Friday Morning Federal Newscast

Written by Ruben Gomez and Tom Temin Edited by Andrew Mitchell This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED: A one-stop shop for information on contractor...

Written by Ruben Gomez and Tom Temin
Edited by Andrew Mitchell

This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED:

A one-stop shop for information on contractor past-performance: GSA is proposing to combine numerous separate systems to help agencies make better procurement decisions. The new program would also house information on some federal grant recipients. Observers say the centralized system is needed because agencies just aren’t using the existing setup. Comments on the proposal are due Oct. 5.

The stimulus bill could provide a model for how your agency does business from now on. Vice-President Joe Biden is calling on agencies to reuse business practices from the Recovery Act in their daily operations. Biden says the end result could be better efficiency as well as savings.

The Navy is merging the final frontier with… cyberspace. It has announced plans to set up one command to oversee its cyber, information and space operations. Right now those components are managed separately. The new command goes live next year.

The Federal Housing Administration is feeling the effects of rising losses on the mortgages it backs. The Wall Street Journal reports the FHA’s reserves are in danger of falling below levels demanded by Congress. So officials there are starting to wonder if their agency will need a bailout. The agency might also ask homeowners to chip in more to FHA’s insurance fund, or it might boost the insurance premiums it charges borrowers.

The Veterans Affairs Department is getting ready to take on an special job this fall: protecting federal workers against the H1-N1 virus. Once the vaccines are available, the VA is preparing to deliver shots to as many as 180,000 employees across the government. The department already delivers vaccines to 2.5 million veterans each flu season. So VA officials say they are ready to help out with government workers.

Federal workers are staying around the office more. Agency spending on travel fell in 2008 by a billion dollars from the year before. Besides traveling less, the government is getting cheaper deals on hotels and airlines. The Defense Department’s employees spent the most on travel in 2008 – $9.1 billion on airfare, hotels, rental cars and meals, according to government data. Total federal travel spending? $14.1 billion.

Ever wonder who all those people are who traipse to the White House day in and day out? You’ll soon find out. The Obama administration will change long standing White House policy by releasing the names of thousands of visitors whose names have been kept secret by presidents. USA Today reports the Obama administration is responding to four lawsuits filed by a watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Until now the Obama White House followed the Bush policy of keeping visitor logs secret. Critics say they want to know who is attempting to influence the president.

More news links:

Experts disagree on effect of E-Verify’s expiration (fcw.com)

USPTO eyes unified communication system (fcw.com)

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