Monday federal headlines – October 6, 2014

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.

• Agencies have new guidelines for managing permanent and temporary email records. Metrics from the Office of Management and Budget and the National Archives and Records Administration say they have until the end of 2016 to start managing email records in an electronically accessible format. (Federal News Radio)
• Fewer federal employees filed for retirement in September than the Office of Personnel Management expected. OPM received a little more than 6,300 claims last month, 1,000 fewer than it predicted. The backlog of retirement claims is down slightly at 12,767 claims. (Federal News Radio)
• The Obama Administration scrambled to allay fears about a possible Ebola outbreak in the United States. A gaggle of top officials held a White House briefing to give reassurance. The group included the President, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Homeland Security Adviser Lisa Monaco. Also on hand was the National Institutes of Health’s top infectious disease official, Anthony Fauci. He acknowledged the Dallas hospital treating the Liberian man with Ebola made mistakes. Monaco said the U.S. won’t ban flights from West Africa. She also said dozens of people have been denied boarding on flights originating there. (Associated Press)
• The Defense Department is raising the ceiling on the number of troops it could deploy to Africa in the Ebola fight. Now officials say as many as 4,000 troops could go. A spokesman said 205 service members are in Liberia now, and 26 service members are in Senegal. At least 3,000 troops will be in Africa before the end of November. Troops have established two test labs staffed by the Naval Medical Research Center. Army Gen. David Rodriguez, who heads Africa Command, promised to do whatever the military can do to train and equip troops, and protect them from the deadly Ebola virus. (DoD)
• What does the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Secret Service have in common? Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) said they both required an independent review. As a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, she said the problems run deep within the agency. The Hill reports Ayotte said the agency has problems with its leadership, culture, command structure and training. She also wanted the Senate committee to consider if the Secret Service belongs under the umbrella of the Homeland Security Department. (The Hill)
• Hewlett-Packard Company is set to split itself into two separate, publicly traded companies. HP is the sixth largest federal IT contractor on the Washington Technology list of 100. The Wall Street Journal reports one of the resulting companies will make and market PCs and printers. The other will focus on enterprise hardware, software and services. That piece could ultimately merge with storage maker EMC. Last year, HP did about $4 billion in business with the federal government. Total sales at the company have declined. Revenue fell from $127 billion in 2011 to $112 billion in 2013. (The Wall Street Journal)
• The White House is giving the Homeland Security Department the authority to scan the networks of other civilian agencies, looking for cybersecurity threats. It’s also forcing agencies to give DHS permission to do so. The new steps are laid out in a blog post by Beth Cobert, OMB’s deputy director for management. She said the new process will enable faster and more comprehensive responses to cyber threats. She and OMB director Shaun Donovan worry agency officials could rescind the permission they give Homeland Security to probe their networks. They said only cybersecurity legislation can make DHS authority permanent. (Federal News Radio)
• The Navy plans to add self-guided unmanned patrol boats to its fleet. The service presented the new technology on the James River in Virginia. Defense officials said the boats can leave warships they’re protecting and swarm to attack potential threats. The Navy hopes one day the boats could help stop attacks like the bombing of the USS Cole. Arlington-based Office of Naval Research demonstrated the new technology and called it a success. Officials said the boats could join the Navy’s fleet within a year. (Associate Press)

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