Wednesday Afternoon Newsstand

The head of the federal agency that regulates mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is stepping down. The announcement is not official, but according to an anonymous administration official, the timing of James Lockhart’s departure from the Federal Housing Finance Agency is not yet certain and a successor hasn’t been named. Lockhart is a longtime friend and Yale fraternity brother of former President George W. Bush. He has been the director of FHFA and its predecessor, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, for about three years. (AP)

Professional Services Council Executive Vice President of Federal Affairs and Operations Dee Lee testified today that workforce challenges, and a naively narrow definition of that workforce, are key causes of contracting challenges. Lee’s comments were featured at a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management. Lee outlined the PSC’s assessment of government-wide efforts to appropriately staff, train, and retain the federal acquisition workforce.

The General Services Administration wants vendors interested in providing applications through the cloud computing storefront to ensure their software is secure. GSA issued a special notice on says it lost $2.4 billion from April through June. That brings the year’s losses so far to $4.7 billion. And the Postal Service expects to be $7 billion in the red when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. The stark figures come from a decline in mail volume as people rely more on e-mail, plus a dip in advertising mail because of the recession. In an effort to reduce costs, the agency has proposed closing several hundred local post offices, has asked Congress for permission to reduce mail delivery to five days a week, and has reduced hours at many offices.

Other Stories We’re Following

Obama’s merit board nominees have deep background in union law (GovExec)

Leadership Vacancy Raises Fears About USAID’s Future (Washington Post)

HHS names Parks as chief technology officer (NextGov)

VA managers underreport contract actions on ‘slow’ system (Federal Times)

Democrats blast Army’s handling of toxic exposures in Iraq (congress Daily/GovExec)

Biometrics said vital for combat success (FCW)

New DNS vulnerability has organizations scrambling (GCN)

FCC wants help on universal broadband (FCW)

Gulf Coast Worried About 2010 Census (Washington Post)

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