In today’s Federal Newscast, state and local governments, non-profits, universities, and other recipients of federal money, get more time to align their procurement standards with the Office of Management and Budget’s changing oversight rules.

• Non-federal entities who receive grants from the government will receive an extra year to comply with cost principles, administrative and audit requirements from the Office of Management and Budget. OMB will give universities, state and local governments, and other recipients of federal dough until Christmas to establish previously issued standards for federal awards. (Federal Register)

• Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have serious questions for Customs and Border Protection. The committee wants to know when CBP first learned of sexual harassment allegations about some of its employees at the Newark Liberty International Airport. Multiple whistleblowers told the committee some CBP officers are violently hazing and assaulting fellow employees. (House Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

• Three Democratic Congressmen want to repeal the Congressional Review Act. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.), along with House Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) said Republicans have exploited the CRA, which allows Congress to quickly overturn recently issued agency rules. The trio introduced bills to repeal the law. Udall said the agency is using a sledgehammer when only a scalpel is needed. (Sen. Tom Udall)

• A new bipartisan bill was introduced to help federal agencies learn more about their landlords. The Secure Government Buildings from Espionage Act will require the General Services Administration to investigate possible foreign ownership of a building when it’s considered for high-security rental space. When GSA leases space, it’s required to determine whether the owner is financially sound and if the building will be properly run. Foreign ownership is not considered when handling a lease. (Federal News Radio)

• Federal employees can now use Uber or Lyft for official business and get paid back. President Donald Trump signed the Modernizing Government Travel Act into law. GSA will create rules for how the reimbursement process will work. (Congress.gov)

• Memorial Day may be a couple of weeks off, but the Transportation Security Administration is gearing up for a large summer workload. TSA said two thousand more airport screeners and 50 more dog teams than last summer will help avoid delays. Acting Administrator Huban Gowadia said the agency expects to screen 2.5 million passengers a day at the busiest times. He said TSA will add to the 50 automated screening lines it operates at some of the bigger airports. (Transportation Security Administration)

• President Trump is pulling in a career executive to be the next undersecretary of management at the Homeland Security Department. The President will nominate Claire Grady to the Senate-confirmed position. Right now Grady is the Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy in the Defense Department. Grady will replace Russ Deyo, who served almost two years in the USM role during the Obama administration.

• Big data and learning management could hold the key to the White House’s reorganization initiative. The Office of Personnel Management wants to give agencies technology tools to help with the restructuring and reorganization of the government. OPM issued a request for information seeking managed services for end-to-end Human Capital and Training or Learning solutions. OPM said it wants a vendor to provide human capital and training analytical capabilities and applications to support the federal workforce and their work processes of the future. OPM said the technology should seamlessly plug-and-play with other agency IT systems, including HR and procurement. Responses are due June 14 and an industry day is scheduled for June 26. (FedBizOpps)

• Auditors find bad-performing military service members don’t always deserve a less-than-honorable discharge. The Government Accountability Office recommends Defense officials fix inconsistency in the treatment of service members with post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury. Its review of less-than-honorable separations shows six in ten members kicked out for misconduct over a five year period had been diagnosed with medical conditions that could have led to their behavior. Many may have been wrongly denied health benefits from the VA. (Government Accountability Office)

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