Friday Morning Federal Newsstand

Written by Ruben Gomez and Tom Temin Edited by Suzanne Kubota This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED: Thousands of federal workers on their way to b...

Written by Ruben Gomez and Tom Temin
Edited by Suzanne Kubota

This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED:

Thousands of federal workers on their way to bigger pensions. Federal Times reports that the House has unanimously approved a so-called FERS sick leave provision that would let workers under the Federal Employees Retirement System credit unused sick leave toward their annuities. The measure was included in the Disabled Military Retiree Relief Act of 2009. It now moves to the Senate for consideration.

Federal workers with post-college kids returning to the nest may get help. A new bill in Congress would raise the cutoff date for dependents health care coverage from 22 to 25 years old, reports GovExec. No word on whether the jobless lunks would help their parents pay the premiums.

The House passes its version of a $550-Billion dollar defense spending bill for next year. The measure also authorizes $130-Billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And it includes a 3.4 percent pay raise for service members. That’s half a percentage point higher than what President Obama requested in his February budget proposal.

The House passed a $44 billion-dollar spending bill for Homeland Security. The 7 percent budget increase would go towards border patrol agents and help with anti-piracy efforts off the coast of Somalia. But the bill went forward without an amendment to end delays in requiring federal contractors to participate in the E-verify program. That uses the Social Security Administration database to root out people working in the U.S. illegally.

A new Web site is on the way for immigrants to check on the status of citizenship applications and work permits. U-S Citizinship and Immigration Services says the site will help applicants follow up via e-mail, online, or text message. They’ll no longer have to wait in line or on the phone. They say the new site will launch within 90 days.

It’s a win for Congressional supporters of the F-22 fighter jet. The Senate Armed Services Committee has added $1.75 billion dollars to the 2010 defense budget to buy seven more planes, even though the Pentagon doesn’t want them. Last week, the House added money to its version of the defense bill. The White House has threatened a veto, the first time since taking office in January.

The Internet’s key oversight body has chosen a former US cybersecurity chief as its next head. Rod Beckstrom will take the helm of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. Beckstrom served as the first director of Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity Center. He resigned in march amid persistent turf battles. ICANN is the an international organization with oversight of the monikers behind every Web site and e-mail address. Beckstrom starts his new job next Wednesday.

Other Stories We’re Following

Boeing: Urgent GPS satellite launches on schedule (ComputerWorld)

Congressman: Let postal workers do Census (UPI)

US swine flu cases may have hit 1 million

NTSB probes 2 incidents involving Airbus A330s

Obama brings taste of Hawaii to White House

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