DHS civilian law enforcement agencies face long delays in hiring

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 Homeland Security Department’s Inspector General has identified reasons why its three largest law enforcement agencies are having trouble fully staffing themselves.

• Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Secret Service — three large civilian law enforcement organizations within the Homeland Security Department continue to have significant delays in hiring. The agency’s inspector general said it’s mostly due to extra steps needed for hiring law enforcement, but a lack of staff and automated systems also play a role. (Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General)

• The Office of Personnel Management and Winvale can’t agree on just how many people need to re-enroll for credit monitoring services by Dec. 1. The company said 1.1 million people who enrolled with them after the first OPM cyber breach need to re-enroll with the new vendor ID Experts. Yet OPM said 100,000 to 150,000 people are affected and need to take action to continue their coverage. (Federal News Radio)

• Defense interest groups are holding a flame to Congress’ feet over the budget. Leaders of organizations like the National Defense Industrial Association and the Air Force Association have asked Congress to pass a 2017 budget before the end of the year. They want the 2017 budget at or higher than the Budget Control Act levels. (National Defense Industrial Association)

• Great questions loom after the election, but the Defense Department proceeds with ongoing programs in a big way. The Naval Air Systems Command awards Pratt and Whitney a $167 million contract for F-35 Lightning II fighter engines. The fixed price contract will fund long lead time components and materials to build a total of 110 engines — 44 go to foreign military buyers. The bulk of pieces used domestically will go to the Air Force. (Department of Defense)

• With fewer mosquitoes around, you may not have been hearing much about the Zika virus, but researchers have not stopped fighting it. Officials at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research have begun a clinical trial to test its Zika virus vaccine — 75 people were vaccinated overall. Program leaders expressed pride over how it only took the Army 10 months to get to this point. (Department of Defense)

• GSA says it’s fixing problems with its 18F organization. The General Services Administration is hiring a new chief operating officer to help run its digital services organization called 18F. David Shive, the former acting commissioner of the Technology Transformation Service, told Federal News Radio in an exclusive interview that the COO is one way he has been helping to right the 18F ship over the last four months. GSA’s IG issued a harsh report a few weeks ago detailing major management problems at 18F. Shive said the new COO will ensure the digital services office finds the right balance between creativity and following federal policies and procedures. (Federal News Radio)

• OMB has balanced transparency and privacy in its latest DATA Act guidance. The Office of Management and Budget released the guidance for agencies on how to comply with federal spending standards. It includes instructions for protecting personally identifiable information, and how to report financial assistance awards. (The White House)

• The Trump team will deal with at least one experienced federal union chief come January. Another election took place at the National Veterans Affairs Council convention in San Jose. It’s the largest council of the American Federation of Government Employees. It elected Alma Lee of Roanoke, Virginia to her ninth term as council president. Four other officers were re-elected by acclamation. In total, AFGE represents 230,000 doctors, nurses and benefits specialists at the Veterans Affairs Department nationwide.

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