Wednesday federal headlines – March 2, 2016

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

• Transportation Security Administration chief Peter Neffenger told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee the agency is moving in the right direction. A DHS Inspector General report showed poor performance in security screening audits. Neffenger said the agency has improved its screening procedures. (Senate Appropriations Committee)

• The Veterans Affairs Department is taking disciplinary action against three Board of Veterans’ Appeals attorneys and two Board Veterans Law Judges. This is after an Office of Inspector General investigation revealed a pattern of inappropriate emails found to be racist and sexist in tone. VA has proposed disciplinary action against the attorneys. Any punishments against the Board judges have been referred to the Merit Systems Protection Board. (Veterans Affairs)

• The Agriculture Department repealed its country-of-origin labeling rule for beef and pork. It’s proposing a new rule in response to the World Trade Organization. The WTO deemed the old rule discriminatory against Canadian and Mexican producers. (Federal Register)

• An Army captain suing the Defense Department seeks permission to wear a turban and keep his long hair and beard to adhere to his Sikh faith. Law 360 reports Capt. Simratpal Singh is asking a D.C. federal court to bar the Army from requiring soldiers to undergo rigorous helmet and face mask testing. Singh said they limit his freedom of speech and right to practice his religion. (Law 360)

• The Office of Management and Budget is trying once again to get a handle of federal data centers. OMB released a draft policy memo yesterday for public comment. In the draft proposal, OMB outlined its ideas to close at least 60 percent of all data centers by the end of fiscal 2018. It also highlighted new metrics to measure agency progress, a new definition for tiered and non-tiered data centers, and OMB wants GSA to set up a data center shared services marketplace. Comments on the proposed policy are due on or about April 1.

• The House Oversight and Government Reform committee approved a bill to get a handle on so-called official time. It would require the Office of Management and Budget to consolidate yearly reports governmentwide on how many paid hours employees spend on union business. The latest report covers fiscal 2012, when official time amounted to 3.4 million hours and cost $157 million. (Federal News Radio)

• Congress is worried the FBI headquarters project could be in danger of repeating some of the same mistakes from past federal building projects. Some lawmakers are looking for more details on the project’s funding. President Obama requested $1.4 billion for the project in his 2017 budget proposal. But the General Services Administration said it will still use part of the proceeds it earns from selling the current FBI building. Congress is worried that the building could be worth less than GSA originally predicted. (Federal News Radio)

• House members ask the Armed Services Committee to fold the Defending America’s Small Contractors bill into the 2017 defense authorization bill. They said the contractors bill would have a greater chance of passage if it is part of the NDAA. The NDAA has been passed 55 years in a row. The bill would help small businesses compete for Defense Department contracts, said House Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot (R-Ohio). The language for the NDAA will be released in April. (Federal News Radio)

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