Monday federal headlines – August 3, 2015

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive and In Depth radio shows. 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.

• There were few signs of abuse with the Patent and Trademark Office’s telework program. The National Academy of Public Administration reviewed the program after complaints of time and attendence fraud with some PTO employees. NAPA said the PTO is paying more attention to the problem now. And it has more time and attendance cases to review this year than the last. (Federal News Radio)
• The Senate is in session this week but the House has left town for its August recess. That means Congress will have big items to tackle in September. The dozen appropriations bills appear to have stalled over a variety of disagreements. Congress  has yet to vote on a fiscal 2016 defense authorization bill that is considered “must-pass” legislation. It also faces a deadline to reauthorize the FAA. And it will likely have to consider raising the federal debt limit again. (Federal News Radio)

• Big news for the government’s biggest weapons program: The Marine Corps has declared its version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter ready for combat. By doing so, it makes history. The service said 10 of its F-35-B jets stationed in Yuma, Arizona, can now deploy worldwide. Marine Corps Commandant Joseph Dunford said it’s going to transform the way the Marines fight and win. Before declaring the jet operational, the Marines ran flights at sea for seven weeks and tested the aircraft in large exercises. The Defense Department has spent nearly $400 billion to develop the stealth fighter. It has run into years of delays, in part because of the unique requirements of the Navy, Air Force and Marines.

• Civilian agencies have ramped up their cyber defenses under orders from the White House. The Office of Management and Budget is declaring the 30-day “cyber sprint” a success. It says agencies have increased the use of Personal Identity Verification, or PIV cards, and other strong authentication by more than 40 percent for those users with the greatest access to networks and information. In a blog post, federal chief information officer Tony Scott said the sprint is just one part of a marathon toward stronger cyber practices. A team of government and private-sector experts are reviewing all government cyber policies to inform a forthcoming strategy. OMB launched the sprint following data breaches at the Office of Personnel Management. (Federal News Radio)

• An outside review has concluded there’s no evidence of widespread abuse within the telework program at the Patent and Trademark Office. The nine-month investigation by the National Academy of Public Administration found teleworkers, in general, are no more likely to falsify their time and attendance reports than employees working in the office are. But the panel did recommend that agency supervisors be granted more authority over teleworking employees, such as the power to order teleworkers back to the office if they’re not performing well. PTO commissioned the review last year after an inspector general report found several instances of teleworking employees claiming they worked more hours than they actually did. (Federal News Radio)

• The Department of Homeland Security’s Computer Emergency Readiness Team said it’s tracking three major online campaigns that seek to give hackers a foothold into government and private networks through carefully-crafted emails. U.S. CERT said the phishing attacks began in June and July, most of them involving links to files on legitimate websites that hackers had already compromised. In an alert published this weekend, U.S. CERT tells agencies and businesses to scan their systems for the malware and report the results to DHS’ National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center. (U.S. CERT)

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