Federal Drive

Tuesday Morning Federal Newscast

Open Government Plan to be announced, smaller pay raises will hit Defense feds, PTO cranks out the green

Federal News Network Staff

December 8, 2009 8:19 am

1 min read

Written by Ruben Gomez & Tom Temin
Edited by Suzanne Kubota

This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED:

The White House this morning will launch its long-awaited Open Government Plan. The official guidance will instruct agencies on how to become more transparent and bring citizens into the policy-making process. On his first day in office, President Obama ordered the Office of Management and Budget to craft a formal directive based on recommendations from the federal chief technology officer, now Aneesh Chopra. This morning’s announcement will come at 11 o’clock in a Webcast streamed live on WhiteHouse.gov.

About 4,000 civilians under the Pentagon’s outgoing pay for performance system could receive much smaller pay raises than expected. Federal Times reports the yearly increases could be cut in half. The workers affected are moving into the General Schedule from the National Security Personnel System. Tim Curry, the person in charge of NSPS, says those workers have received large pay raises under the system, and as a result exceed salary caps in the General Schedule. The Defense Department is in the process of phasing out NSPS, a move ordered by the 2010 Defense Authorization Act.

The White House wants your vote on the best idea for saving government money. The administration has chosen four finalists in its SAVE Awards program. Online voting ends Thursday one minute before midnight. The winning idea will be included in fiscal 2011’s federal budget request.

The Patent and Trademark Office launches a pilot a program to accelerate the examination of applications for green technology patents. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke was joined by Energy Secretary Steve Chu to announce the program. The goal is to speed green technologies to the market and bolster U.S. competitiveness. Qualifying applications go to the head of the line. They’ll receive expedited handling so that the examination and approval process takes a year. The average application takes 30 months.

Federal managers worry the government cannot deliver on healthcare reform. More than 8 in 10 responding to a survey by the Government Executive Media Group expect the government to take on more responsibility. But half say they’re not confident agencies can enforce penalties for the uninsured or monitor insurance practices. About 45-percent worry the final bill will not provide enough funding to help the government make administrative and structural changes.

More news links

TSA Leaks Sensitive Airport Screening Manual (Wired)

Miles for Nothing: How the Government Helped Frequent Fliers Make a Mint (WallStreetJournal)

Energy IG issues management alert over weatherization program (GovExec)

Senators seek to force Congress, political appointees out of FEHBP

Obama spokesman: ‘Silly’ not to allow Va. flagpole

Speaking of Silly

NASA Diver Insists Tale Of Porn-Watching Muslim Hijackers Is True, Despite Discrepancies (TPMMuckraker)

THIS AFTERNOON ON FEDERALNEWSRADIO

Coming up today on The Daily Debrief:

We continue our look back at the stories of the decade. Former OPM director Linda Springer joins us to discuss what changed in the past ten years for Human Resources.

And we’ll talk with Kim Kobza, CEO of Neighborhood America, about the future of transparency and public outreach.

Join us from 3 to 7 pm on 1500 AM or on your computer.