The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear scheduled two hours of debate on her nomination, after which there will be a cloture vote to end debate. A final confirmation vote could come as early as 2 p.m.
Google has asked the National Security Agency to help solve mystery of the recent cyber attack against the company. The Washington Post reports the deal hinges on protection of Google users’ privacy.
Defense Secretary Gates rejects a Navy plan to buy more F-18 fighters to tide it over until the new F-35s are ready. He says the Navy’s not getting enough of a discount on the old model. Reuters reports Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers the F/A-18 was “a great airplane,” but said the F-35 — at $300 billion the Pentagon’s largest weapons program ever — was “the right answer for the future.”
It’s not even 2011, and the State Department is already thinking about its 2012 budget and priorities. State is preparing to release an interim version of its first Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. A spokesman tells Federal News Radio the review will focus on five areas, including one that addresses whole-government approaches to foreign policy. The interim report is due early this month. A final draft comes out in September.
Veterans Affairs is shining a traffic light on its IT projects. The department has launched a red, yellow and green dashboard to provide updates on how well projects are doing. The scorecard adds detail to the federal IT dashboard launched on USAspending-dot-gov last year. NextGov reports that VA has been testing it for about a month.
Trouble is reported in Afghanistan contracting work. The U.S. Agency for International Development tells a panel of Senate Democrats the agency doesn’t have have enough experienced people in Afghanistan to properly oversee the work done by contractors and grantees. USAID has spent ten billion dollars in Afghanistan since 2002 on everything from educating women to building roads. FederalTimes reports contractors also told the Senators that the arrival of surge troops will improve safety conditions under which the companies work.
More news links
Report: Feds to pay more than half of health costs
Google complaint highlights China-based hacking
New stamps honor 4 Navy veterans
Pandas leave DC, Atlanta for new homes in China
THIS AFTERNOON ON FEDERAL NEWS RADIO
Coming up today on The Daily Debrief:
** Under the open government initiative, agencies must post high value data sets. But some open government advocates say some of the data sets so far aren’t of very much value. We’ll talk to the Sunlight Foundation.
** And we’ll continue our look at fiscal 2011 budget proposal — what are the State Department’s priorities?
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