Federal Newscast

In today's Federal Newscast, the Defense Department is putting off the elimination of a major benefit for post 9/11 veterans. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, House Homeland Security Committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) wants the Inspector General to find out if and when leadership at Customs and Border Protection knew about a secret Facebook group with current and former Border Patrol agents. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, the Labor Department is looking to reward four contractors who make an effort to hire qualified disabled people. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, the Federal Trade Commission says complaints about scammers pretending to be from the government reached the highest levels on record this spring. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, the Veterans Affairs Department is changing its rules regarding religious materials at its facilities. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, there's been another setback in negotiations between Social Security Administration management and its cadre of administrative law judges. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, the Office of Management and Budget releases its Circular A-11 update, tasking agencies with showing their progress in complying with new laws and management requirements. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, the Office of Management and Budget has given agencies a timeline to switch from paper records, to electronic records. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, the Senate passes its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a 3.1% pay raise for active duty military. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, the new local union at the Agriculture Department's Economic Research Service estimate four out of five employees will decline to relocate out of the national capital region. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, a new report from a Senate committee shows at least eight cabinet agencies are failing to comply with federal cybersecurity standards. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, legislation in both the House and Senate aims to guarantee every senior a Social Security cost of living adjustment with an annual floor of no less than 3%. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

The Trump Administration's revised national reserach and development plan for artificial intelligence calls for more collaboration between government, academia, non-profits and the private sector. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson says response times to incoming calls at the IRS remains the biggest challenge the agency has in dealing with the public. In her final report to Congress before retiring, Olson said the IRS is successful in processing most returns, but for those who need more help, the experience is challenging. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Pr...

The Social Security Advisory Board has joined the Government Accounability Office in calling SSA's to share its death records to curb improper payments. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, the Trump administration says the idea will be too costly and increase the risk of fraud, waste, and improper payments. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week directing federal agencies to cut at least one-third of all federal advisory committees. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, two bills to protect federal employees' health insurance benefits during future government shutdowns advanced to the full House for a vote. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, a provision in the annual Defense bill the Senate Armed Services Committee released this week would order a top-to-bottom review of the contractor, civilian and military IT positions in each military service and DoD agency. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, according to new numbers from market research company Forrester, the federal government as a whole was ranked lower than airlines, car rental services, and health care providers. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, Rep. Michael McCaul's (R-TX) bill, the DHS Cyber Incident Response Teams Act, would create groups of cyber first responders in the event of a cyber attack on the government or private sector. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, funding to support the Interior Department's plans to reorganize its bureaus and management functions into 12 unified regions across the country is absent from the House 20-20 appropriations bill. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, the NRC's inspector general finds a third of NRC's inspectors will be eligible to retire in 2020. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, an arbitrator finds the Veterans Affairs Department should take down a public record of employee firings and other punishments from its website. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In today's Federal Newscast, Senate and House Veterans Affairs committee leaders are demanding answers from the VA about claims involving secret wait lists for veterans seeking care. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .