OPM calls for changes in federal background checks – Plus the 7 Gov Stories

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The SEVEN stories that impact your life

1. WashingtonPost: OPM calls for changes in federal background checks – “Federal background checkers need greater access to state and local police reports and an overhaul of screening policies to prevent people such as Washington Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis from getting security clearances, according to a report from the Office of Personnel Management. The review, released Tuesday, also called for a reduction in the number of workers the federal government clears for special access and more frequent follow-up investigations of clearance holders, among other proposals.”

   1. OPM report: Suitability and Security Process Review: Report to the President [PDF]

2. FCWnow: Chief acquisition officer leaves GSA for White House – “GSA Chief Acquisition Officer Anne Rung will move to the White House to head up the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy, sources with knowledge of the move told FCW.”

3. NYT: General Gets Reprimand in Misconduct Case – “A military judge on Thursday morning reprimanded Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair for mistreating his mistress and other charges, but did not sentence him to any jail time and allowed him to remain in the military.”

4. NYT: Two States Win Court Approval on Voter Rules – “Judge Eric F. Melgren of United States District Court in Wichita ruled that the federal Election Assistance Commission had no legal authority to deny requests from Kansas and Arizona to add state-specific instructions to a national voter registration form. The states sued the agency to force the action after it had turned them down.”

5. GovExec: OPM Seeks IT Security Pros – “The Office of Personnel Management does not plan to lay off employees as part of a new effort to modernize and restructure its information technology systems, according to top officials. In fact, the agency is looking to hire “a handful of IT security professionals” who would be federal workers and not contractors, said OPM’s Chief Information Officer Donna Seymour during a recent joint interview with agency Director Katherine Archuleta.”

6. Federal News Radio: GSA envisions 18F will be the new hub of digital innovation – “GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini today announced the creation of 18F, a digital government program with the goal of accelerating innovation among agencies. The name 18F refers to GSA headquarters building, which is located on 18th and F streets in Washington.”

7. Washington Post: Government computers running XP will be vulnerable to hakers after April 8 – “Federal officials have known for more than six years that Microsoft will withdraw its free support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014. Despite a recent rush to complete upgrades, an estimated 10 percent of government computers — out of several million — will still be running the operating system on that date, company officials said.”

DorobekINSIDER water-cooler fodder… yes, we’re trying to help you make your water-cooler time better too…

• Millennials Are Down on Government (National Journal) : Two recent studies—one released by the Pew Research Center and one by Third Way—show that the generation that helped elect President Obama in 2008 now identifies as independent more than ever. Millennials who may have voted with youthful exuberance in 2008 seem to have grown fatigued with the government’s inability to get things done.

• IBM’s Watson to help choose cancer treatments [Ars Technica]: The Jeopardy-playing computer will be used to “parse genome data and use it to recommend treatments.” Customized treatments target specific mutations present in a patient’s tumor cells. IBM hopes that Watson can handle work that would require a squad of highly-trained geneticists, genomics experts and clinicians.