House Republicans on Wednesday released recommendations that encourage industry and government to jointly develop cybersecurity standards and best practices. “Owners and operators know best how to protect their own systems, and it is nearly impossible for the speed of bureaucracy to keep pace with the ever changing threats,” the House Republican Cybersecurity Task Force said in its report to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. The task force was formed in June to tackle legislative cyber issues. Among its recommendations for Congress to act on in the near term: – Provide private companies with voluntary incentives, such as tax…
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Let’s have a talk about government transparency. It all began earlier this year when I was having trouble reaching various spokespersons and public affairs staff at the Department of Homeland Security. I was repeatedly referred to mediainquiry@dhs.gov for any and all information but had no idea who was in charge of what. When I asked point blank who I should talk to about specific subjects, I was told to just use the email. So I decided file a Freedom of Information Act request for the following information: 1. The names of all public affairs people and spokespersons at DHS. 2.…
The Office of Personnel Management today announced that health care premiums for federal employees and retirees will increase by 3.8 percent for non-postal employees, a sharp reduction from the 7.3 percent average increase that hit premiums last year. Enrollees with self-only coverage will pay $2.32 more on average per bi-weekly pay period. Those with family coverage will pay $6.18 more on average. And premiums for the most popular plan in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) — the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Standard Option — will actually drop slightly: Enrollees with self-only coverage will pay 81 cents less…
David Safavian, the Bush-era White House official who accepted a lavish trip to Scotland from lobbyist and friend Jack Abramoff, has entered federal prison for lying to federal officials about his dealings with the lobbyist. Safavian is serving a year sentence at Federal Medical Center Devens in Massachusetts for obstruction of justice and lying to federal ethics officers, investigators and Congress about his relationship with Abramoff and the 2002 excursion. He entered the prison’s custody on July 26, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Safavian was first convicted in 2006. That conviction was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District…
Game on! The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee just officially announced what is certain to a highly charged hearing next Tuesday afternoon, titled “U.S. Postal Service in Crisis: Proposals to Prevent a Postal Shutdown.” The focus is expected to be the Postal Service’s recently unveiled bid for the freedom to lay off some 120,000 unionized employees, along with creating its own retirement and health insurance programs. No witnesses have been announced yet, but they will presumably include U.S. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe or a stand-in, as well as labor and mailing industry representatives. Unsurprisingly, all three proposals have…
On Aug. 28, 2011, the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial officially took its place as America’s 395th national park – 48 years after King’s “I Have a Dream speech” delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. “Welcoming this memorial to the National Mall honors a heroic man and a critical chapter in our nation’s march toward a more perfect union,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “Martin Luther King, Jr., mobilized the power of faith and morality to break the chains of oppression that held our nation back. The dedication ceremony was also to take place on Sunday,…
It took a little longer than expected, but performance.gov is now open to the public. The site, created about a year ago by the Obama administration, had hitherto been password-protected and generally limited to federal employees. Check it out and let us know what you think. The site is intended to undergird the administration’s performance management strategy, in part by providing “in-depth information on agency priority goals and key performance indicators, measures and milestones,” federal Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients wrote last September in a memorandum to Senior Executive Service members. At the time, Zients said the site would go…
UPDATE 6:02: U.S. Postal Service reporting that no employees were injured, but that there is structural damage to some buildings closer to the quake’s epicenter. Headquarters building at L’Enfant Plaza in Washington will be open Wednesday. UPDATE 4:25: Here’s an official statement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency saying that there are no early reports of major damage or requests for assistance so far, but preliminary assessments are continuing. UPDATE 4:01 p.m.: OPM declares early dismissal for federal employees in the Washington area after earthquake. A decision on Wednesday’s operating status will be made by 4 a.m. tomorrow. UPDATE 4…
The Justice Department has named Eric Olson its acting chief information officer, following the departure of former CIO Vance Hitch last month. Olson, who served as the department’s deputy CIO, assumed his new role on Aug. 1. He inherits a $2.1 billion information technology budget, oversight of IT management and acquisition and integration of information resources. Hitch left his CIO post on July 31 after serving for more than nine years.
Some encouraging news today for Federal Aviation Administration employees who spent the last two weeks on forced furloughs: A bipartisan group of House members has introduced a bill to pay them for the time off. Now that those workers are back on the job, “my focus is to get them back pay and to ensure this avoidable situation never happens again,” Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-.N.J., whose district includes an FAA technical center, said in a news release. Also signing on to the legislation are House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla., Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., and several other…