Federal Daily - May 1, 2008

GSA Chief Resigns

General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Lurita Doan announced this week that she has submitted her resignation as head of the government’s contracting and building agency. Doan, the first woman to head GSA, in a statement cited agency accomplishments during her 22-month tenure, including aggressive work on a telework initiative and improved employee morale. Doan’s time at GSA, however, also had been plagued by investigations for a number of purported activities, ranging from alleged violation of the Hatch Act to allegations that she attempted to neutralize the agency’s inspector general by cutting his office’s budget. Over the last year, she has been the target of investigations initiated by the Office of Special Counsel; by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee; and by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. To see more, go to: www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?pageTypeId=8199&channelId=-13259&P=&contentId=24426&contentType=GSA_BASIC.

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FRTIB Pushes Automatic TSP Enrollment for New Hires

Lawmakers are expected to move forward with legislation supported by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) calling for automatic Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) enrollment of new employees that would amount to a 3 percent deduction from their basic pay. Gregory T. Long, FRTIB executive director, testified in support of the automatic deduction at a House subcommittee on April 29. FRTIB oversees the TSP. Long noted that 14 percent of civilian federal employees and 73 percent of servicemembers are not TSP members. Such federal employees are “less likely to be financially self-sufficient in retirement than their counterparts who do contribute,” Long said. Under the plan, employees could opt out within a 90-day grace period and withdraw funds without a tax penalty. To see more, go to: http://federalworkforce.oversight.house.gov/documents/20080429171433.pdf

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Bill Would Extend Life of Post-Walter Reed Review Panel

A new bill—if it becomes law—would extend the life of the DoD/Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) troop-to-civilian oversight committee empanelled in the wake of the Walter Reed Medical Center scandal last year. The panel, called the VA/DOD Senior Oversight Committee (SOC), is scheduled to be terminated in January 2009, said Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. Akaka’s bill would make sure the group—responsible for improving the transition from military service to veteran status for severely wounded and injured servicemembers—received a three-year extension to 2012. “The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will outlast the current administration,” said Akaka. “I am committed to sustaining this effort as long as our troops are in combat.”  To see more, go to: http://veterans.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?pageid=12&release_id=11655.

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