Tuesday federal headlines – March 1, 2016

The House is sending legislation to the President's desk which would make it easier for federal agencies to share information about job candidates.

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

  • The House is sending legislation to the President’s desk that would make it easier for federal agencies to share information about job candidates. The 2015 Competitive Services Act will allow agencies to work together on competitive services certificates when trying to fill a job in the same occupational series at a similar grade level. (GovTrack)
  • The Veterans Affairs Department appointed a new Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Health. Dr. Richard Stone will serve as second in command to VA’s Under Secretary for Health. Stone served as a commander of military medical units at all levels of command. He also served as Deputy Surgeon General and Deputy Commanding General of Support to the Army Surgeon General. (Veterans Affairs)
  • NASA awarded Lockheed Martin a $20 million preliminary design contract for Quiet Supersonic Technology. This is the first in a series of “X-planes” in NASA’s New Aviation Horizons initiative introduced in the agency’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said the hope is to achieve a quieter supersonic jet with an aim toward passenger flight. (NASA)
  • Two lawmakers are leading an effort to establish an independent National Commission on Security and Technology Challenges. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) each introduced legislation yesterday to create this 16-person commission. The digital security commission will include technology leaders, law enforcement experts, the intelligence community, privacy and civil liberties advocates and others to develop recommendations for Congress in a year. The recommendations will focus on maintaining privacy and digital security while also finding ways to keep criminals and terrorists from exploiting these technologies. (Sen. Mark Warner)
  • The House passed legislation to help presidential candidates navigate the transition process. The Edward Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions Improvements Act now returns to the Senate for final passage before being sent to the President. It would ensure a senior-level, White House-led interagency transition council is in place at least 6 months before Election Day, and that a working-level interagency group will develop an integrated strategy for transitions. (Federal News Radio)
  • The Office of Special Counsel joined a growing list of critics of the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General. OSC said reports from the VA IG are incomplete because the inspector general didn’t address the issues that whistleblowers brought up about wait time problems at two VA medical centers. OSC Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner wrote to President Barack Obama about the problems she noticed. She said the IG didn’t investigate the root causes of the wait time issues and how they impacted veterans. (Federal News Radio)
  • Defense Secretary Ash Carter defended his Force of the Future personnel reforms during a press conference at the Pentagon. Carter’s comments came one week after Senate lawmakers called into question the need for reforms to retain and recruit Defense Department and military employees. Carter said DoD isn’t trying to be futuristic or progressive, it’s just trying to attract the very best workers. Last week, the Senate Armed Services Committee held off on voting the Force of the Future architect into the role of undersecretary of personnel and readiness. (Federal News Radio)

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