Wednesday federal headlines – December 9, 2015

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

• Defense Secretary Ash Carter is weighing in on the current omnibus spending bill negotiations going on in Congress right now. He says a continuing resolution is a “straight-jacket” for DoD and harms its ability to confront complex National Security challenges. He wants Congress to continue funding all of the government with the funding levels set in the budget agreement reached earlier this year. (DoD)

• Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) is not happy the U.S. Postal Service’s Board of Governors has lost another two of its nine Senate-confirmed members, leaving only one appointed official to do the work of managing USPS activity alongside the Postmaster General and her management team. There are currently five nominees pending before the Senate. In a statement, Carper blamed congressional inaction for allowing the current board to become ineffective by term limits. (Sen. Tom Carper)

• More than 200 striking federal contract workers seeking a $15 hourly wage and the right to form a union descended on Capitol Hill Tuesday for a sit-in rally in a Senate cafeteria and protest at Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) office. Workers from several federal agencies rallied in the Dirksen Senate Office Building cafeteria, ABC News reports. Faith leaders supporting the effort delivered a letter to the representative of the Compass Group, the British food services company contracted by the Senate, asking the company to allow workers a “seat at the table” for the ongoing contract negotiations for the workers. (ABC News)

• The Congressional Budget Office is reporting the federal budget deficit amounted to $200 billion over the first two months of the government’s 2016 fiscal year, this is a $22 billion increase from the same time last year. Federal spending on domestic and military programs rose 6 percent to about $616 billion during that time. CBO says the Justice Department expenditures increased by $8 billion and the Defense Department‘s military investments grew by about $2 billion during this period as well. (CBO)

• DoT wants to use big data and the Internet of Things to shape the future of transportation and commerce. DoT launched a smart cities challenge. The goal of the contest is let a city demonstrate how advanced data, technologies and applications can be used to reduce congestion, keep travelers safe, protect the environment, respond to climate change, and support economic vitality. Transportation will announce five finalists by March 2016 and pick the winning city later that year in June. (Transportation Department)

• Two Senate Appropriations Committee members are calling for a rollback of cuts to the Defense workforce’s per diem travel reimbursement.  Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) have called on appropriations chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and ranking member Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) to stop implementing a Defense Department’s policy that has cut travel reimbursement since November 2014. They are concerned that such cuts may affect mission accomplishment and hurt morale. (Federal News Radio)

• Former Pentagon officials are once again pointing to the size of the Defense Department’s bloated staff as a cause of its problems. Defense experts say the duplication of staffs throughout the defense secretary’s office, the Joint Staff and the combatant commands are causing diluted policy and planning. The three entities have almost 50,000 employees between them. Defense experts have previously said that DoD’s large staff creates budget inefficiency.  (Federal News Radio)

• The Labor Department earns the rank of most improved large agency in the Partnership for Public Service’s Best Places to Work rankings this year. The department’s score went up 4.4 points. Fifteen out of 16 of Labor’s sub-components also raised their scores this year. Deputy Labor Secretary Chris Lu said the listening sessions he and his colleagues held with their employees helped the department move from the 17th spot on the list in 2013, to the eighth rank in 2015. (Federal News Radio)

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