Wednesday Morning Federal Newscast – April 6th

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.

• Another day closer to a federal government shutdown, and still no budget agreement. Yesterday’s White House meeting, attended by Democratic and Republican leadership, produced nothing but frustration. Attendees included President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Following the meeting, the president blasted the idea of a shutdown. He blamed Republicans for moving the budget-cutting target. Republicans blamed the White House and Senate Democrats for offering only symbolic cuts. The president said he would keep the White House door open to the two sides should they be able to reach a last minute agreement.
• The Office of Personnel Management is releasing guidance in preparation for a possible government shutdown. The agency says it’s meant to help employees understand specific pay and benefits questions. For example, If the government shuts down Saturday, federal employees’ health insurance will continue, but deductions to pay for vision and dental as well as long term care will cease for furloughed workers.
• Troops at war in Iraq and Afghanistan would get one week’s pay instead of two in their next paycheck if the government shuts down this weekend due to the budget impasse, according to a senior defense official who said the military can’t be paid during a funding lapse until a new appropriations bill or continuing resolution is passed.
• Meanwhile, The largest federal employees union is filing suit against the Obama administration for failing to provide agency shutdown plans. The American Federation of Government Employees says the Office of Management and Budget did not respond to a March 2nd Freedom of Information Act request, asking for copies of shutdown contingency plans. AFGE president John Gage says he wants federal employees to know what to expect before the eve of a shutdown, so they can properly prepare. OMB provides agencies with guidance on how to prepare and operate during a funding gap, but OMB has also instructed agencies to keep their shutdown plans under wraps.
• Budget or no budget, lawmakers will soon vote on whether to raise the federal debt ceiling. The government will hit that $14.3 trillion wall in month. Should a debt bill fail to pass, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the situation would be unthinkable. But, Federal Times reports, Geithner tells lawmakers Treasury has two other sources for borrowing $142 billion to keep things going until July. Those sources are the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, and the Thrift Savings Plan’s G Fund. Both are invested in U.S. Treasury securities. Both funds would be repaid with interest.
• The first – partial – rollback of the health care law is now on its way to the White House. The bipartisan repeal of the tax reporting requirement unpopular with businesses. It would have forced millions of businesses to file tax forms for every vendor selling them more than $600 in goods per year. The requirement isn’t related to health care, but it would have been used to help pay for the new law. President Obama didn’t like it either, and is expected to sign the bill that repeals it.
• Could General David Petraeus become the new director of the CIA? Petraeus is the current commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and is expected to leave his post by early fall. NPR reports, several sources say the General is under serious consideration as the new Clandestine director, and that he would take the job if offered. Petraeus has coordinated with the CIA while commander in Iraq and Afghanistan. CIA drone strikes have also increased in neighboring Pakistan since President Obama took office.
• A Merit Systems Protection Board judge has ordered the reinstatement of a high-level Veterans Affairs employee who was fired in 2010. Katherine Adair Martinez was also granted back pay with interest. She was deputy assistant secretary for information protection and risk management in VA’s Office of Information and Technology. A 2009 inspector general report said Martinez committed violations of contracting and personnel policies. She was fired by CIO Roger Baker, but the MSPB judge found that Martinez had been denied her constitutional right to rebut the charges.

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THIS AFTERNOON ON FEDERAL NEWS RADIO

Coming up today on In Depth with Francis Rose:

–Whether your agency shuts down or not, your people are shell-shocked. Former head of the Chief Human Capital Officers Council, John Salamone, will tell you what you should be telling them.

–Census Director Dr. Robert Groves is on the Hill this afternoon to talk about what they learned from the 2010 Census and how they’ll apply it in 2020…and he’s on the show right after he meets with Congress.

Join Francis from 1 to 7 pm on 1500 AM or on your computer.

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