Wednesday Morning Federal Newscast – September 22nd

Census: Vegas trip shouldn\'t count, Data center consolidation falling apart

The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Amy Morris discuss throughout the show each day. The Newscast is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com users more information about the stories you hear on the air.

  • The Senate has failed to pass the Department of Defense Authorization bill. The move yesterday by Republicans also prevented passage of several amendments to the bill: the DREAM Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who were brought into the country as minors, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and language to end the Senate’s practice on secret holds. Congress Daily reports Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin hopes the bill will come up later this year. The Defense Authorization Act has been passed every year for the past 48 years.
  • The Census Bureau faces tough questions for sending 140 employees on a taxpayer-funded trip to Las Vegas. The agency tells Fox News that the trip in August was for training purposes and cost the taxpayers about $100,000. A Census spokesman defends the expense, saying it’s a good investment to figure out how to make the 2020 Census go more smoothly. Republican Congressman Mike Coffman doesn’t agree, and he’s calling for a full investigation.
  • President Obama’s top economic advisor is leaving the administration at the end of the year. Lawrence Summers will return to Harvard University. Two other economic team members have already left the White House. Peter Orszag was director of the Office of Management and Budget. Christina Romer was chief of the Council of Economic Advisors. Only Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner remains.
  • The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has unanimously approved the nomination of Jacob Lew to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget. A statement from Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman and Ranking Member Susan Collins says the nomination was approved by a solid, bipartisan vote of 9-0.
  • Major problems face federal data center consolidation. A new report issued by INPUT says a lack of White House funding and inadequate time and resources devoted to consolidation could keep it from coming to fruition for possibly up to a decade. Next Gov reports INPUT sees the bright side. One benefit to agencies’ financial constraints is they will likely will take small steps to consolidating minor centers or boost the efficiency of existing rooms. But the transition also presents a dilemma for contractors who stand to gain business by aggregating servers, then lose maintenance and support work once systems are combined or outsourced. The report surveyed 33 federal CIO office executives and data center managers.
  • We told you about Jupiter shining brightly in the night sky earlier this week. Today, we can tell you about the Super Harvest Moon. That’s what NASA calls it. For the first time in almost 20 years, northern autumn is beginning on the night of a full Moon. Tonight watch the sky at sunset. As the sun sinks in the west, bringing the season to a close, the full Harvest Moon will rise in the east, beginning the fall season. The two sources of light will mix together to create a kind of 360-degree, summer-autumn twilight glow that is only seen on rare occasions.

More news links

USA.gov Launches Real-time Notifications for Important Government Information (GSA)

Massey chief accuses feds of lying in W.Va. probe

United States Mint, National Park Service Host Ceremony to Welcome Grand Canyon National Park Quarter (USMint)

THIS AFTERNOON ON FEDERAL NEWS RADIO

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**And you struggle with change. We’ll talk to the author of the Federal News Radio Book Club book The New Social Learning. We’ll talk about how collaboration tools are changing the way we learn

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