Thursday Morning Federal Newscast – April 7th

Furloughed feds may surrender smartphones

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.

  • House, Senate and White House staffers worked all night to reach a budget compromise. Yesterday’s meetings with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid failed to reach agreement. Still, both sides report progress. President Obama says they’re going to keep pounding away at this thing. Deadline pressure is increasing. Without a budget, the government would partially shut down Friday night. That would cause the furlough of nearly a million federal employees. Meanwhile, the Republican-led House moves to pass a very short continuing resolution that also funds the Defense Department for the rest of the fiscal year. Democrats, including the President, resist that idea. Complicating prospects for a final budget: Negotiators have yet to discuss policy riders Republicans want attached to any full-year budget bill.
  • If you are a federal worker, and there’s a shutdown, you could still have to go into work on Monday, if only for a few minutes. An administration official tells The Wall Street Journal that non-essential workers would have to come in to hand over any government issued BlackBerrys and laptops. However, the Washington Post reports a top aide at the Office of Management and Budget said that agency has no idea how many personal digital assistants, or PDAs, are even out there. For staffers on Capitol Hill, it’s less clear if they could hold on to their electronics, but they’re still not supposed to respond to e-mail if there is a shutdown. That’s if government-run e-mail even stays up and running.
  • A government shutdown isn’t a federal holiday, but banks and other companies might still be impacted. The Washington Business Journal reports that banks could be left waiting for regulatory approval to move forward on everything from branch openings to loan approvals to acquisitions. Local Small Busines Administration lenders, and their customers, will also be kept waiting if the government shuts down. And, while the Securities and Exchange Commission handles its filings electronically, it isn’t clear how the system will be impacted if the agency has to close down.
  • The Obama administration’s nominee for deputy budget director faces a tough confirmation fight. The Senate Budget committee approves the nomination of Heather Higginbottom. But, National Journal reports, the vote is 11-10 on party lines. Republican Robert Portman of Ohio votes “pass,” not yes or no. A cloture vote would force a vote on the nomination. Higginbottom would need support of all 53 Democrats and seven Republicans to secure the job. Some senators have criticized Higginbottom for a lack of experience in budgeting and accounting. She is the former legislative director for Massaschusetts Senator John Kerry.
  • Harris Corp has completed its acquisition of the communications unit from Schlumberger Ltd. The Washington Business Journal reports that’s resulted in a whole new business that’ll provide managed communications services to federal customers. Harris combined the Schlumberger unit with its government terrestrial and maritime communications services and CapRock Communications to form the new unit. They’ll call it Harris CapRock and will offer converged voice, video and data solutions and reliable and secure connectivity in remote and rugged locations. Government customers include Defense, Homeland Decurity and other federal civilian agencies.

More news links

FACT CHECK: Are federal workers overpaid?

A look at recent government shutdowns

A look at the impact of a government shutdown

FAA says another controller went to sleep on job

Security firm learns limits of security tech

Former Agriculture official sentenced for sex abuse (WashingtonTimes)

GAO: Still Little Science Behind TSA’s Profiling (DCInsider)

Federal agent’s gun found in restroom at Texas airport (CNN)

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