Thursday Morning Federal Newscast – February 24th

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. T...

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.

  • Republicans controlling the House will advance a temporary government funding bill to keep the government open for two weeks after a deadline expires next Friday, a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday. The Ohio Republican is insisting on about $4 billion in spending cuts, the latest salvo in a continuing battle with Democrats running the Senate. The Hill reports Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wasted no time rejecting the plan Wednesday. “The Republicans’ so-called compromise is nothing more than the same extreme package the House already handed the Senate, just with a different bow,” Reid spokesman Jon Summers said Wednesday night. “This isn’t a compromise, it’s a hardening of their original position.” The measure would run through March 18, when the next scheduled congressional recess is set to begin.
  • The White House remains confident that a last-minute spending deal can be reached, before the government shuts down on March 4th. In a briefing Press Secretary Jay Carney said there is strong potential for a deal to be made, and that the White House has been participating in the process – thought he wouldn’t say how. The Senate reconvenes Monday.
  • The 2011 spending bill that passed the House includes budget increases for a few agencies. One of them is the Special IG for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Wall Street Journal reports, the bill would boost SIGTARP’s budget by $13 million, to a total of $36 million. Hill staffers point out that thanks to SIGTARP work, 45 individuals have been charged with either civil or criminal fraud amounting to a half billion dollars. Congress stopped doling out TARP money last October. But there is an estimated $150 billion dollars still to recoup.
  • It could all come to an end today! We are awaiting a decision by the Air Force on which contractor will replace its tanker fleet. That decision is expected today. The Air Force has been trying to award the contract since 2002. In 2005, an investigation found wrongdoing in the award to Boeing. Then, in 2008, Boeing protested the award to Northrop Grumman and EADS. Last March, Northrop withdrew, and EADS has been going head to head with Boeing. Regardless of who is awarded the contract this time, it is widely expected the decision will be protested.
  • The Mexican Defense Department has arrested six gang members in the killing of a US federal immigration agent. But the suspects say the shooting was a mistake. They say they mistook the ICE agents’ car for one from a rival drug gang. Gunmen attacked Jaime Zapata and his colleague Victor Avila last week while they were en route to Mexico City. Avila survived the shooting, Zapata did not. President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have thanked Mexican authorities and promised to help in the ongoing investigation.

More news links

No. 2 US military officer cleared of misconduct

Obama to celebrate Motown at White House concert

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