Federal Drive

Thursday Morning Federal Newscast

Written by Ruben Gomez & Jane Norris Edited by Suzanne Kubota This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED: In the next week-and-half, we could see m...

Federal News Network Staff

November 5, 2009 8:32 am

2 min read

Written by Ruben Gomez & Jane Norris
Edited by Suzanne Kubota

This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED:

In the next week-and-half, we could see major moves to clear permanent federal spending bills for 2010. Congress Daily reports the House hopes to finish work by November 16th. That could be the week House members take up a catch-all omnibus package. That chamber of Congress has finished work on all 12 spending bills, but the Senate has cleared just five.

Acquisition groups form a new partnership to help federal agencies beef up the procurement workforce. GovExec reports the “Strategic Partnership on Acquisition Recruitment Coalition” will target college students, by trying to convince universities to expand programs on procurement. Government Executive reports the group includes members of government and industry. Last week, the White House directed agencies to boost their contracting staffs by at least 5-percent in the next four years.

The federal group in charge of enforcing cybersecurity at power plants has its own problems with computer safety. An inspector general’s report finds the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission doesn’t comply with federal information security mandates. Among the charges is that the commission doesn’t have procedures to protect sensitive data on four major systems. The report comes from the inspector general at the Department of Energy, which is the commission’s parent agency.

Craigslist.org founder Craig Newmark, according to NextGov, will serve on a Veterans Affairs Department panel that will look at ideas to improve disability claims processing times and provide greater transparency to vets. VA officials from each of the agency’s 57 regional offices nationwide have submitted more than 3,000 ideas, which will be reviewed by Newmark and other panel members. The goal is to improve services for veterans.

A former Surgeon General prompts a security scare on Capitol Hill. It started when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid received an unstamped letter from C. Everett Koop, Surgeon General under President Reagan. Capitol Police tell the Roll Call newspaper that staffers didn’t recognize the letter and the scare shut down Senator Reid’s for about 45-minutes while they ran tests. Koop, however, confirmed sending the letter by hand-delivery; and he said it was about healthcare reform.

More news links

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New cybersecurity role for NIST? (FCW)

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Army veteran indicted on gun charge in VA threat

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Man’s cheesehead hat signed by Obama at speech

People with pensions sleep better after retirement (Reuters)