Feds who find waste could get themselves a taste

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on  Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

In today’s Top Federal Headlines, a Congressional committee approves the idea of giving federal employees who identify waste a piece of the savings.

• Congress has considered rewarding federal employees who find waste with a slice of the savings. The Easy Savings Act would let agency heads give up to $10,000 to employees who expose waste. The bill has cleared the House Oversight and Government Reform committee. A companion bill is before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Both bills aim to slow year-end spending sprees. They would let agency heads use 10 percent of surpluses for bonuses. (Congress.gov)

• The military service chiefs said the trend of long-term continuing resolutions has caused them to change the way they budget. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said the Navy writes off any major planning for the first quarter of the fiscal year because Congress cannot pass appropriations bills on time. Army and Air Force service chiefs echoed Richardson’s claims. (Federal News Radio)

• The Army said it’s reviewing the cases of more than 70 soldiers who it might have discharged without following proper laws. At issue is a 2009 law Congress passed to make sure the military wasn’t issuing kicking out troops suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress or Traumatic Brain Injury that might explain their alleged misconduct. Following an audit the Army conducted at the urging of Congress, officials identified at least 73 soldiers who got those discharges, had a previous diagnosis of PDSD or TBI, but never got the required medical examinations to determine whether their mental health was a factor. The Army said a review board will look at each case to decide whether the soldiers should have gotten an honorable discharge – something that would make them eligible for veterans benefits. (Sen. Chris Murphy)

• The General Services Administration has inked its fifth agreement with another government agency to use the OASIS professional services governmentwide contract. The Navy’s Naval Supply Systems Command agrees to spend $500 million under OASIS in return for paying a lower fee to use the contract. GSA has made similar ones with the Army, Air Force and Homeland Security Department over the past two years. (General Services Administration)

• Businesses big and small can try out a new cybersecurity self-assessment from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Bruce Andrews, deputy secretary for the Department of Commerce, announces the first draft of the Baldridge Cybersecurity Excellence Builder. It combines NIST’s cybersecurity framework with its Baldridge performance evaluation program. Andrews said the hope is to expand the initiative to vulnerability assessments and best practices sharing. (National Institute of Standards and Technology)

• Congress takes a major step to get rid of old technology in government. House lawmakers and the White House are combining strengths to address the growing problem of legacy IT systems. The Modernizing Government Technology Act would merge two competing proposals to help agencies change their spending on outdated IT. Rep. Will Hurd’s (R-Texas) bill passed the Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday. It would create a working capital fund in each agency as well as a governmentwide IT modernization fund run out of GSA.

• House lawmakers move forward with a bill to help D.C. area commuters dealing with Metro’s SafeTrack program. The Oversight and Government Reform Committee unanimously approves the Transit Benefits Modernization Act. It would let federal employees use transit benefits for “digital transportation companies” such as Uber or Lyft, during the subway repair effort. In all, the committee approved 16 bills at yesterday’s markup, including two extending whistleblower protections to feds and contractors. (Rep. Will Hurd)

• Congress wants to make it harder though for some federal employees to appeal disciplinary actions. The House passes the VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act. The bill cuts the Merit Systems Protection Board out of the appeals process for VA executives. It also reforms a decades-old appeals process for veterans. Senate VA Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced a standalone bill that would reform the veterans appeals process earlier this week. (Federal News Radio)

• Now 65 percent of federal employees said they’re engaged at their agencies this year. That’s compared the 64 percent governmentwide score from the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. The 2016 results are up two percentage points in the past two years. Acting Office of Personnel Management Director Beth Cobert said that’s a positive result agencies can build on. OPM will release the full results of the survey Sept. 20. (Office of Personnel Management)

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