Thursday Morning Federal Newscast – April 28th

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 2,000 USPS administrators have accepted an early-retirement deal that pays them $20,000. Federal Times reports they have to clear out by the end of May. USPS launched the buyout plan last month, the first for managers in 19 years. The 2,003 applicants means USPS still has 1,500 managers to shed. They could be laid off, according to HR chief Tony Vegliante.
• A busy day for federal disaster response. Deadly storms, floods, tornadoes – and now federal officials are set to monitor a multi-state earthquake drill. It is the first drill of its kind. Ten central and southern states are taking part including Illinois, South Carolina, and Texas among others. Nearly three million people have signed up to participate in the Shake Out including thousands of schools and hundreds of businesses. The drill takes place just after 10 this morning.
• President Obama orders agencies to overhaul their citizen-facing web sites. He’s looking for improvements in customer service and a reduction in costs. An executive order tells agency managers to pick at least one important site they can modernize quickly. They have six months to get it done. The order also requires agencies to start gathering more citizen feedback using e-mail, web feedback forms and even the telephone.
• The Treasury, EPA and FDA websites are among the low scorers in a new survey on customer satisfaction. According to the latest report from ForeSee, Treasury.gov scored 57 out of 100 points. EPA.gov and the FDA.gov each got 66 points. Some of the Social Security Administration’s individual web pages scored highest in satisfaction. The iClaim site earned a 91-point score, the Retirement Estimator earned 90 points. The overall average customer satisfaction score for users of government sites the report found, was 75 out of 100.
• President Obama is expected to make personnel announcements Thursday to unveil a major shuffling of his national security team. President Obama will nominate CIA Director Leon Panetta as the next Defense secretary. He’ll replace Robert Gates, who announced plans to retire last summer. The president will move General David Petraeus, commander of Iraq and Afghanistan forces, to replace Panetta. Petraeus’ job will be filled by Marine Corps Lieutenant General John Allen, the deputy commander of Central Command. Retired diplomat Ryan Crocker will be appointed ambassador to Afghanistan. While the moves look like musical chairs, they occur at a critical time. Panetta will face the job of managing the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan this fall. And he’ll have to carry the water on deep cost-cutting at the Pentagon, an initiative started by Gates.
• A week after a plane carrying first lady Michelle Obama aborted a landing at Andrews Air Force Base, the Federal Aviation Administration has changed top managers at the radar center that handled the aircraft. The agency is moving the acting manager back to his job as assistant manager. The center’s actual manager is returning from headquarters to take charge. The center handles approaches and departures for Andrews and other airports in Maryland and Virginia.

More news links

Push for Pentagon cuts tops Panetta’s agenda

Apple: iPhone not tracking users, will get update

Driver says he survived crash into Grand Canyon

THIS AFTERNOON ON FEDERAL NEWS RADIO

Coming up today on In Depth with Francis Rose:

–Big changes at the top of the biggest Federal agency. You’ll get In Depth analysis all afternoon long on the nomination of Leon Panetta to head DoD, and General David Petraeus to lead the CIA.

–All the talk about cybersecurity threats is prompting one expert to say “show me.” He’ll tell you why he’s a cyber skeptic.

Join Francis from 3 to 7 pm on 1500 AM or on your computer.

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