Wednesday Morning Federal Newscast – July 13

Still no resolution in the debt ceiling dabate, White House clamps down on growing .gov population and how secure are American airports?

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.

  • Lawmakers return to the White House this morning for another tense day of negotiations – but no progress yet on raising the debt ceiling debate. A possible solution from Kentucky Representative Mitch McConnell is being dismissed by his Republican colleagues. It would allow the President to authorize in three installments an extension of the debt limit, accompanied by a spending-cuts plan subject to a vote in Congress. It could help bypass the contentious stalemate with lawmakers. President Obama says the country has just days to come up with a deal or face default. The President also raised the stakes in an interview with CBS saying he can’t guarantee that $20 billion in Social Security checks will go out on August 3 if a deal can’t be made.
  • The Defense Department is looking at a civilian hiring freeze. But some Democratic senators say DoD may be breaking laws that protect employees against head counts. Led by Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, the group urges Defense Secretary Peon Panetta to reconsider his plan to freeze the number of employees at 2010 levels. Mikulski was joined by Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Their letter to Panetta says placing an arbitrary headcount on the number of DoD workers won’t make the department run more efficiently.
  • Despite billions of dollars in security enhancements, U.S. airports are still vulnerable to terror attacks. That, according to Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). He holds a hearing today to probe airport security problems. Chaffetz cites the government’s own data. It shows that since November 2001, more than 25,000 security breaches occurred at U.S. airports. That’s an average of five per year at every commercial airport in the country. Chaffetz call the number stunningly high. More than 14,000 people have found their way into sensitive areas. Six thousand travelers have made it past TSA checkpoints without being screened. The Transportation Security Administration says the numbers represent a tiny fraction of one percent of billions of people who have been screened since 9/11.
  • Federal chief financial officers overwhelmingly say it’s time to relook at the model agencies use to report spending data. A new survey by Grant Thornton and the Association of Government Accountants found federal financial managers want a new way to present data that is more meaningful. CFOs also said they are starting to take advantage of predictive analysis tools.
  • The House is ready to take up reforms to the government’s compensation program for federal workers injured on the job. Lawmakers consider a bill submitted by Minnesota Representative John Kline. It would update the federal workers’ compensation program for the first time since 1974. GovExec reports the bill would streamline the claims process and update the benefits for government employees. It would allow the Labor Department, which administers workers’ compensation, to verify federal employees’ salaries against Social Security Administration data. And, the bill would label injuries from terrorism as war-risk hazards. It would provide $6,000 for funeral expenses and $50,000 for facial disfiguration.
  • The federal government has too many web sites. Now Federal CIO Vivek Kundra has a posse to hunt down and eliminate them. NextGov reports Kundra has named a 17-member task force trim the government’s Web sprawl. The task force will also update policies for justifying launch of a new web site or domain. The White House has identified nearly 1,800 top-level federal Web domains. They represent an estimated 24,000 sites. Last month, OMB imposed a freeze on new federal web sites. Federal agencies have until September 12 to turn in lists of sites they can consolidate or scrap. It’s all part of a White House plan to improve citizen services.

More news links

NPS names new superintendent of DC’s National Mall.

House public Wi-Fi network to allow Members and staff to utilize Skype.

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