Federal Drive

Tuesday Morning Federal Newscast

TSP loans and recruitment, FY 2010 spending bill update, public satisfaction Gallup poll, GAO saves billions, USPS losses mount up

Federal News Network Staff

November 17, 2009 8:26 am

3 min read

Written by Ruben Gomez & Jane Norris
Edited by Suzanne Kubota

This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED:

Loans against Thrift Savings accounts slowed in October. The Thrift Investment board hopes the “slight easing” is a sign that loan activity is starting to shrink. Federal employees had nearly $7.2 billion in outstanding loans in October – $8 million more than the previous month. The number of loans continues to increase, however. TSP participants had more than 805,000 loans in October. Federal Times reports that while participants are continuing to borrow money to buy homes and pay other expenses they are taking out less money or are repaying their loans.

Your Thrift Savings Plan is launching a campaign to get more new federal employees to contribute to their accounts. GovExec reports that late this month the TSP will send out mailings to workers who are getting automatic contributions, but haven’t yet started actively adding to their accounts. The mailings, and accompanying posters that will be sent to agencies, are designed to inform workers that they’re missing out on matching contributions from their agencies.

FederalNewsRadio told you early in the month, but now even Congress is thinking it may not be able to pass all 12 federal agency spending bills for 2010 because health care reform is taking up floor time. FederalTimes reports the seven remaining bills will likely to be rolled into an omnibus bill and passed before the continuing resolution expires on Dec 18th. Three others have passed both the House and Senate and are awaiting conferences to work out differences between the versions. The Senate plans to finish work on the military construction and Veterans Affairs bill this week.

Only 2-in-10 respondents to a recent Gallup poll say they view government in a positive light. GovExec reports nearly half have a neutral perception, and 34-percent have negative thoughts about about agencies. According to the respondents, the most important factor in public satisfaction is an agency’s ability to resolve problems.

Federal Prosecutors charge the chief food supplier for the U.S. military in Kuwait and Iraq for inflating prices and defrauding the U.S. government for billions in contracts to feed American troops. Kuwaiti logistics firm Public Warehousing Co. which the Defense Logistics Agency says is the military’s prime food supplier in Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan – has been charged with making false statements, submitting false claims and committing wire fraud. The company, also known as Agility, has received more than $8.5 billion in food supply contracts. Prosecutors say the contract with the government is scheduled to expire in December 2010.

All those Government Accountability Office investigations saved $43 billion dollars in 2009, at least according to the GAO. The government watchdog says the biggest chunk of savings came from statutory changes based on GAO reports. Agencies also saved money thru governmentwide management reforms and improvements resulting directly from GAO investigations.

The Postal Service reported a net loss of $3.8 billion for 2008, about $1 billion more than the previous year. The loss comes despite a reduction of 40,000 in career employees and billions in cost-cutting measures. Postal Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett called the year “one of the most challenging in the history of the Postal Service.”

More news links

Congressman to introduce veterans’ travel reimbursement bill (Examiner.com)

Maryland lawmaker tries to ease federal employees’ fears about health care (GovExec)

Senators voice concern about SSA’s ability to keep up with more retirees (GovExec)

New federal mammogram advice raises questions, concerns

Reports: Army to probe alleged shooter’s career

File shows FBI watched writer Studs Terkel for decades

FAA splits Hudson River airspace into 2 low zones

Shuttle crew includes surgeon and former NFL pick

“Unfriend” named word of 2009 (Reuters)