Cyber Re-Fresh at DHS – Plus the DorobekINSIDER’s 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

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The SEVEN stories that impact your life:

1. The Homeland Security Department named Phyllis Schneck as its new deputy under secretary of cybersecurity in the National Protection and Programs Directorate. Federal News Radio reports, Secretary Janet Napolitano said she’s confident that Schneck “will build upon the foundations laid by her predecessors, to create a safe, secure and resilient cyber environment and promote cybersecurity knowledge and innovation.”

2. More than 14,000 current and former Energy Department employees are at risk of identity theft. For a second time this year, DOE confirmed hackers broke into its unclassified computer network, which disclosed employees’ personally identifiable information (PII). Federal News Radio reports, DOE told employees it is working with federal law enforcement agencies to find out more about the hacking incident, which happened at the end of July.

3. Almost 90 federal judges are urging congressional leaders to spare the court system if lawmakers resort to a year-long continuing resolution for fiscal 2014. Federal Times reports, the judges represent most of the nation’s 94 federal court districts, along with the Court of International Trade. Spokespersons for Boehner and Biden did not reply to requests for comment Wednesday.

4. The largest labor union for U.S. Postal Service Employees announced some good news Friday, including a $937 raise beginning in September, reports GovExec. The pay hike will apply to all career employees in the American Postal Workers Union as part of a scheduled cost of living adjustment negotiated in 2010. Just two months after the COLA goes into effect on Sept. 7, APWU employees will receive an across-the-board 1.5 percent pay increase.

5. President Obama’s budget director on Friday provided agencies with mandatory guidance for implementing the “Do Not Pay List” of contractors deemed ineligible for government work due to past fraud or abuse, while also adhering to laws that protect privacy, reports GovExec. Sylvia Mathews Burwell, in a memo to all agency heads, laid out legal procedures for use in adopting the online tool, a “single point of entry” through which agencies would access relevant information in a network of databases before determining eligibility for a benefit, grant or contract award.”

6. ObamaCare is slower to come on than envisioned in the original legislation. The administration has missed 41 out of 82 deadlines in the Affordable Care Act. Forbes magazine reports, even more deadlines were missed because Congress didn’t appropriate funds for them. Forbes obtained an unpublished Congressional Research Service report. It shows that some deadlines as far back as 2009 are still unmet. Others, like the employer mandate, were delayed by presidential fiat.

7. A presidential task force charged with cutting red tape in disaster aid is releasing a strategy for rebuilding areas struck by Superstorm Sandy. The panel led by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, says federal agencies should streamline their review processes for reconstruction projects. It recommends the Small Business Administration ease restrictions on some loans and improve training for loan officers. And it says federal mortgage policies need to be changed so homeowners can get insurance checks more quickly.

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