Monday’s federal headlines – October 19, 2015

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive and In Depth radio shows.

• The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General has concluded an investigation into an unnamed DOJ attorney who missed work for five months while still collecting a paycheck. No charges will be filed against the attorney. He or she has resigned and will repay an undisclosed amount of money back to the department. (Justice Department OIG)

•  The Homeland Security Department’s $1 billion cybersecurity contract is under bid protest. Northrop Grumman filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Office on Oct. 5 over DHS’s decision to award Raytheon the cybersecurity services contract.
  GAO said Northrop is arguing that DHS’s evaluation and decision were mistaken. GAO is limited to what it can say about the procurement because it was a classified acquisition.
  GAO has until Jan. 13 to decide the case. The Washington Business Journal first reported the bid protest. (GAO)

• The Postal Service wants to increase prices for the first time since 2013. The plan would bump the priority mail express price up 15.6 percent. It would not go into effect until Jan. 17, and would not apply to regular first-class mail. The increase must first be approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission. (GovExec)

• The General Services Administration is releasing its next-generation telecommunications solicitation. The Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions RFP could be worth $50 billion over 15 years. GSA is asking vendors to provide at four mandatory services, including voice and managed network services. EIS will replace the current Networx contract, which expires in 2020. But GSA expects agencies to begin transitioning to the new contract in 2017. Vendors have until Jan. 15 to submit bids. (Federal News Radio)

• A new study calls on the Defense Logistics Agency to better utilize performance based logistics contracts. The study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies says DLA should develop a coordinated approach with the military services to sustain weapons systems. DLA does very little performance-based logistics compared to the military services. The study said that could be because it does not have the proper authorizations from Congress. (Federal News Radio)

• Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey has resigned. VA Secretary Bob McDonald said he accepted her resignation Friday morning. She’s been the department’s benefits director since 2011. Hickey updated the Veterans Benefits Administration’s claims processing system during her tenure. A recent inspector general report linked her to a case where two senior officials misused their positions to get more than $400,000 in relocation expenses they didn’t need. (Federal News Radio)

• Newsmax is reporting the Secret Service will start giving agent protection to presidential candidate Ben Carson and Donald Trump. They also will be heavily upgrading candidate Hillary Clinton’s detail as well. The decision came after a significant spike in death threats toward Carson. (Newsmax)

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