The Fed Page: Federal Government News, Headlines & Analysis - The Washington Post

Hagel directs Pentagon to seek new software for health records

Steve Vogel — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:38:10 GMT

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on Wednesday directed that the Pentagon develop-- via competitive bid --new healthcare management software that would better integrate military health care records with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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Rubio knocks making key lime the official pie: Is the idea really so ridiculous?

Emily Heil — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:28:22 GMT

Ridiculousness may be in the eye — or tastebuds — of the beholder.

Wednesday, Sen. Marco Rubio held up the idea of making key lime pie the official pie of the United States as an example of a laughable idea (unlike his desire to exclude the debt limit from budget talks, which he argued was perfectly reasonable).

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Some Obama Cabinet secretaries already framed in official portraits, while some Bushies aren’t

Emily Heil — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:09:00 GMT

When it comes to the official portraits of Cabinet secretaries, it seems some folks get framed faster than others.

This spring has seen a mini-flurry of portrait unveilings, including two Obama officials who were still in office when their paintings debuted — and one Bush administration official who’s been out of office for more than four years.

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The case of the Army’s ‘invisible’ plane

Al Kamen — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

It’s hard sometimes to keep track of all your planes. The Army, it seems, “lost” one for a while.

Well, not actually lost, according to a May 9 Department of Defense inspector general’s report, since it seems to have been used by Army brass (also known as “high priority passengers”) who needed a ride “to give speeches, or attend conferences, meetings” and such.

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House Democrats' report says power grid is vulnerable to cyber attacks

Josh Hicks — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:02:39 GMT

A House Democrat this week released a report that could help resurrect bipartisan legislation he sponsored three years ago to protect the nation's power grid from cyber attacks and other threats.

The analysis, spearheaded by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and released Tuesday, says a lack of compliance with voluntary security standards has made the electric grid "highly vulnerable to attacks from Iran and North Korea" and additional dangers such as geomagnetic storms from solar activity.

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President to nominate acting chief Dan Tangherlini to lead GSA

Lisa Rein — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:03:00 GMT

Thirteen months after he took over the troubled General Services Administration as acting chief, Dan Tangherlini will be nominated by President Obama Wednesday for Senate confirmation as the agency's official administrator.

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A few black Capitol cops protest agency bias

Joe Davidson — Wed, 22 May 2013 01:14:00 GMT

Suppose you gave a demonstration and nobody came — at least, almost nobody.

The United States Capitol Black Police Association expected 50 to 200 people to protest what it has described as an unfair, discriminatory and hostile work environment.

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The president, always the last to know

Al Kamen — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:23:32 GMT

This IRS scandal is, as expected, getting most interesting.

People are asking questions about who knew what when — a variant of Sen. Howard Baker’s famous question at the Watergate hearings 40 years ago: “What did the president know, and when did he know it?”

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FEMA puts boots on ground for Oklahoma tornado response

Josh Hicks — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:53:10 GMT

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday sent a host of personnel to Oklahoma in response to the massive tornado that ravaged parts of the state the previous day.

FEMA spokesman Daniel Watson said three of its search-and-rescue teams arrived early Tuesday morning. He said the agency also sent a liaison to the state's emergency-response center on Sunday, well before a tornado claimed dozens of lives while ripping through the city of Moore, Okla.

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France, Spain among top congressional destinations, report finds

Emily Heil — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:59:00 GMT

If the frequency of congressional visits is any indication, Afghanistan is important to lawmakers — but then again, so are more traditional (and scenic) destinations like France, Spain and Ireland.

According to an impressive database of House member’s travel in 2012 constructed by the folks at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, war-torn Afghanistan was the most popular destination for lawmakers travelling abroad, getting 37 visits. But Spain got 30 — and perhaps unsurprisingly, members lingered there a bit longer, staying a total of 227 days, far longer than the 161 days they spent in Afghanistan. Hey, we understand — we hear the paella’s far better in sunny Spain.

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Watchdog group sues IRS for stricter tax-exemption rules

Josh Hicks — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:54:16 GMT

The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for D.C. to compel the Internal Revenue Service to impose stricter standards for what types of groups qualify for tax-exempt status.

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Obama White House policy: ‘Don’t tell Dad’

Al Kamen — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:16:32 GMT

This IRS scandal is, as expected, getting most interesting.

People are starting to ask questions about who knew what when — a variant of former Sen. Howard Baker’s famous Watergate hearing question 40 years ago: “What did the president know and when did he know it?”

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Low-wage contractors picket outside federal buildings

Josh Hicks — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:48:17 GMT

A group of food service workers walked off their jobs in the food court of the Ronald Reagan Building Tuesday morning as part of a day-long protest of low wages paid to federal contract employees.

A series of protests dubbed "Good Jobs Nation" is planned for the day in support of the contract workers who clean offices, serve food and maintain museums and landmarks in the capital, according to a Washington Post report.

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TSP investment fund again to be used for debt ceiling relief

Eric Yoder — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:20:08 GMT

The government once again plans to resort to a financial maneuver involving federal employee retirement savings pending an increase in the national debt limit.

The Treasury Department has notified Congress and the Thrift Savings Plan that because a temporary suspension of the debt limit has now expired, it expects to take actions it has used in the past, including "disinvesting" the TSP's government securities fund, or G Fund.

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Scalia questions CTIA’s ‘secret’ identity

Emily Heil — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:58:00 GMT

In addition to knowing the laws of the land, Antonin Scalia apparently is familiar with the cardinal rule of comedy: know your audience.

In a footnote in an opinion on a rather obscure case on Monday, the droll Supreme Court justice dropped a dry little aside that cracked up only a tiny subsection of Washington — telecom lawyers. Scalia affixed a footnote to a mention of “CTIA — The Wireless Association,” the name of the trade association that represents wireless companies.

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Federal disaster aid headed to Oklahoma as FEMA responds to tornado

Josh Hicks — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:32:17 GMT

President Obama on Monday declared a major federal disaster in response to the behemoth tornado that ripped through Oklahoma, prompting the Federal Emergency Management Agency into action.

The declaration makes federal disaster aid available to support recovery efforts in areas affected by the tornado and by severe storms dating back as early as last Saturday, according to a FEMA news release.

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At the Park Service, a DIY approach to trash hauling

Emily Heil — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

In a big win for those who advocate personal responsibility above heavy-handed government, the U.S. Park Service is expanding the rugged-individual approach to a service typically left to Uncle Sam: trash hauling.

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What's the appropriate level of White House involvement with IG findings?

Josh Hicks — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:02:00 GMT

The White House acknowledged this week that some of its senior officials knew in late-April that the IRS had targeted conservative groups before and after the 2010 midterms, contradicting earlier statements about an inspector general's report that detailed the scandal.

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Improving cataract surgery outcomes for VA patients

The Partnership for Public Service — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:00:00 GMT

There are more than 50,000 cataract surgeries performed at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health facilities every year and more than 3 million throughout the country, but there has never been a system in place to collect detailed patient outcomes on a national level, in either the private or public sectors.

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No cans, no trash?

Al Kamen — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:29:00 GMT

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Justices to weigh whether prayers at meetings violate separation of church, state

Robert Barnes — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:23:00 GMT

The Supreme Court said Monday that it will review whether a New York town council that starts most of its meetings with a Christian prayer violates the separation of church and state.

The court decided 30 years ago, in a case involving the Nebraska legislature, that legislative meetings that open with a prayer do not violate the First Amendment’s prohibition of government-established religion as long as they do not advance a single faith.

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Who is responsible for IRS scandal?

Joe Davidson — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:07:00 GMT

If only Lois Lerner were Lois Lane, Superman could soar in and save her, and perhaps her colleagues, from the angry crowd waiting on Capitol Hill.

Lerner, director of exempt organizations for the Internal Revenue Service, is at the center of the IRS scandal about targeting conservative organizations for extra scrutiny. She’s scheduled to testify Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

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Fine Print: The press and national security

Walter Pincus — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:05:00 GMT

Whoever provided the initial leak to the Associated Press in April 2012 not only broke the law but caused the abrupt end to a secret, joint U.S./Saudi/British operation in Yemen that offered valuable intelligence against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

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Tom Fox: Tips for hiring STEMM talent into government

Tom Fox — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:25:10 GMT

The federal government's demand for talent in the science, technology, engineering, mathematical and medical (STEMM) fields is growing, but is often in short supply.

According to research conducted by my organization, the Partnership for Public Service, and Booz Allen Hamilton, federal agencies face stiff competition from the private sector for people with STEMM skills, and cannot compete when it comes to salaries or to various workplace intangibles that are common at such companies as Facebook, Google or Apple.

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Crossroads thinks it was caught up in IRS targeting campaign

Josh Hicks — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:00:00 GMT

Crossroads GPS, the largest right-leaning advocacy group during the 2012 election cycle, believes it was one of the conservative groups the Internal Revenue Service targeted for special scrutiny as part of a campaign the agency apologized for earlier this month.

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