Federal Drive

Tuesday Morning Federal Newsstand

Written by Ruben Gomez Edited by Suzanne Kubota This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED: Help Wanted: Ethical hackers to help secure the nation’...

Federal News Network Staff

April 21, 2009 8:09 am

2 min read

Written by Ruben Gomez
Edited by Suzanne Kubota

This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED:

Help Wanted: Ethical hackers to help secure the nation’s networks and power grids. Federal contractor General Dynamics has put out a job posting looking for people who can quote “think like the bad guy.” Those hired will help Homeland security beef up defenses on the country’s critical infrastructure systems.

The Treasury Department has launched 20 criminal probes to find out whether bank rescue money is being pilfered or wasted. The news comes in a 250-page report from Neil Barofsky, chief overseer of TARP — the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Barofsky is looking into whether bailout decisions were influenced by those who stood to benefit from them. He’s also looking into whether bailed out companies are adhering to executive pay caps.

The president’s first meeting with cabinet secretaries Monday came with a $100-million dollar challenge: He wants them to cut that much from their bottom lines in the next 90 days. The White House says the move is to earn trust from the American Public. Critics say $100-million dollars is puny when compared to the federal budget, which, if approved, would approach $4-trillion dollars next year.

It’s been an up month for your Thrift Savings Plan. All the stock funds have gained so far. The S fund has seen the biggest gains: nearly 13-percent. Those gains are thru last Friday, and they don’t take into account yesterday’s losses on Wall Street.

The board that runs your Thrift Savings Plan is throwing its support behind a Roth 401(k) feature. This not quite like a Roth IRA, but it would let participants invest after-tax dollars. The board is also endorsing a surviving spouse benefit. That would let beneficiaries move funds from the TSP to an IRA, or they could take the money as a taxable payout.