Wednesday Morning Federal Newscast – June 16th

White House spending $27 billion on troubled tech, Bill would require federal manager training, What\'s in Madeleine Albright\'s jewel box?

The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear $27 billion dollars in IT projects that are off schedule or over budget. Federal CIO Vivek Kundra says the administration will expand the use of TechSat review sessions to all agencies. TechSat sessions are meetings where project leaders meet with the Office of Management and Budget to decide whether an off-track project can be fixed, or whether it should be cancelled. Some agencies have already adopted the new approach. Kundra says the model is being perfected so other agencies can use it.

  • A new House bill would require agencies to invest significant time and resources in training managers. The Federal Supervisor Training Act of 2010 would provide federal employees with interactive training one year after they become managers or supervisors. It would also require training updates every three years. The bill is sponsored by Democratic Congressmen Jim Moran and Gerry Connolly and Republican Congressman Frank Wolf.
  • President Obama has chosen a former inspector general to lead the troubled Minerals Management Service. Michael Bromwich served as the Justice Department’s top watchdog from 1994-to-99. Right now, he leads the internal investigations, compliance and monitoring unit at a Washington, D.C. law firm. Bromwich will replace former MMS Director Elizabeth Birnbaum, who resigned in late May amid criticism of her agency’s efforts to oversee and regulate oil companies.
  • The president has tapped an official from the University of Maryland to help investigate the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Donald Boesch is president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The Washington Business Journal reports he is among five people President Obama chose for the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. The group will be responsible for determining the causes of the accident and recommending ways to prevent a similar incident in the future.
  • Navy chief information officer Rob Carey is leaving that post. Carey told his CIO staff that he will be moving to a new position by the end of the summer. Carey tells Federal News Radio that it is time to find some new challenges after more than three years in the Navy CIO position. The move also means he will probably also give up his position as co-chairman of the CIO Council’s Information Security and Identity Management Committee.
  • Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, known for using lapel pins to communicate diplomatic messages, is bringing her brooches to Washington. An exhibit opening Friday at the Smithsonian Castle features more than 200 pins from Albright’s collection.

  • More news links

    Body in Dumpster confirmed as missing California postal worker (CNN)

    Biker killed in Maine in shootout with ATF agents

    Regulators consider broadening testing for E. coli

    THIS AFTERNOON ON FEDERAL NEWS RADIO

    Coming up today on The DorobekInsider:

    ** Ever heard of “climaterials”? It is the greening of building construction. And a young scientist at the EPA is working to foster environmental building construction. That remarkable work earned her a place as a finalists for the SAMMY awards. You’ll meet her this afternoon.

    ** And we’ll tell you about a new survey on telework. Has the federal government made progress?

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