institutes of Health from sequestration. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said some agencies and programs are critical enough that they shouldn’t be subject to across-the-board cuts, and NIH is one of them. Cardin and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) sponsored a bill that would exempt NIH from sequestration. President Barack Obama proposed a $1 billion budget boost for the agency in 2016. NIH Director Francis Collins said the agency needs another $6 billion to regain the purchasing power it had 12 years ago. (Federal News Radio)
• An Army research lab said an Ebola vaccine it’s been testing appears safe and effective in clinic trials. Researchers at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases conducted two independent studies. They found all vaccinated volunteers had the capacity to fight off the virus within a month. And 93 percent of the volunteers had an anti- body response within two weeks. Army Col. Stephen Thomas said the successful trials showed the vaccine could be “particularly useful” in slowing or stopping an outbreak. (GovExec)
• Two Pennsylvania congressmen visit a Veterans Affairs hospital famous for long appointment waiting times. They came away expressing frustration at how long an internal investigation is taking. Rep. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.) is a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.) represents a district near where the Philadelphia hospital is located. A VA inspector general report is due out with 35 recommendations. But the IG left it up to VA officials to determine who is at fault for delays and falsified records. VA said that review will take until June. (Federal News Radio )
• The Army Corps of Engineers is taking over management of a troubled Veterans Affairs hospital construction project. The Denver facility was originally scheduled to open this year. But now it’s at least two years late and $1 billion over budget. Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said he hopes the hospital will open in 2017. Members of Congress are upset that VA’s construction chief, Glenn Haggstrom, was not fired. He put in his retirement papers last month, a day after VA opened up an internal investigation into the troubled project. (Federal Times)
• Federal chief information officers are keeping up with the large burden of quarterly and annual reporting required by the White House. But they think it’s mostly a waste of time. That’s the gist of a survey conducted by the Government Accountability Office. Respondents told auditors, 24 out of 36 required reports are only partly helpful to them in managing IT. CIOs said many of the reports have little relation to their agency priorities, and the reporting is expensive. It ranges up to $308 million at one department. GAO called the results concerning. It recommended White House officials and CIOs get together to ensure a common understanding of why the reporting is needed. (GAO)
• The Pentagon agreed to provide aerial refueling support for Saudi Arabian pilots flying missions over Yemen. Defense News reports this represents an expansion of the U.S. military’s role there. Saudis and others have been using air attacks against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The sources told Defense News no refueling missions have been flown yet. And, that when they do, Air Force tankers will not enter Yemeni airspace. The Pentagon said it’s not giving targeting information to the Saudi-led coalition. (Defense News)

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