Friday federal headlines – March 11, 2016

The Defense Department authorizes the military to start integrating women for all occupations and specialties right away.

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

  • The Defense Department authorizes the military to start integrating women for all occupations and specialties right away. Secretary Ash Carter approves the implementation plans prepared by the military service chiefs. Carter emphasized the importance of handling the change in the right way to maintain combat effectiveness. (Defense Department)
  • Commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command Adm. Bill Gortney defends the use of the military surveillance blimps located at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor, or JLENS, program faced some scrutiny after one of the aerostats broke free and ended up in Pennsylvania. Still, Gortney told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the program shows great promise in defending the National Capital Region. (Armed Services)
  • A federal IT contractor wants a D.C. Circuit panel to abolish the Small Business Administration’s law which gives preference to minority or disadvantaged business owners seeking government contracts. Law 360 reports Texas-based contractor Rothe Development Inc. claims the section 8(a) program creates an unconstitutional racial determination without proof any discrimination exists. This isn’t the first time the company has gone after the SBA for this program, it filed similar complaints in 2012 and 2014. (Justice Department)
  • The Senate Armed Services Committee approves the nomination of Eric Fanning for Secretary of the Army. The committee had been holding off until it received redacted emails about him. Fanning’s nomination will now go to the full Senate. That vote not yet scheduled. If confirmed Fanning would be the first openly gay secretary of a military service.
  • Army Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. John Murray said the Army is taking a hard look at the 63 recommendations made by the Future of the Army Commission. The commission looked at how the should organize and support itself with shrinking resources. Murray says a three-member team is reviewing the recommendations. Among the advice: adding a 10th Armored Brigade Combat Team in Europe. And figuring whether the active duty or reserve Army gets to keep the fleet of Apache helicopters. (Federal News Radio)
  • The Veterans Affairs Department said it’s having second thoughts over its proposal to change how it pays and disciplines some 400 members of its Senior Executive Service. VA Secretary Bob McDonald said he’s reconsidering whether senior executives in the Veterans Benefits Administration should get reclassified under Title 38. The House will consider an alternative bill that would change how the VA pays and recruits its medical center directors. (Federal News Radio)
  • First it was data centers. Then procurement innovations, and now OMB wants to get software purchasing under better control. Federal CIO Tony Scott issued a third policy in the last seven days. This one is trying to improve oversight and sharing of open source software code.  The draft guidance would require new software developed specifically for or by the government to be made available for sharing and reuse.  It also creates a pilot for agencies to publicly release at least 20 percent of all new open source code. (Federal News Radio)

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