Friday federal headlines – September 4, 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.

• The top health official for the Veterans Affairs Department says he is prioritizing issues to improve the veterans’ healthcare system. David Shulkin, the VA’s undersecretary for health, says among his top initiatives will be to clinically prioritize appointments so those in most dire need receive care first. The VA will also launch applications that ease the burden of scheduling appointments on veterans. Shulkin was sworn into his position in early July. (Federal News Radio)

• Another Facebook veteran is now working for the White House. Josh Miller is the White House’s first director of product. His first day was Sept. 1. Miller made the announcement on her personal blog. He said he’ll take the product ideals he learned at Facebook and apply them to new government tech initiatives. (White House/FCW)

• It’s time to refresh the most popular schedule contract and the General Services Administration is looking for help. GSA issued a request for information Thursday, asking if the requirement for vendors to have at least two years of experience is necessary anymore on Schedule 70 for IT products and services. GSA also wants to know whether this requirement is preventing cutting-edge IT firms from providing products or services to the government. The agency proposes for those companies without two years of corporate experience to describe at least three relevant projects that would demonstrate they are qualified to work for the government. Responses to the RFI are due by Sept. 18. Schedule 70 accounted for $14 billion of the $32 billion in agency spending in 2014. (GSA)

• Talk about confusing: The Veterans Affairs Department has a thousand different websites for veterans’ services. That will change this Veterans Day. The VA is launching vets.gov. Over 500 vets are beta-testing the portal now. On Nov. 11, the site will have the content vets need. But it will take longer for the security functions to be perfected. Once that happens, veterans will have just one place to check on a benefits claim, sign up for an education benefit, change their address and more.

• The Secretary of the Army directs an immediate safety review of all Defense Department labs involved with certain agents and toxins. The announcement came after the Army realized this summer that it accidently sent anthrax to nearly 200 sites over the past ten years. The Centers for Disease Control began investigating the incident in May. DoD said the review is an act of abundant caution. The review ensures labs follow proper protocols. The labs must report back to the Army in 10 days. (DoD)

• New rules to buy copiers, printers, scanners and other electronic devices are coming for agencies. Starting Oct. 5, agencies must begin purchasing a wider variety of environmentally-friendly electronic products 95 percent of the time. The Federal Acquisition Regulations Council issues a final rule to implement President Barack Obama’s executive order from January 2011. The FAR Council rule expands the types of products from just computers to all electronic devices that must be EPEAT certified. If there are no products that meet the EPEAT standard the agency head must provide a written exemption to the rule. The White House reported in April that agency spending on sustainable products grew to $22.7 billion on 80,000 transactions in 2013. (GPO)

• Pentagon officials say that Chinese naval ships came within 12 nautical miles of the U.S. coast in Alaska. The Wall Street Journal reports that five Chinese ships entered territorial waters in the Bering Sea for the first time for joint training exercises with Russia. The Chinese ships were in compliance with international law under the “innocent passage” principle and did nothing threatening despite the close encounter. The ships’ arrival throws a fresh spotlight on China’s growing naval presence, and is significant because China has long objected to U.S. naval ships operating in and around its territorial waters. (Wall Street Journal)

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