Thursday Afternoon Newscast

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is delaying the proposed reorganization of its Information Technology Laboratory office. In a short comment on its Web site, NIST says it will reassess comments from stakeholders. NIST first announced its desire to reorganize the laboratory, which includes the cybersecurity division and other technical work, in August.

The plan immediately drew concerns from the cybersecurity community about how it would impact the division responsible for getting standards and recommending ways to protect federal networks. The House Science and Technology subcommittee on Technology and Innovation is holding a hearing today on the reorganization plans as well as NIST’s potential role in help secure federal computers under the administration’s cybersecurity review. For more on this story click here

The House Financial Services Committee has voted to create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, a federal agency devoted to protecting consumers from predatory lending, abusive overdraft fees and unfair rate hikes. Democrats are hailing the 39-29 vote as a win for the average American. It is a major step forward in enacting President Barack Obama’s plan to tighten the rules governing Wall Street. The legislation has been the target of an aggressive multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign by the financial industry, which contends that the agency would have dangerously broad reach.

The Senate has confirmed former United Mine Workers union official Joseph Main to head the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. The chamber confirmed Main by unanimous consent to run the agency responsible for overseeing the health and safety of the nation’s 392,000 miners. Main spent 22 years heading the United Mine Workers’ Occupational Health and Safety Department before retiring. His nomination had been praised by union activists, but greeted with some trepidation by coal companies. Main was a strong critic of the previous head of MSHA, Richard Stickler.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates signaled today that he would not be discussing future U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan at a NATO meeting of defense ministers in Bratislava. Gates said he was nearing a decision on what he thinks should be done in Afghanistan. To paraphrase White House press spokesman Robert Gibbs, gates said he’s moving into his “personal decision phase.” Public comments by Gates in recent weeks suggested he may be leaning in favor of a troop increase, though it is unclear how large. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army General Stanley McChrystal, has recommended deploying an additional 40,000 troops as part of a beefed up counterinsurgency campaign against a resurgent Taliban.

The Office of Personnel Management has extended the deadline for feds to make changes to their federal long term health insurance plans. Employees now have until Feb. 15, more than two months extra, to review the changes to the program and decide on their options, according to employee union and congressional sources. During this extra decision period, employees will face no changes to their premiums. Employee unions and lawmakers encouraged OPM officials to extend the deadline last week during a Senate hearing on the increase in premiums that surprised many policy holders.

Federal Communications Commissioners voted unanimously today to support an open Internet rule that would prevent telecom network operators from barring or blocking content based on the revenue it generates. The proposed rule now goes to the public for comment until Jan. 14th. A final rule is not expected until the spring of next year.

The vote came despite a flurry of lobbying against the net neutrality rule by telecommunications service providers like AT&T Inc , Verizon Communications Inc and Qwest Communications International Inc , which say it would strip them of the ability to manage their networks effectively and would stifle innovation and competition. The rule would prevent operators from discriminating against any legal content a third party wants to deliver to consumers on their networks, though it allows for “reasonable” network management to unclog congestion, clear viruses and spam, and block unlawful content.

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