Tuesday Morning Federal Newsstand

Written by Ruben Gomez and Tom Temin
Edited by Suzanne Kubota

This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED:

The clock strikes midnight tomorrow for agencies to assign teams to work on hiring reform. GovernmentExecutive reports the teams will be charged with mapping the hiring process and writing plain-language job descriptions for their 10 most prevalent positions. The directive comes from Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry. It’s part of a bigger plan to streamline hiring governmentwide. Final reports are due to OPM on December 15.

On this last day of June, your Thrift Savings Plan is heading toward what could be four straight months of gains. The TSP board’s Tom Trabucco tells FederalNewsRadio that all stock funds are up for the month. And he isn’t expecting any significant downswings on this last trading day of June. But he cautions that most funds have not recovered from last year’s market crash. Some lost more than 40-percent of their value.

It’s official: Iraqi forces have assumed control of major urban centers in that country, including Baghdad. US troops have moved to so-called rural outposts, in what marks the first major step toward a complete withdrawal by the end of 2011. To mark the occasion, the Iraqi government named today “National Sovereignty Day,” and celebrated with fireworks.

The government has a process to measure information security, but Congressional auditors say those metrics are missing the point. The Government Accountability Office says the compliance reports agencies submit don’t measure how well security controls are implemented. And as a result, auditors continue to find security gaps even though agencies are citing improvements. According to FederalComputerWeek, GAO is recommending the government consider other types of metrics.

The White House wants you to flex your blogging fingers to tell them how you think the government should declassify information. You can post your comments on a new interactive forum they’ve set up. You also have a chance to weigh in on how the declassification process can become more transparent. The call for public input comes from the Public Interest Declassification Board. The deadline for posting is tomorrow.

The U.S. Secret Service will team up with Italian crime fighters to battle computer hacking. The joint unit will be based in Rome. It will also focus on preventing identity theft, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Italian postal office has developed software to track electronic payments as they moves beyond traditional mail.

The federal government isn’t always the best customer, yet it asks vendors for the best prices. Now NextGov reports a panel looking into government buying is telling the feds to drop a contract clause that requires the government to always get the best prices on things like computers or uniforms.

A new law would bar foreign companies that sell technology to Iran from receiving U.S. federal contracts. A new bill from Senators Charles Schumer of New York and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina was prompted by reports that a joint venture of Nokia Corp. of Finland, the big cell phone maker, and Siemens of Germany had sold an Internet-censoring system to Iran in 2008, according to NextGov.

Government employees in Iraq, Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan earn so-called danger pay of 35 percent on top of their regular salary. But, the FederalTimes reports, a new Congressional study finds roughly 40 percent of civilians deployed in the last year and a half received their danger pay late, or not at all.

Other Stories We’re Following

New Lighting Standards Announced (WashingtonPost)

Guard to seek volunteers for border

House Panel Suggests Extending Intelligence Oversight (WashingtonPost)

Money for Nothing …and Chicks for Free (OMB Watch)

Federal Diary: Activists Say Whistleblower Protection Act Is as Good as Dead (WashingtonPost)

Pentagon decision could benefit 2 manufacturers

…And from the “Don’t Do That” files:

Utah Officials Warn TV Viewers Not To Shoot Their Old TV Sets

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