NSA Inspector General on leave for whistleblower retaliation

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

In today’s Top Federal Headlines, reports indicate NSA watchdog George Ellard has been given a proposed termination notice for retaliating against a whistleblower from the agency.

• Inspector General for the National Security Agency George Ellard has reportedly been given a notice of proposed termination and is on administrative leave, for retaliating against a whistleblower. The Project on Government Oversight said the notice was issued after an external review panel made up of other inspectors general, verified the retaliation claim. Ellard was an outspoken critic of Edward Snowden. He’s been NSA IG since 2007. (Project on Government Oversight)

• A Border Patrol Agent from the San Diego Sector in California has been arrested. The FBI charges Noe Lopez with trying to sell cocaine and methamphetamine, along with accepting bribes, after he performed transactions with a government source. Lopez is a 10-year veteran of Border Patrol, he’s on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the case. (WTOP)

• The Justice Department is investigating a local district attorney and sheriff for constitutional violations. Civil Rights Division head Vanita Gupta is looking into the district attorney and sheriff in Orange County, California. At issue is whether they promise jailhouse informants leniency if the informants get incriminating statements from other inmates under indictment. That may violate the inmates’ 6th and 14th Amendment rights. The DA, Tony Rackauckas, requested the probe and is providing documents. (Department of Justice)

• The Defense Department will recommend to President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team that the new president consider more flexibility in reserve training. DoD is considering new models for reserve training that will make it easier for soldiers to keep a full-time job. Those options may include two weeks on duty and two weeks off duty or working 15 hour weeks in the reserves. (Federal News Radio)

• Thirty-one lawmakers are demanding information on a study claiming the Defense Department can save $125 billion over five years. Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent a letter to DoD requesting documents and communications regarding the study and possible attempts by the Pentagon to bury it. (House Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

• Federal bid protests were on the upswing in 2016. The Government Accountability Office handled 6 percent more cases than the year before, and it ruled against federal agencies in many more cases than in 2015. The government’s independent arbiter for bid protests sided against agencies and with bid protesters in almost 23 percent of the cases it decided for the year. That’s a big change from the year before, when GAO ruled against agencies only 12 percent of the time. It’s the highest rate of sustained protests since 2007, and by sheer numbers, the most on record. GAO concluded agencies awarded their contracts improperly in 139 cases in 2016, compared to just 68 the year before. (Federal News Radio)

• The Agriculture Department improved employee engagement by 3.7 points this year. It’s the most improved large agency on the Partnership for Public Service’s Best Places to Work rankings. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said senior leadership has been working on a complete culture change ever since the President expressed concern back in 2009. (Federal News Radio)

• The Commerce Department is trying to take the pain out of big data. The National Technical Information Service in the Commerce Department wants to more easily connect agencies with big data tools. NTIS has opened a fee-for-service offering where it is partnering with 35 vendors, non-profits and academic institutions to offer a host of non-commercial data services. The NTIS service catalog includes data analytics, data mining, cloud infrastructure and data visualization. The goal is to move agencies from idea to project start in less than 90 days. (National Technical Information Service)

• The General Services Administration is moving forward in its search for a new Labor Department headquarters in Washington. GSA is starting environmental, transportation and historic preservation studies on three possible sites. The studies will inform the government’s opinion and ultimate decision of the location for the new headquarters. (Federal News Radio)

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.