Monday federal headlines – April 18, 2016

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

• The General Services Administration is trying to connect to federal agencies with the public to help find new ideas to solve problems. It launched the website CitizenScience.gov, which contains a project catalog, a toolkit and ways to get help crowdsourcing for research and finding volunteers. GSA is running the online hub in conjunction with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. (GSA)

• The Office of Personnel Management wants to clean up its job classification standards for custodial work. OPM is putting together a study group to look at how these standards have changed since the classification was issued in 1968. The study group will be made up of subject matter experts with experience hiring custodians as well as managers who oversee custodial work. (CHCOC)

• Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the amount of counterfeit goods being shipped to the country has increased. In the agencies’ annual report, they reported making just under 29,000 seizures in fiscal year 2015, a nearly 25 percent increase. If the items would have been real, they would have had a value of $1.35 billion. (CBP)

• Renata Hesse has been named to head the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. She succeeds Bill Baer, who recently became acting associate attorney general. Hesse previously served as principal deputy assistant attorney general. She was also senior counsel to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. (Justice Department)

• The Health and Human Services inspector general has given the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services some credit for getting on with anti-fraud recommendations from two years ago. But now the IG has issued what it calls a compendium of ideas still to be carried out. The list includes everything from stopping benefits for prisoners to  using anti-fraud software more effectively. Also, better planning and oversight of procurement. (HHS OIG)

• A bill going after $4 billion in waste made it through the first hurdle in Congress. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved the Making Electronic Government Accountable By Yielding Tangible Efficiencies or MEGABYTE Act of 2016. The bill would require CIOs to develop a software licensing policy that tracks usage and spending across their agency. CIOs also would submit a report to OMB on how they are saving money by better software management. The bill now heads to the full House for consideration. (House Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

• The Defense Department told Congress it has more real estate than it needs. A new report said DoD estimates it’s maintaining 22 percent more military base infrastructure than it can actually use. Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work urged Congress to allow DoD another round of base realignment and closure in a letter attached to the report. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman  of the House Armed Services Committee, discounted the report’s conclusions because it assumes military will remain the same size in 2019 when the proposed BRAC process would begin. (Federal News Radio)

• The IRS’ plan to move more accounts online and cut more in-person services has the National Taxpayer Advocate and Congress worried. The agency is testing a pilot version of an online account now with senior IRS management. The plan to cancel more in-person or over-the-phone services is part of the agency’s Future State Plan. It describes how IRS wants to operate in the next five years and beyond. (Federal News Radio)

• The Defense Department says it will begin phasing in over-the-air mobile derived credentials this summer. Officials said users are enthusiastic. The program will begin with Apple products and expand to Android and Windows devices. The department is working with the armed services to schedule the program. (Federal News Radio)

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