Tuesday Morning Federal Newscast – May 31st

Senior Executives give low scores to appointees, Antiques Roadshow travels to GSA

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 Agriculture Department is the first cabinet-level agency to offer early retirement and buyouts to employees. And it may not be the last. Federal News Radio has learned, an announcement will come soon on the open window dates for the Agriculture buyouts, and which employees will be eligible. OPM is also reportedly considering other buyout requests. During a buyout period, workers can be paid up to $25,000 to take regular or early retirement. Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission, portions of Air Force Materiel Command, the U.S. Postal Service and the Smithsonian Institution all authorized limited numbers of buyouts to employees.
  • President Obama took Memorial Day to make it official: Army Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey will succeed Admiral Mike Mullen as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In appointing Dempsey, the president passed over the one-time front runner, Marine Corps General James Cartwright. Dempsey, who became the Army’s top officer just a month ago, has been leading the U.S. effort in Iraq. Obama also has chosen Admiral James Winnefeld to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Army General Ray Odierno, another Iraq war veteran, will replace Dempsey as Army chief of staff.
  • Obama administration appointees don’t impress senior career managers. The team which started arriving in 2009 gets lower marks from career managers than the appointees of the George W. Bush administration. That’s according to a survey conducted by Government Business Council, part of Government Executive magazine. The survey asked 148 senior executives and GS-15s how the Obama appointees are doing. The appointees received an average grade of C. A third of the respondents gave them D or F grades. Their average of 2.0 compares to an average of 2.3 for the Bush appointees. Career managers cited a lack of appreciation for procurement and human resources rules on the part of appointees.
  • The Office of Management and Budget is behind the eight-ball in gathering information on service contracts. Inventories of contracted services are required of civilian agencies by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010, but the Government Accountability Office reports OMB still hasn’t submitted a progress report to Congress that was due last July 31st. Meanwhile, GAO found, agencies have had varying degrees of success in finishing their inventories. GAO also finds differences in what the law requires and the guidance the White House gave agencies to meet it. In some instances, OMB asked for more information than required by law, in other cases for less.
  • A Senate panel approves a bill forgiving the debts of disaster assistance recipient who were overpaid by FEMA. It’s called the 2011 Disaster Assistance Recoupment Fairness Act. GovExec reports bill sponsor Senator Mary Pryor of Arkansas tightened up language ensuring that debt would not be waived in cases involving fraud. Since hurricanes Katrina and Rita, FEMA has paid out more than $7 billion in aid. DHS’ inspector general found $643 million in improper payments because of human error and fraud. The bill now goes before the full Senate.
  • A trio from Stockton, California received sentences ranging from three to six years in prison for federal food stamp fraud. The case resulted from a joint investigation by the Agriculture Department’s inspector general and the IRS criminal investigation section. Ahmed Kahn, his brother Mumraiz and his daughter Naheed operated a smoke shop. According to the Justice Department, they used it to buy food stamps from customers at 50 cents on the dollar. Then they redeemed the food stamps to the tune of $2.6 million. In one year, they reported $7,000 in food sales, but processed $718,000 in food stamps.The Kahns were also convicted of money laundering because they sent some of the money to Pakistan.
  • The General Service Administration gets featured on an episode of “Antiques Roadshow” on PBS. The segment spotlights GSA’s collection of New Deal art, including paintings, sculptures, and prints. It also explores how the agency is working to locate and recover missing pieces belonging to the federal collection. The episode aired last night on PBS. It’s the first time a government agency has made it on the show.

    Watch the full episode. See more Antiques Roadshow.

More news links

Pentagon seeks mini-weapons for new age of warfare (LATimes)

U.S. yanks diplomat from Bahrain after he’s threatened (McClatchy Newspapers)

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