Obama wants agencies to address national security risks from climate change

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, the White House creates a working group involving several agencies to come up with a plan for the national security implications caused by climate change.

• President Barack Obama has ordered the creation of the Climate and National Security Working Group. It will include representatives from 20 federal agencies, working to develop an action plan for the effects climate change will have on U.S. national security. The White House said agencies must provide material support for the group within the next 150 days. (The White House)

• The new bureau to handle security clearances, expected to launch Oct. 1, is looking for new technology systems and services across 12 functional areas to upgrade its current legacy systems. The Defense Department issued a request for information outlining its initial plans to build a faster and more secure security clearance technology infrastructure. DoD plans on using a mix of current government technology and systems that are available commercially for the National Background Investigations Bureau. Responses to the RFI are due today. (Federal News Radio)

• IT modernization has overcome a hurdle. The House passed the Modernizing Government Technology Act by voice vote yesterday. Rep. Will Hurd’s (R-Texas) legislation would create a working capital fund in each agency specifically for modernizing old technology systems. Additionally, the bill also creates a centralized IT fund managed by OMB. Hurd said on the House floor that the MGT Act is a key first step in beginning to modernize the government’s insecure and outdated technology infrastructure. Now the bill moves to the Senate, where it’s unclear what the upper chamber will do. (Representative Steny Hoyer)

• The Office of Management and Budget will be updating Payment Accuracy.gov within the next few weeks. The site serves as a tool that OMB uses to report improper payments data. OMB realized data on the site wasn’t entirely accurate or up to congressional standards. OMB Controller Dave Mader said the site will have data for 2016 between January and March. (Federal News Radio)

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has sets a vote for next Tuesday on what he calls a “clean” funding resolution to avoid a government shutdown. It would fund the government through December 9. The Hill is reporting problems still remain, though, as many Senate Democrats are unhappy about certain provisions left out of the bill. (The Hill)

• Safe to say, Defense Secretary Ash Carter is not happy with how Congress has managed the nation’s finances. Carter chastised lawmakers for full-year proposals that he said would cut the Pentagon’s investments in science and technology in order to fund weapons systems that have built up political constituencies, proposals that aren’t likely to become law in a divided government. He said the budget instability coming from that is one of the biggest strategic risks facing the U.S. military. (Federal News Radio)

• Industry fellows working in Congress have clear conflicts of interest in some cases and need more oversight, that’s according to a new report by the Project on Government Oversight. The report suggests the House Rules Committee introduce a bill to require lawmakers to report when their office employs someone paid by an outside company. It also recommends the Senate Ethics Committee look into congressional fellows’ reporting requirements. (Project On Government Oversight)

• There’s a toxic work culture at the National Park Service, and Congress wants to clean it up. Park Service whistleblowers told a congressional oversight committee that a culture change needs to happen if the agency wants to eliminate sexual harassment among its employees, and a reverse a reputation for a hostile work environment. Park Service officials say they are making progress by removing problem employees and shutting down at least one park branch where multiple harassment cases were reported. (Federal News Radio)

• A congressional branch is boasting about an improvement in its employee engagement scores. It’s the Government Publishing Office. The North Capitol St. crowd is crowing about its score of 69 percent — four points higher than the governmentwide average and four-year high for the agency. It got a similar score in employee job satisfaction. GPO director Davita Vance-Cooks cited a list of improvements, including listening to employees. Two years ago it replaced its middle name, which had been printing. (Government Publishing Office)

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