Monthly Archives: November, 2009

The U.S. Postal Service finished fiscal year 2009 with a $3.8 billion loss — much smaller than expected — thanks to some last-minute congressional legislation and an accounting change. This might seem surprising, if you’ve been following our postal coverage; the agency has been on pace to post at least a $6 billion loss for much of the year. But a law passed by Congress in September allowed the agency to defer $4 billion in payments into its retiree health benefits trust fund. That knocked the deficit down to $3.8 billion, and allowed the Postal Service to pay all of its…

Contractor employees supporting acquisition offices may soon be required to disclose their financial investments, personal relationships and other involvements that could constitute a “personal conflict of interest.” The proposed rule, which was published in the Federal Register Friday, would only apply to contractor employees who support or advise the government in planning acquisitions, determining supplies and services to purchase, developing and approving contract documents, evaluating contract proposals, awarding contracts, administering contracts, terminating contracts and determining if costs are fair and reasonable. Contractors must obtain assurances from employees in these roles that they don’t have financial interests that would bias their…

A Kuwaiti company was indicted for overcharging the government on an $8.5 billion food service contract to feed troops in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan, the Justice Department announced today. The company, Public Warehousing Company (PWC), faces criminal charges of conspiracy to defraud the government, committing major fraud against the government, making false statements to the government, submitting false claims to the government and wire fraud. The allegations stem from a series of false invoices the company submitted to the Defense Department between 2003 and 2005. According to Justice, the company conspired with unnamed suppliers to inflate prices by hiding overhead…

A quick heads-up, in case you haven’t heard: The Office of Personnel Management issued a memo late last week announcing a new policy on political appointees “burrowing in” at the end of an administration. The memo, from OPM director John Berry, requires all agencies to get OPM’s permission before moving political appointees into career positions (at all levels). OPM previously required permission for such moves only during election years. The policy, which takes effect in 2010, applies to anyone who has held a politically-appointed job in the previous five years. OPM’s reviews will be conducted by career employees. “Burrowing in”…

Is your health care plan among the 57 leaving the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, reducing its service area, or dropping an option or high-deductible health plan in 2010? Federal Times would like to hear from you. We’d like to find out how these changes will affect you, why you chose the plan now being dropped, and what your plans are. Take a look at this OPM document — the plan terminations and reductions are on the first nine pages. And if your plan is on this list, send an e-mail to Stephen Losey at slosey@federaltimes.com.

Samuel Heyman, the businessman who founded the Partnership for Public Service eight years ago, passed away Nov. 7. The New York Times reported that Heyman died due to complications from open heart surgery. Heyman was an assistant U.S. attorney at the Justice Department until he entered the private sector in 1968.

The Agriculture Department shut down a Vermont slaughterhouse following the release of a video of animal abuses allegedly witnessed by a USDA inspector. In the video, an employee at Bushways Packing Inc. in Grand Isle tries to skin alive a days-old calf in front of an alleged USDA inspector, among other abuses. A Humane Society investigator took the video while employed undercover at the slaughterhouse. “This government official tells the worker, on hidden camera, that if another USDA inspector saw this, the plant would be shut down, but he allows the abuse to continue,” the Humane Society said in a…

The Social Security Administration isn’t taking swine flu precautions seriously and risks exposing employees and their families to the virus, the American Federation of Government Employees says. In a Nov. 4 letter to SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue, AFGE Council 220 President Witold Skwierczynski said an SSA negotiator told Council 220 members in October that swine flu “is not a serious communicable disease.” Skwierczynski also said the negotiator and other SSA managers have threatened employees with disciplinary action should they decline to do face-to-face interviews with people who appear to be ill. The negotiator said anyone who appears to be sick…

Happy Friday! As we all ready for the weekend, here are a few offbeat stories with a federal angle to brighten your day: Angry residents of Lantana, Fla. sent a not so subtle message to Post Master General John Potter about his plans to close their local post office: 1,000 coconuts. Potter, in turn, donated the produce to the D.C. food bank Bread for the City.  [h/t: DCist] The Smithsonian uses the photo sharing Web site Flickr to remind us of an era in photography where you couldn’t instantly share an image with thousands of your closest friends around the…

Government averages a B- when it comes to managing Recovery Act spending. At least according to the grades issued today by market research firm INPUT, in its second report card on the Recovery Act. Here is how government performed, according to the INPUT report card: Speed of Spending: B+ (Previous Grade: B+) Reviewer’s Comments: “The federal government has continued to show unusual adeptness in dispensing a tremendous amount of money very quickly…At its current spending pace, the federal government will achieve 87 percent of the goal set by the president of having $350 billion spent by Sept. 30, 2010” Contracting…