FederalDaily - September 6, 2005
Leave Donations for Hurricane Victim
President Bush on Sept. 1 made the following statement: “I have directed
the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish an emergency leave transfer
program to assist employees affected by Hurricane Katrina. The emergency leave
transfer program will permit employees in an executive agency to donate unused
annual leave for transfer to employees of the same or other agencies who have
been adversely affected by Hurricane Katrina and who need additional time off
from work without having to use their own paid leave.”
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Protecting Outspoken Contract Critic
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Frank Lautenberg,
D-N.J., wrote to Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last
week to request an investigation into the demotion of high-ranking Army Corps
of Engineer official, Bunnatine Greenhouse, who publicly criticized the Pentagon's
awarding of a no-bid contract to Halliburton. Greenhouse was a career civil
servant in the Senior Executive Service. In June, she testified before Congress
that she objected to potentially illegal conduct in the award of contracts
for Iraq reconstruction projects. Less than three weeks after her testimony,
she was removed. The congressmen said the DoD Inspector General’s Office
has confirmed that it is investigating the allegations. They asked that DoD
reinstate Greenhouse until the investigation is complete. To read the letter,
go to www.democrats.reform.house.gov/Documents/20050829160953-04500.pdf.
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Families Hit National Guard Hotline
Normally, it’s the families at home in the U.S. who are worried about
their deployed loved ones and want as much information on their welfare as
they can get. But with Hurricane Katrina, now it’s the other way around—it’s
the deployed servicemembers overseas who desperately want information on how
their families at home are doing. Thousands of troops from the Gulf Coast are
deployed away from home and they are worried. So the National Guard Bureau’s
hotline program is working overtime to link family members. Also, there is
a Web site encouraging military families in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama
to report to the hotline their status and whereabouts. To accommodate the increased
number of calls, there were plans to have a new phone bank operational by Sept.
2. The National Guard Bureau toll-free number is (888) 777-7731 .
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IRS Privatizes More Jobs
The IRS decided to turn over to a private contractor the jobs of 58 employees
at five agency service centers around the country as well as in its headquarters
operation. President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union
(NTEU) said the work at issue involves the building delegation function in
the IRS’ Agency-Wide Shared Services Division. The function involves
the operation and maintenance of buildings where the IRS has an agreement with
the General Services Administration requiring it to maintain facility services
such as operations, repairs, scheduled preventive maintenance and equipment
certifications.The employees will be off the rolls by March
2006, according to NTEU.
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