Thursday federal headlines – January 14, 2016

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is demanding answers from Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald after two senior officials accused of mismanagement and misconduct ...

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

  • Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is demanding answers from Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald after two senior officials accused of mismanagement and misconduct at the Phoenix VA Health Care System returned to work. McCain sent a letter to McDonald yesterday saying he was disturbed that the VA has allowed these cases to languish for more than a year and a half without resolution. McCain wants McDonald to tell him why decisions whether to dismiss these two senior executives hasn’t yet been made. He also wants to know the status of all officials on paid administrative leave awaiting the agency to make a decision about their future employment at VA. (Sen. John McCain)
  • A plan is now in place now to implement Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus’ directive to review the branch’s rating names. Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Mike Stevens will put together a working group to interview sailors to get their perspective and recommendations. The service is trying to determine if the rating names should be gender neutral. A report detailing proposed courses of action is due to the Secretary by April 1. (Navy)
  • The FBI is looking for a new chief information officer. A job posting on the FBI website said it’s looking for an applicant with detailed knowledge of the full scope and complexity of the FBI’s mission, including both Law Enforcement and Intelligence Community needs and requirements. Jerome Pender stepped down as CIO in August. Since then, FCW reports Brian Truchon has been acting CIO. (FCW)
  • IBM head of federal Anne Altman is retiring after nearly 30 years with the company. Altman will step down as the general manager for U.S. Federal and Government Industries on Jan. 31. IBM says Sam Gordy, of Leidos will replace Altman. He will officially start Jan. 18. Altman is considered by many to be a transformative leader and considerable force in the federal community. (Federal News Radio)
  • The chairman of the House Budget Committee said he’s working on legislation that would reform the Congressional Budget Act of 19-74. Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) said he wants to draft a reform by 2017 for the new president to sign. Price said current legislation means agencies design their budgets around a pre-determined outcome and not their missions. The 1974 legislation is 42 years old. It created the Congressional Budget Office and budget committees in both the House and Senate. (Federal News Radio)
  • House Armed Services Committee chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) is pushing back against President Barack Obama’s suggestion of military funding restraint made in his final State of the Union address. During a speech at the National Press Club, Thornberry argued for more funding and flexibility for Department of Defense purchases to preserve America’s military superiority. (Federal News Radio)
  • The Air Force says it’s taking a patch-and-mend approach to its facilities. As Federal News Radio’s Jared Serbu reports, the service hopes the 2016 budget will keep its infrastructure from deteriorating any more than it already has.
  • As of this year, the Air Force has a $23 billion maintenance backlog. The new budget won’t fix that, but leaders hope it will keep the problem from getting any worse. Meanwhile, officials are concerned about the amount of funding they’re expending on emergency repairs to buildings and other physical infrastructure instead of preventative maintenance. Given the military’s aging infrastructure, they worry they’re nearing the point at which they won’t be able to keep up with even emergency repairs. (Federal News Radio)
  • In a detailed memo, acting OPM director Beth Colbert reminds agency heads, political and non-career senior executives can’t simply move into permanent, civil service positions. She says OPM itself will review each application, as it has since the 1970s. The idea is to keep politics out of election year, civil service appointments. Cobert also says non-career execs won’t be eligible for bonuses from June to inauguration day 2017. (CHCOC)
  • The Agriculture Department wants to become a cloud broker. USDA set up a cloud strategy and policy office about four months ago, and now is deciding how to expand its capabilities. A cloud broker would work with USDA bureau or other agency customers to help move them to a commercial or government cloud provider. USDA recently launched an infrastructure-as-a-service offering to go with its existing platform and software-as-a-service capabilities. USDA would charge agencies a fee for using the cloud broker services.

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