Thursday federal headlines – December 17, 2015

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive.

• The Senate approves a bill to curb waste, fraud and abuse in federal agency travel and purchase cards spending. The Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act of 2015 helps prevent charge card misuse and abuse by requiring the Government Services Administration to continuously examine charge card purchases made across the federal government. The legislation would also facilitate improved anti-fraud information sharing among federal agencies that use purchase and travel cards, in addition to requiring those agencies to share best-practices for detecting and preventing waste, fraud and abuse. It now heads to the House for consideration. (GovTrack)

• The Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services has appointed Noble Wray to lead its newly created Policing Practices and Accountability Initiative. The initiative hopes to assist the law enforcement field in addressing current and future challenges and to “create a National Policing Practices and Accountability Division.” Wray formerly served as police chief in Madison, Wisconsin before retiring. The new initiative follows a recommendation of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. (Justice Department)

• The Army wants quallified majors and lieutenant colonels to apply for an opportunity to spend a year working for agencies such as the CIA, FBI, State Department, NSA, FAA and FEMA. The Army Command and General Staff College Interagency Fellowship Program is a career broadening, educational opportunity for field grade officers with 28 interagency partners. The deadline to apply for the next class is Dec. 30. Successful applicants should expect to start their fellowship in mid-August and serve for about 11 months. All fellowships take place in the Washington, D.C., area. (Army)

• The Defense Media Activity issues a guide for federal managers and others regarding the cybersecurity threat to government social media accounts. FEDweek reports it suggests minimizing the number of people who have access to the account since each person “is a possible avenue for phishing or other compromise.” The guide provides methods for strengthening passwords as well. (FedWeek)

• The spending package recently agreed upon by congressional leaders will keep federal civilian employees and military service members on track to receive the 1.3 percent pay raise recommended by President Barack Obama earlier this year. The $1.1 trillion omnibus bill, which funds federal agencies through Sept. 30, 2016, allows for the 1 percent base pay raise for civilian employees as well as the 0.3 percent bump to their locality pay. President Obama will still need to  issue one final order this month to make the base pay raise official. (Federal News Radio)

• Three federal ethics agencies haven’t been authorized by Congress for the past eight years. The Office of Special Counsel, Merit Systems Protection Board and Office of Government Ethics have relief on annual appropriations instead since 2007. No one is sure why Congress hasn’t reauthorized them. The OSC and MSPB are asking Congress for a five year reauthorization through 2020. The Office of Government Ethics is looking for a seven year authorization to the year 2022 past a busy presidential election season. (Federal News Radio)

• National Security Agency Director Adm. Mike Rogers said he will release details on the restructure of the agency in January. Rogers has spent the last ten months soliciting feedback from employees on how the NSA should be reorganized for the future. Rogers said the reorganization will include more collaboration with industry, more workforce development, an emphasis on innovation and a structure that best deals with global threats. (Federal News Radio)

• Congress is pumping up money for IT innovations and oversight in the 2016 spending bill. The Office of Management and Budget will receive about $30 million for IT innovations and oversight. Last year, the ITOR fund received about $20 million. The IT oversight and reform fund is used for initiatives like digital services and PortfolioStat sessions. The General  Services Administration would recieve more than $55 million for the Federal Citizen Services Fund. That’s an increase of $2 million over 2015.

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