President Trump raises eyebrows with location of intel meeting

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, President Trump reportedly formulated his response to a North Korean missile test at a strange location.

• President Donald Trump raised eyebrows with where he formulated a response to a North Korean missile test. The president was lunching with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. And using his unsecured Android phone to make calls. Several published reports said discussions took place in the full view of other guests. One guest posted what he saw on Facebook, plus a photo with the aid who reportedly carries the atomic codes. (Associated Press)

• National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has resigned after it was reported he wasn’t completely honest with Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his discussions with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. At first, Flynn said the issue of sanctions against Russia never came up in the talks, but now admits they did. President Trump has appointed Lt. Gen. Keith Kellog as acting national security adviser for the time being. Kellogg is among the list of names being considered as a permanent replacement. The others are former CIA Director David Petraeus and Vice Adm. Robert Harward. (Federal News Radio)

• Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has joined his Democratic colleagues in asking the General Services Administration for more information on the Old Post Office lease with President Donald Trump’s company. Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wants to know how GSA will address the outlease program in the Old Post office deal. Outleasing is when GSA rents space or buildings to a state or local government agencies or private sector companies such as retail or food service outlets. (House Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

• The Senate gave a unanimous endorsement to President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs last night. It voted 100-to-0 to confirm Dr. David Shulkin as the next VA secretary. Although he will be the first VA secretary who’s not a veteran himself, he’s not a newcomer to the department. He’s been the undersecretary for health, overseeing VA’s vast medical operations since 2015. He won support from Senate Democrats by promising that he would protect veterans interests, even if that meant disagreeing with the president. He also made clear that he strenuously opposes any effort to privatize VA’s medical system. (Federal News Radio)

• Lawmakers are bringing back legislation to create up to six weeks of paid parental leave for federal employees. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) reintroduce the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act. The bill has been around for about 10 years. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he’s optimistic President Trump may consider the proposal. (Federal News Radio)

• The Office of Personnel Management answers more questions about the hiring freeze. In new guidance, OPM tells agencies, they can continue to conduct interviews, review applications and go to job fairs, They just can’t make any new job offers. Agencies can also extend appointments for term, temporary and time-limited employees if their positions contribute to the mission or national security. (Federal News Radio)

• Defense Department employees may get a program like Slack or Skype sooner than expected. The Defense Information Services Agency is moving the unified capabilities contract award date to the first quarter of 2018. The contract will provide a commercial program that will consolidate text, video and audio messaging into one client. (Federal News Radio)

• Agencies are getting some help to move to the cloud from some of the early adopters. The General Services Administration has launched a new center of excellence to make it easier for agencies to move to the cloud. The interagency group will focus on three main areas: acquisition of these services, communicating the value of cloud and workforce training and education. The center plans to release recommendations to OMB and GSA by May. It then will go to industry for comment on these consensus suggestions. Agencies have had a mandate to move to the cloud since 2010, but have struggled to move more than things like email and collaboration tools. (Federal News Radio)

• The Census Bureau said it reached its first goal for reviewing address canvassing. Dierdre Bishop, chief of the bureau’s geography division, said half of the nation’s blocks were reviewed by the end of fiscal 2016, and another 30 percent has been completed in 2017. More than 70 percent of the blocks haven’t changed since the last count. (Federal News Radio)

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