Tuesday federal headlines – June 23, 2015

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive and In Depth radio shows each day. Our headlines are updated twice per day — once in the morning and once in the afternoon — with the latest news affecting federal employees and contractors.

• The hack of employee databases of the Office of Personnel Management may be four times bigger than the agency first reported. CNN reports that federal investigators believe as many as 18 million people’s records were involved. Sources said the number could grow. The estimate was given by FBI director James Comey in a secret briefing to senators. Among the 18 million are people who applied to work for the government but ended up not working there. Whoever got into OPM systems also hacked contractor KeyPoint Systems, officials believe. Investigators found KeyPoint credentials were used to get into the federal systems. (CNN)
• “Why did you hack our personnel office?” That’s a question that U.S. officials say they’ll address with Chinese counterparts at high-level security talks this week. China has denied stealing federal employees’ data from the Office of Personnel Management’s networks. But Obama administration officials said they’re increasingly sure that China did it. A State Department official said they’ll address the issue “in pretty direct terms with the Chinese.” But the U.S. has stopped short of outright accusing China of breaching the data of at least 14 million federal employees and job applicants. (Federal News Radio )
• Coast Guard Vice Adm. Peter Neffenger will become the new leader of the Transportation Security Administration. The Senate confirmed Neffenger in a nearly unanimous vote yesterday. He won’t have much of a honeymoon period though. Auditors recently found security gaps at TSA checkpoints nationwide. They reported that they snuck mock explosives and weapons through screening areas in 67 out of 70 attempts. Neffenger also will have to address employees’ concerns. He replaces John Pistole, who had a turbulent relationship with the TSA officers’ union. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) cast the lone vote against Neffenger. He siad it’s “naive and dangerous” to think that one director can heal the agency. He said the Homeland Security Department “needs to admit that it has a crisis of bureaucratic complacency.” (Federal News Radio)
• The Supreme Court will decide whether the Veterans Affairs Department is breaking a law meant to help disabled veterans with small businesses get federal contracts. The justices agreed to hear an appeal from Kingdomware Technologies. It said it should have been considered to provide services for VA medical centers. The agency is supposed to use a bidding process if two or more disabled veteran- owned companies can offer service at a fair and reasonable price. But a federal appeals court ruled that the agency did not have to do so if it could otherwise award between 7 and 12 percent of all contracts to companies owned by disabled vets. (Federal News Radio )
• A bipartisan Senate bill would give the General Services Administration new ways to stop fraudulent use of federal credit cards. It would establish an Office of Federal Charge Card Analyics and Review at GSA. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) said his bill would enable GSA to continuously monitor credit card transactions and share anti-fraud best practices with other agencies. Co-sponsors are Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). (Sen. Tom Carper)
• The Army has reprimanded a two-star general for poor judgment and creating a perception of favoritism. The service said Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard steered a no-bid government contract to former classmates at West Point. At the time, Pittard was commander of Fort Bliss, Texas. The contract was worth nearly half-a-million dollars. It was an initial step toward a much larger prize: a $250 million energy project to make Fort Bliss self-sufficient. Pittard said he wanted to move quickly on the contract. There’s no evidence that he sought, or got, financial gain. An Army review board has yet to decide whether to let Pittard retire at his current rank or demote him. The Washington Post first reported on the investigation. ( Federal News Radio)
• Defense Secretary Ash Carter is overseeing a changing of the guard in his press shop. He has hired Maura Sullivan to be his assistant for public affairs. Sullivan holds a similar position at the Veterans Affairs Department now. She’s a former Marine Corps captain and Iraq War veteran. She will take over from Brent Colburn, who will step down next month. Last week, Carter announced that he had hired Bloomberg TV journalist Peter Cook to be his press secretary. (DoD)
• Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is getting blowback from his plan to put a woman on the $10 bill. Bloomberg reports the founder of Women on 20s said Lew snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Her group and others wanted a woman on the $20 bill to replace Andrew Jackson. Lew’s plan would push off Alexander Hamilton. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called that idea appalling. He said Hamilton, the first Treasury Secretary, was without doubt the best and more foresighted economic policy maker in U.S. history. The Treasury said it picked the $10 in order to get a woman onto currency in time to commemorate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage. (Bloomberg)

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