Monday Morning Federal Newscast – January 17th

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.

• Some Republican members of Congress are considering a retroactive budget cut of $60 billion dollars. An aide tells National Journal, that is one of several options the GOP leadership, now in control of the House, is thinking about. The cuts would come from continuing resolution funding the government is operating under until March 4. Sufficient money has been appropriated but unspent. Eliminating it would make cuts in the second half of the fiscal year less drastic, the aide says.
• Florida Senator Bill Nelson wants to get NASA out of a bind that’s wasting hundreds of millions of dollars. A provision in the 2010 omnibus spending bill requires NASA to maintain contracts for the Constellation rocket program. Since the government is operating under a continuing resolution in fiscal 2011, the provision is still in force, according to NASA’s inspector general. Trouble is, the Obama administration wants to cancel Constellation. NextGov reports Nelson has written a bill to repeal the Constellation provision in the 2010 bill. Otherwise, NASA could end up spending $215 million dollars on a doomed program.
• The Navy is putting the breaks on spending for new servers, server upgrades and data centers. The move is part of its technology efficiency and consolidation initiative. Under a new directive, any spending for servers or data centers that hasn’t already been approved, will require a special waiver from the Navy’s deputy chief information officer. Navy has also asked senior commanders to create plans for reducing the number of data centers by 25 percent and increase server utilization by at least 40 percent. Navy hopes to have a final enterprise data center consolidation strategy by March.
• Personal details on about one million customers of the Pentagon Federal Credit Union are in the hands of hackers. Credit union officials say the cyber criminals made off with Social Security, credit and debit card numbers. They also copied names and addresses. PenFed serves members of the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Military.com reports PenFed is getting in contact with customers.
• The Chief Information Officer’s Council wants to know which agencies have the technical skills to implement the Office of Management and Budget’s 25-point plan to reform IT. The CIO Council and the Office of Personnel Management will launch an IT skills assessment survey tomorrow. OPM says it will use the information to help create a specialized career path for IT program managers. OMB wants to use it to close competency gaps in IT program management. The survey will run through February 25th.
• A new report about cybersecurity and business shows that a single cyber-event won’t do much damage, but governments still need to be ready to withstand a series of cyber attacks that could have an impact. ComputerWeekly reports this latest study comes from the British Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It says that a wide range of unwanted cyber events, both accidental and deliberate, could create localized problems. But, the study also says it is highly unlikely there will ever be a pure cyber war fought solely in cyberspace.
• The Department of Homeland Security has pulled the plug on a multi-billion dollar virtual fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. DHS says the Secure Border Initiative-Net, or SBInet, was too expensive and did not meet its goal of providing a single, integrated border security solution. DHS will replace the SBInet with a new strategy tailored to each region’s border terrain and population. The new border protection plan will use mobile surveillance systems, unmanned aircraft systems, thermal imaging devices, and tower-based video surveillance.
• Homeland Security will say goodbye to its first Senate-confirmed inspector general. Richard Skinner has announced his retirement. He started in the IG’s office as the deputy inspector general back in 2003, when DHS was created. He was confirmed as the inspector general in 2005. Skinner’s federal career spans 42 years. His last day on the the job will be March first.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission is under investigation. The SEC’s inspector general has launched a formal investigation into whether the agency was justified in leasing 900,000 square feet at D.C.’s Constitution Center. The Washington Business Journal reports the IG wants to know more about the August lease and the agency’s decision to move 740 employees and contractors from Alexandria to the District. The inspector general’s office declined to confirm or deny the investigation.
• Ever wonder how things get lost in the mail? Hundreds of pieces of mail fluttered onto interstates in eastern Missouri Sunday after the back door of a semi carrying mail for the U.S. Postal Service popped open. Mail was scattered along 70 miles of highway near St. Louis, according to Postal Inspector Dan Taylor. He said the tractor trailer was carrying mostly statements and bills bound for the West Coast. He added, no personal mail seemed to be lost. CNN reports the truck was operated by a contractor. Police and postal authorities spent hours along the highway picking up mail, presumably instead of watching football.

More news links

Pentagon Federal Credit Union Hacked (military.com)

Record $14 trillion-plus debt weighs on Congress

With police watching, lawmakers resume meetings

Federal government spends millions on hoop houses

House panel wants Homeland Security documents

New federal database is one contractors will want to avoid (WashingtonTechnology)

TSA Pays Off In Breast Exposure Suit (SmokingGun)

THIS AFTERNOON ON FEDERAL NEWS RADIO

Coming up today on The DorobekInsider:

** You’re celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. This afternoon, we’ll update you on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial — we’ll tell you when it will open and tell you what you can expect to see when it opens.

** And OMB has laid out a 25 point plan to improve information technology. We’ll have more on how you can implement some of those concepts…

Join Chris from 3 to 7 pm on 1500 AM or on your computer.

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