On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:
- President Obama nominated Katherine Archuleta to be the next director of the Office of Personnel Management, who took over for John Berry. So what are the four things she needs to do? Insights from the Partnership’s Tom Fox.
The SEVEN stories that impact your life
- Thousands of federal employees will have a four-day weekend for the July 4 holiday. The EPA, HUD and IRS will remain closed on Friday, July 5, to meet budget demands imposed by sequestration. The “majority” of employees at the Office of Management and Budget. The agency closures mean roughly 115,000 employees will be on unpaid leave Friday. This is the third agencywide furlough day in 2013 for HUD and the IRS. The agencies also will shut down July 22 and Aug. 30. HUD will close on Aug. 16 as well, reports GovExec.
- The National Institute of Standards and Technology released a draft outline of what will become a framework of best practices and voluntary standards for securing critical infrastructure systems. Under the president’s cybersecurity executive order released in February, industry will create the voluntary security standards for critical infrastructure companies, with oversight from NIST. The agency will publish a draft cybersecurity framework by October that includes those standards and will work with the Department of Homeland Security to publish a final version of the framework within a year, reports Federal Times.
- The federal government fell just short of its small-business contracting goals. The government spent 22.5 percent of federal contracting dollars on small businesses in fiscal 2012, which was up from 21.65 percent in 2011, John Shoraka, associate administrator for contracting and business development at SBA, wrote in a blog post Tuesday. The statutory governmentwide goal is 23 percent. This marks the seventh year in a row the federal government has missed its small-business goals, reports Federal Times.
- A NASA space telescope that has dazzled astronomers with spectacular images of distant galaxies for the past decade, and set an asset management precedent back on Earth, was finally turned off on June 28. Galaxy Evolution Explorer has completed its mission, NASA officials said in a statement. NASA launched GALEX in April 2003 on a 29-month mission to study the history of star formation in the universe, reports FCW.
- Many troops are still hesitant to admit mental health problems. USA Today obtained a confidential survey of troops in Afghanistan last year. About half of the Army troops surveyed believed they would be seen as weak if they asked for help in coping with mental illness. 60 percent of Marines surveyed said the same, reports Federal News Radio.
- Another member of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet has officially joined his second-term team. Anthony Foxx was sworn in as Transportation Secretary during a private ceremony yesterday. Foxx previously served as the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, and as a Justice Department attorney. He’s replacing former Republican Congressman Ray LaHood. Foxx says being prepared for severe weather and maintaining transportation safety is one of his top priorities, reports Federal News Radio.
- And on GovLoop, if you missed DorobekINSIDER Live: Making Mobile Matter, don’t worry you can catch the archive here.
DorobekINSIDER water-cooler fodder
- Did you know TSA blogs about the items they confiscates. Check out the amazing items including a grenade.
- And check out GovLoop’s Mascot Madison!
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