The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive and In Depth radio shows. Our headlines are updated twice per day — once in the morning and once in the afternoon — with the latest news affecting federal employees and contractors.

• Federal employees and retirees who had their personal data stolen should begin receiving letters from the Office of Personnel Management over the next several days. OPM Acting Director Beth Cobert told employees Thursday that letters notifying the 22 million victims began going out Sept. 30. Cobert said the notices will contain a personalized identification number, or PIN. The employee or retiree should use that PIN to enroll in identity protection services. (Federal News Radio)

• The Air Force is lagging behind the other military services in making its service contracts competitive. The Air Force’s competitive contracts have dropped 15 percent over the last six years. The other military services have increased their competition for service contracts since 2008. A study suggested the decline comes from the Air Force awarding contracts maintain and repair aircraft. Those contracts usually go to the original manufacturer who owns the technical data rights. (Federal News Radio)

• Nov. 5 is the next date federal employees should pay close attention to in the battle of the 2016 budget. The Treasury Department is alerting Congress that in about a month the United States will hit its debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew wrote to lawmakers yesterday detailing the country’s cash flow problems. Lew said the government would only have about $30 billion left as of Nov. 5 to pay for government expenses. He said the government needs as much as $60 billion a day. Congress would have to raise the debt ceiling or the U.S. would go into default. (Treasury Department)

• A U.S. military C-130 transport plane crashed at Jalalabad airfield in Afghanistan shortly after midnight on Friday. Officials of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing in Kabul describe the crash as an accident, but it’s under investigation. Six American service members and five contractors died. (Associated Press)

• Government contractors are so unhappy with the Defense Department’s proposal to apply stricter rules around cybersecurity and cloud computing that they are demanding to be heard.
  The IT Alliance for Public Sector, a vendor association, requested DoD hold a public meeting to discuss their concerns about the interim rule. ITAPS said there are too  many unanswered questions and gaps within the rule that complicate the ability of companies to provide a cohesive public comment. In a letter to DoD, ITAPs outlined 10 areas, including the definition of controlled unclassified information and where the FedRAMP program fits in.
  DoD released an interim rule with a request for comment in late August. Comments are due by Oct. 26. (ITIC)

• The Government Accountability Office launched a training center for other government watchdogs. The center will take advantage of the expertise of senior GAO auditors who are not assigned to current investigations. They’re reaching out to both U.S. and international organizations to offer training and technical help. GAO will charge a fee for its services. Congress passed a law last year directing the agency to open the center to promote good governance and build auditing capacity. (GAO)

• Customs and Border Protection is slowly adding more internal affairs investigators. CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske told the Homeland Security Advisory Council his agency added 120 internal investigators over the past year who have law enforcement criminal investigation authority. But it still needs more of them to support its $60,000 employees. New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton tells the committee he has 600 internal affairs investigators for a 52,000 person police force. CBP was left with no internal affairs investigators when the agency was absorbed into the Homeland Security Department back in 2003.

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