Obama taps Susan Rice for Nat. Security Adviser – Plus the DorobekINSIDER’s 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

• Sol is the world’s first interplanetary weather app, it integrates weather data from the Curiosity rover on Mars with weather data from here on Earth. The app was developed by Ingenology for the NASA Space App Challenge. Meet the man behind the app. Mike Wilson.

The SEVEN stories that impact your life

1. President Obama will appoint United Nations ambassador Susan Rice as his new national security adviser, replacing Tom Donilon. Federal Times reports, Obama also plans to nominate former National Security Council aide Samantha Power to replace Rice as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

2. The Office of Personnel Management is planning to offer buyouts and early retirements to nearly 300 employees — and some of those buyouts are likely to result in slower pension processing times. Federal Times reports, the buyouts and early outs will hit OPM’s human resources staff hardest, and could cut up to 129 positions throughout the agency. OPM will also accept up to 50 buyouts and early outs in its employee services division.

3. Defense Department policy employees have received an updated list of priorities for the period this summer when most civilians will be furloughed one day a week. Government Executive reports, the “must-do” list for Pentagon policy office employees ranks topmost “programs and activities that directly support ongoing operations, including DoD response to crises and natural disasters.”

4. A new IG report shows GSA officials overruled contracting officers. Government Executive reports, the inspector general says unhappy contractors got Federal Acquisition Service managers to intervene in Multiple Award Schedule contracts. The result is higher costs and less favorable terms to the government. Auditors say the agency should impose a firewall between contractors and senior managers except in rare instances. It is recommending GSA cancel or re-do two existing contracts, one with Carahsoft and the other with Deloitte. Together they are worth more than half-a-billion dollars.

5. The Internal Revenue Service didn’t break rules, but it still overspent on a 2010 conference. That’s one finding in a new report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Auditors focused on a big conference in Anaheim for more than 2,600 employees. It cost $4.1 million. The agency spent about 250,000 on guest speakers, swag and videos. IRS got an allowable hotel room price. But because it used a party planning contractor it may have done better, auditors said. The IG found that IRS paid for the conference partly with money left over from a hiring program. reports Federal News Radio.

6. The House has passed the first of 12 spending bills for the 2014 budget that starts Oct. 1. Lawmakers started with an easy one, a bill to fund programs for veterans. It passed 421 to 4. The White House has threatened a veto because the spending levels in the bill could force deeper cuts in other programs. The Republican-controlled House debates homeland security spending today. The more controversial bills, such as those with cuts for food stamps, will come up later in the summer, reports Federal News Radio.

7. And on GovLoop: Here is a staggering stat: 130 millions Americans own a smartphone, including roughly 1 out of 2 adults. That’s a technology that wasn’t even around 5 years ago. So how can government leverage this technology to connect, engage and empower government employees and the general public? Tune in to find out with the DorobekINISDER LIVE panel on June 26th at noon ET. Register for the free online webinar now.

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