Wednesday federal headlines – April 13, 2016

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

• The Senate has passed bipartisan legislation to help federal agencies do a better job detecting and preventing fraud. The Fraud Reduction and Data Analytics bill requires the Office of Management and Budget to guide agencies in establishing and implementing controls to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud.  It also creates a working group to improve the sharing of information on best practices, data analytics and techniques among agencies. (Congress)

• The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission are emphasizing their commitment to preserving competition in the Defense Industry. Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer, from DoJ’s Antitrust Division, said the agencies are watching possible mergers and acquisitions that might result in less competition. They issue a joint statement to reassure DoD buyers and warn industry. (Justice Department)

• The Dayton VA Medical Center in Ohio is selected as the storage site for the Veterans Affairs Archives. VA and its predecessors have records and artifacts stretching back to pre-Revolutionary War days. They’re currently scattered in 150 facilities under conditions that don’t meet federal curation standards. (Veterans Affairs)

• A pair of senators want to speed up the process of getting laser and sonic weapons into the military’s hands. The bill from Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) would authorize the Secretary of Defense to use rapid acquisition authorities for directed energy weapon systems development and fielding. (Sen. Jim Inhofe)

• Quantity or quality? Agency technology managers sometimes make the wrong choice. When it comes to software code, contractors and agency staff alike are too often judged on how many lines they crank out in a day. John Murphy, a DevOps lead at the National Geospatial Intelligence agency, says freedom from bugs and security should also count. Speaking at the GITEC 2016 conference, Murphy said it’s okay to let people slow down, concentrate on quality, and avoid rework later.

• The first quarter update on Performance.gov shows USAJobs.gov processed 22 million applications last year. But agency hiring managers said overall they’re unsatisfied with the quality of applicants they’re getting from USAJobs. Just 61 percent of agency hiring managers said they’re satisfied with applicant quality. Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Beth Cobert said agencies should reach out and target specific groups of talent. (Federal News Radio)

• The Internal Revenue Service said it needs more help if it’s to protect taxpayer information from cyber threats. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said Congress should reinstate a special hiring authority that would allow his agency to hire IT professionals faster than they can be recruited away by industry. But federal watchdogs said the agency should be doing more to address recommendations it’s already been given. This includes adding another layer of authentication when accessing taxpayer data, and setting more difficult passwords that grant access to taxpayer accounts. (Federal News Radio)

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