Countdown to Cuts, Sequestration Reader – Plus the DorobekINSIDER’s 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

• The President issued the Cybersecurity Executive Order during his State of the Union earlier this month. But some say the Executive Order doesn’t go far enough. What’s missing? Click here for the full recap.

But up front: Sequestion, of course, with just days before those automatic spending cuts start to kick in later this week.

The 02.25.2013 DorobekINSIDER sequestion reader:

• White House rolls out details of sequestration losses: Eager to get the last word as Washington watches another countdown clock, the White House is seeking to portray Friday’s across-the-board spending reductions in terms of teacher jobs, measles vaccines for children and nutrition assistance meals for seniors.
• Memo: DoD program managers can talk sequestration with contractors
• Cuts before compromise?: Congress returns Monday with all eyes on a last Senate attempt to forestall across-the-board spending cuts March 1 that threaten to cripple government services this spring and roll back the clock to before Barack Obama’s presidency.
• Sequester could stall momentum on cybersecurity: The mandatory budget cuts looming over Washington threaten to forestall work on cybersecurity just as the president’s new executive order gets off the ground.
• Secrecy News: Sequester May Slow Pentagon Response to WikiLeaks
• Sequestration affecting congressional hiring, Rep. Goodlatte says- The Obama administration has been warning for months that millions of federal employees could face furloughs and potential layoffs if forced budget cuts go into effect this Friday as slated. But the cuts, totaling roughly $85 billion, also apply to congressional budgets. So how are lawmakers planning to cut back, if necessary? For House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), the solution appears to be keeping some jobs unfilled, just in case, reports Ed O’Keefe.
• Is defense defenseless?—Darren Samuelsohn & Anna Palmer—The defense industry is in the fight of its life, but many of its longtime champions on Capitol Hill are retired, dead or in jail. Of the 30 largest House recipients of defense industry campaign donations since the 1990 election cycle, only 11 are still serving Congress. It’s the same story in the Senate, where 14 of the top 30 recipients over the same time period still serve. Marty Kady, Laura McGann and Philip Ewing are also available on this.
• GovLoop Ken Gold: Tracking the Sequester: Jockeying Between House and Senate
• Forget Sequestration. The Real Budget Fight Comes March 27 When the Government Shuts Down.

The SEVEN stories that impact your life

1. Federal News Radio reports, Karen Mills, head of the Small Business Administration, said she won’t need to order furloughs because enough people have retired early. Mills said sequestration will have little effect on the number of loans the agency guarantees. The White House has warned that Section 504 loans would be cut by $900 million. But Mills said demand for the loans has already dropped by that much. Mills has announced her departure once a replacement administrator is confirmed.
2. GSA has canceled it’s 2013 Expo conference. Federal News Radio reports, conference had been scheduled for May 14-16 in Orlando. GSA spokesman Dan Cruz confirmed the decision, saying the current budget situation is leaving GSA and other agencies without the money to travel.
3. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced that government-sponsored scientific research published in expensive journals will become more readily accessible to the public. Secrecy News reports, federal agencies that fund at least $100 million per year in scientific research were directed by White House science advisor John Holdren to develop plans to make the results of such research publicly available free of charge within a year of original publication.
4. MSPB is preparing for the flood of expected furlough petitions. Government Executive reports, if Congress doesn’t reverse the dreaded automatic spending cuts scheduled to begin taking effect March 1, hundreds of thousands of federal employees could be furloughed on and off for the rest of the fiscal year. Furloughed employees can appeal those personnel decisions to the Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent, quasi-judicial agency in the executive branch with just 203 employees in Washington and in eight regional offices across the country.
5. Sequestration could lengthen the federal job freeze? Federal News Radio reports, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) wrote to Jeff Zients, OMB’s deputy director for management, asking for 10 “lower-priority” positions advertised on USAJobs.gov to be frozen, and for agencies to redirect that money to mission-critical jobs that could be affected under sequestration.
6. The U.S. Postal Service is turning to the public for technology ideas on how to build a “dynamic routing” system that will better speed deliveries, according to the Reuters. A new advanced routing system based on the latest technologies, including GPS, would allow the Postal Service to introduce new products, find better routes for delivery and in the process increase revenue.
7. And on GovLoop, if you are looking to advance your federal career. Check out of Secrets of the C-Suite panel coming up this Thursday at 2pm. You can still register for this free event here.

The DorobekINSIDER water-cooler fodder:

• Carter in Oscarland: As Argo puts Jimmy Carter in the spotlight, historians have begun to recognize him as a flawed, but visionary president, historian and author Douglas Brinkley writes in The Daily Beast.
• And no telework at Yahoo: “Physically Together”: Here’s the Internal Yahoo No-Work-From-Home Memo for Remote Workers and Maybe