In the wake of WikiLeaks’ disclosure of some 250,000 State Department cables, the Obama administration is ordering executive branch departments and agencies to review procedures for protecting classified information. “The recent irresponsible disclosure by WikiLeaks has resulted in significant damage to our national security,” Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew wrote in a memo released this morning. “Any failure by agencies to safeguard classified information pursuant to relevant laws . . . is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.” Effective immediately, all agencies that handle classified information must set up security assessment teams to review implementation of procedures…
Monthly Archives: November, 2010
As it appeals the denial of an “exigent” rate increase request, the U.S. Postal Service is arguing that the Postal Regulatory Commission’s turndown was “arbitrary and capricious,” according to a brief filed late this afternoon with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Among other points, USPS lawyers contend that the five-member commission established “new requirements that were not shared with or explained to the Postal Service,” according to an agency summary. “Instead, the PRC simply denied the request as a whole and punted the Postal Service’s entire financial crisis to Congress,” the brief concludes. The…
The Washington Post just posted this gripping story detailing the aftermath of the August plane crash that claimed the life of former Sen. Ted Stevens and very nearly killed former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe. There’s some harrowing details as the survivors take stock of their injuries and lost friends family members, but also some inspiring strength on display. The job of searching the plane fell to 13-year-old Willy Phillips, who had a battered and broken ankle but was the only one able to move. “Where’s my dad?” he asked. “He’s right here with me,” O’Keefe responded, leaving it at that.…
This one falls in the “laugh so you don’t cry” category. The Afghan government and NATO has been negotiating for months with someone they thought was Taliban second-in-command Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, hoping to find a way to end the nine-year war. But it turns out — whoops! — this supposed militia leader was an imposter. In reality, he was just a shopkeeper from Quetta, Pakistan, who was running a scam. And according to the New York Times, it worked: “It’s not him,” said a Western diplomat in Kabul intimately involved in the discussions. “And we gave him a lot…
The U.S. Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union have agreed to keep negotiating until Dec. 1, following the expiration of an earlier extension of contract talks at noon today, USPS spokesman Mark Saunders said this afternoon. In a release posted soon after on the union’s web site, APWU President Cliff Guffey confirmed the extension and said that bargaining would resume Monday. The union remains hopeful that a settlement can be reached, he reiterated. The union’s contract had originally been set to expire at midnight Saturday, but both sides had agreed to the initial Tuesday extension. An impasse has…
In case you missed it last night, here’s my interview with Capital Insider. I discussed the Office of Personnel Management’s problems getting federal retirees their complete annuities, and how they’re trying to make things right. [HTML1] And while we’re at it, Cindy Auten from the Telework Exchange was also a guest on the show. Hear her talk about the new telework bill and what it’s going to mean for feds. [HTML2] Capital Insider airs each at weeknight at 8 p.m. in the Washington area on cable channel 8, TBD TV. I appear on the show once a month to discuss…
The National Capital Area’s Combined Federal Campaign just announced that OPM has extended their campaign another month. It had been scheduled to end on time, Dec. 15, but will now run until Jan. 17.
There’s a lot of new requirements in the telework bill Congress passed last week. Agencies will have to: Establish a telework policy and notify employees of their eligibility to telework within six months, Require teleworkers and their managers sign agreements outlining their responsibilities, Set up an interactive training program for employees and managers, Incorporate telework into their continuity of operations plans, Designate a Telework Managing Officer, and Report on their telework progress. But will these provisions actually have an effect on the amount of teleworking that goes on in the federal government? We’d like to find out what you think.…
Federal Times reporter Stephen Losey will appear on the TV show Capital Insider this evening to talk about the problems the Office of Personnel Management has had getting federal retirees their correct annuities. If you’re in the Washington area, tune into channel 8 (which now goes by the name TBD) at 8 p.m.
After an initial bargaining deadline passed Saturday, the U.S. Postal Service will keep talking to the American Postal Workers Union for at least another two days, but said that negotiations with the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association had reached an impasse, thereby potentially leaving it up to arbitration to decide the outcome, according to a USPS news release. Contracts with both unions had been set to expire at midnight Saturday, but the Postal Service and the APWU agreed to an extension until noon Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, the union said in its own release. “We do not have a new contract,…