House, Senate tussle over veterans hiring preference

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

• The House and Senate are at odds over whether to change laws on veterans hiring preference. The Senate passed a provision in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act that would end the revolving door military retirees have to some civilian jobs at the Defense Department. But the House passed a ban on DoD using any funds to change veterans preference practices. The House included it in the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act.

• The Air Force wants to know how quantum computing can help its researchers answer complex questions. A broad agency announcement on Friday called for white papers, describing how the government could provide a test-bed for contractors to develop and test a quantum computing system. This comes after the Air Force announced it would use $40 million to fund research for quantum computing last year. Solicitations are due Sept. 30. (Fed Biz Opps)

• Lawmakers criticized agency oversight of firearms and munitions. Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee called lack of inventories by the Homeland Security Department, the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Prisons deplorable. The Bureau of Prisons will not have a new inventory system in place until winter of 2017. DHS and BLM have taken steps to improve, but still are struggling track all their guns. (Federal News Radio)

• The Veterans Health Administration workforce would shrink if Congress followed suggestions from the Veterans Affairs Department’s Commission on Care. In its final report, the commission recommended a reduction in force for VHA’s central office to streamline it. The commission also recommended creating a new personnel system for VHA, and it called for VHA to have its own chief information officer. (Federal News Radio)

• A major funding bill is heading to the Senate. It would raise pay for some feds, but would restrict others. The 2017 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act would block bonuses and awards for IRS employees and most members of the Senior Executive Service. The Obama administration said it would likely veto the bill because of pay restrictions on White House Staff. (GovTrack)

• The Department of Health and Human Services has a new lead technology executive. HHS turned to a familiar face for its new chief information officer. Acting HHS Deputy Secretary Mary Wakefield said Beth Anne Killoran has been promoted from acting CIO to permanent CIO. Killoran has been HHS’s acting CIO since December. She came to HHS in October 2014 from the Homeland Security Department. As full-time CIO, one of Killoran’s top priorities is cybersecurity. HHS has four specific cyber initiatives focused on educating and improving its workforce. (Federal News Radio)

• The Transportation Security Administration wants to install automated screening lanes at airports this fall. TSA will work with American Airlines to test the special CT scanner lanes at a checkpoints in Phoenix, Miami, Chicago and other cities. The agency said it will reduce security screening time by 30 percent This comes as TSA takes flack for crippling bottlenecks nationwide at airports earlier this year. (TSA)

• The Broadcasting Board of Governors hired an expert to look after an unrestricted internet. Dr.  Nnake Nweke moves over from the Federal Communications Commission to become the director of the BBG’s new Office of Internet Freedom. It’s an interagency effort to counter overseas attempts at online censorship. Nweke is an electrical engineer and lawyer who’s been an FCC branch chief. Earlier, he was a research engineer at the National Security Agency. He starts his BBG post July 25.

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