FederalDaily - February 27, 2006

Navy Promotion Board Disbanded

The Navy said last week that due to a “possible breach of integrity” its fiscal year 2007 active-duty commander line promotion selection board was disbanded. This action came after it was discovered that written material not specifically approved by the secretary of the Navy for distribution to board members was made available to selection board members, both prior to and during the selection board. An investigation has been convened into the issue. The officer who sent the unapproved material has been relieved, pending the outcome of the investigation, the Navy stated. “Our sailors must have complete confidence in the absolute integrity of the board process. Any time there is a possibility that something could happen to impact that process, we do not hesitate to take appropriate action,” said Vice Adm. John C. Harvey, Jr., chief of Naval Personnel. The Navy said the board will be reconvened with new members as soon as possible.

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NATCA Criticizes FAA Staffing Plans

According to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is planning to cut new hires in order to reduce its fiscal year 2006 budget by 1 percent. NATCA said the FAA decided to scale back its plan to hire 1,249 air traffic controllers by 300 (a 25 percent decrease). NATCA President John Carr wrote on a Web blog, “For the existing work force, who was anxiously waiting for both reinforcements and replacements, the disappointment is palpable.” He added, “These are positions that the FAA themselves said in December of 2004 were critical.” NATCA also noted last week that the 14,227 controllers currently working for the FAA represent a 7.5 percent decrease in numbers from the 2003 controller work force.

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NTEU Fights Privatization of IRS Mailrooms

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) announced last week that a federal court recently ruled that the IRS violated the law by using appropriated funds to privatize IRS mailroom work without allowing IRS employees to compete. NTEU said it won its lawsuit on the matter by establishing that language in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004 barred the use of appropriated funds to convert work to a private contractor without holding a public-private competition. NTEU President Colleen Kelley said, “NTEU’s intention is to hold the IRS—and other federal agencies—accountable for every act they do that works to the detriment of their employees.” The court has asked NTEU and the IRS to file briefs to determine the appropriate corrective action. NTEU wants the reinstatement of the 44 employees that lost their jobs, with back pay.

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IT Spending in 2007 Focused on DHS

The fiscal year (FY) 2007 budget proposed by the administration contains substantial increases for information technology (IT) initiatives at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and for other war on terror support efforts, according to a new report by the firm INPUT. In a press release last week, INPUT announced that government IT funding requests for FY 2007—totaling $64.3 billion—are a 3 percent increase from FY 2006. In particular, the FY 2007 IT budget request for DHS is a 21 percent increase from this year. The DHS increase of $772 million represents 44 percent of the total new IT dollars in the FY 2007 forecast. INPUT found that 21 of 27 civilian agencies will see an IT budget increase, including the Department of Labor (13 percent) and the Department of Interior (9 percent).

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