One step closer to OFPP, TSA administrators
November 3rd, 2009 | Congress Homeland Security OMB Procurement Transportation Security Administration | Posted by Elise Castelli
The Office of Management and Budget’s prospective procurement policy chief, Daniel Gordon, will face his first confirmation hurdle one week from today.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will quiz Gordon on his vision for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at 10 a.m. on Nov. 10. Gordon is slated to have his confirmation quiz alongside the president’s choice to lead the Transportation Security Administration, Erroll Southers.
Check in with FedLine and FederalTimes.com that day for complete coverage.
Tags: Daniel Gordon, Erroll Southers, OFPP, TSA
Thanks, DHS!
October 1st, 2009 | Agencies Congress Homeland Security | Posted by Rebecca Neal
If you work at the Homeland Security Department, the House of Representatives has some kind words for you.
Members of Congress love to bash DHS and interrogate officials at frequent congressional hearings, but the House voted Thursday to approve a resolution, H.Res. 731, expressing appreciation for the work DHS employees do. Here’s the official description of the bill:
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the employees of the Department of Homeland Security, their partners at all levels of government, and the millions of emergency response providers and law enforcement agents nationwide should be commended for their dedicated service on the Nation’s front lines in the war against acts of terrorism.
The green badge of preparedness
September 8th, 2009 | Homeland Security Uncategorized | Posted by Elise Castelli
“Be prepared,” that’s the Girl Scout motto. And now, a Girl Scout can earn a new, government-approved patch when she lives up to that ideal.
Today, the Homeland Security Department and the Girl Scouts of the USA unveiled the “preparedness” patch and a corresponding program to encourage young women and their families to be prepared for emergencies like storms, pandemics or terrorist attacks.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who is a former Girl Scout, said:
This new preparedness patch will increase citizen preparedness and enhance our country’s readiness for disasters.”
To earn the patch a scout must identify and prepare for emergencies, learn about emergency warning systems and complete community service.
No word on whether a box each of Thin Mints and Tagalongs would be a required addition to any emergency preparation kit, but this FedLine blogger (who was sadly not a scout) would strongly support such a move.
Can you tell me how to prevent the spread of swine flu?
September 1st, 2009 | Education HHS Homeland Security White House | Posted by Elise Castelli
For 40 years Sesame Street has been teaching children their letters and numbers, but this year the residents of the famed street are teaching kids a new lesson: how to prevent the spread of the H1N1 flu virus, better known as swine flu.
The White House, the Homeland Security Department, the Health and Human Services Department and the Education Department have teamed with the makers of Sesame Street to produce four public service announcements to teach children and families healthy habits that will prevent the spread of the potentially deadly virus. The PSAs can be viewed at www.flu.gov.
The 20-second spots feature Gordon and Elmo talking about topics as how to wash your hands and how to sneeze into your elbow.
Of the spots, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said:
Younger children and their parents are some of the people most at risk from the new H1N1 flu virus and with schools starting back up again and the weather starting to get colder, we need to do everything we can to get these important messages about how to prevent the spread of the flu out there.â€
This FedLine blogger’s Sesame Street experience predates Elmo, but I understand he’s pretty popular with the preschool set, so perhaps this will be an effective campaign. But to add authority, I think the spots should have included a visit from the one and only Dr. Grover.
Tags: Elmo, Gordon, Grover, H1N1, Kathleen Sebelius, National Preparedness Month, Sesame Street, swine flu
Firing poor performers: Federal Times wants to hear from you
August 6th, 2009 | HR Management Homeland Security | Posted by Steve Losey
Everybody’s heard the urban legend that it’s impossible to fire a government worker, but Federal Times wants to take a closer look at the federal firing process and find out what’s really going on. And to do that, we’d like to hear from you. Are you a manager who has found it impossible to get rid of the one bad apple in your office who can’t — or won’t — improve? Or has your agency backed you up when you needed to terminate someone for disciplinary reasons or poor performance? On the other hand, are you an employee who lost your job with the government, or did you successfully fight an attempt to remove you? What, if anything, should be done to improve the process?
E-mail me at slosey@federaltimes.com if you’d like to talk. If you’d prefer that your name not be published, that’s fine by me.
On another subject, I’m also interested in talking to Border Patrol agents and instructors at the Artesia, N.M. training academy about the agency’s massive hiring wave over the last few years. Are the agents hired since 2006 of the same caliber as recruits hired in the past? Has quality of new agents suffered as the agency tried to double its ranks in a few short years? Were you a recruit who decided that a career with the Border Patrol wasn’t for you, and if so, why?
Tags: Border Patrol, Firing, HR Management, performance management, recruitment
Threat level
July 14th, 2009 | Agencies Homeland Security | Posted by Gregg Carlstrom
Alyssa Rosenberg over at Government Executive’s blog thinks it’s reasonable to get rid of the color-coding in the Homeland Security Advisory System. I would go a step further and say it’s reasonable to scrap the whole thing.
The system is ineffective because the “alert level” is stuck in the middle of the scale. It has been either yellow or orange since the system was created 7 years ago — except for a few days in 2006, when it went to red because of the British airline plot (and the red level only applied to the airline industry).
That’s understandable. DHS doesn’t want to raise the level to red too often: it scares people, and it creates a lot of extra security costs for all levels of government. And DHS is reluctant to lower the level — can you imagine the criticism if a terror attack happened while the “alert level” was at green?
But the result is that HSAS is stuck in the middle, at the be-alert-but-not-too-alert level, and it’s just not terribly useful for citizens.
DHS should certainly issue guidance when it has intelligence about specific threats. But the idea of a “threat level” just doesn’t seem to work in practice.
Committee approves Johnson, Beers nominations
June 8th, 2009 | General Services Administration Homeland Security | Posted by Elise Castelli
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved two nominations today:
- Martha Johnson, to be administrator of the General Services Administration.
- Rand Beers, to be under secretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate at the Homeland Security Department.
Both now face confirmation by the full Senate.
Tags: confirmation, Martha Johnson, nominations, Rand Beers
Preparedness…not just for scouts anymore
June 1st, 2009 | Agencies Commerce Homeland Security | Posted by Elise Castelli
Happy first day of hurricane season everyone! Your fellow feds at the National Weather Service are predicting a “near-normal Atlantic hurricane season” this year, with “nine to 14 named storms, of which four to seven could become hurricanes, including one to three major hurricanes.”
With this news, both the National Weather Service and FEMA remind us that “be prepared” should be everyone’s motto, not just the Boy Scouts’ motto. FEMA had this to say in a news release today:
Everyone, even, those living outside of hurricane-risk areas, should check personal preparations such as emergency kit supplies (enough to last at least 72 hours), note messages from local emergency officials, and rehearse emergency evacuation routes…Important items to have ready in case of an emergency include a battery-powered radio, flashlight, extra batteries, medicines, non-perishable food, hand-operated can opener, utility knife, and first aid supplies. Copy and store your important documents in a waterproof bag. These may include medical records, contracts, property deeds, leases, banking records, insurance records and birth certificates.
Now that you know what to do at home, do you recall what to do in the federal office space should a storm strike? Have you looked at your continuity of operations plans lately? Are you prepared?
Tags: COOP, emergency preparedness, FEMA, hurricane season, National Weather Service
FEMA will stay in DHS
May 13th, 2009 | Agencies Homeland Security | Posted by Rebecca Neal
President Barack Obama’s administration put an end to years of debate Wednesday when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will stay within DHS.
FEMA had been an independent agency before the creation of DHS after Sept. 11, 2001, and many have argued that it could respond to disasters best by being removed from the bureaucracy of DHS.
For a full story, check back with Federal Times shortly.
Tags: Barack Obama, DHS, FEMA
Hold lifted on FEMA nominee
May 12th, 2009 | Agencies Congress Homeland Security | Posted by Rebecca Neal
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., announced Tuesday he’s lifted his hold on the nomination of W. Craig Fugate as administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Vitter had put the hold on Fugate’s nomination as an effort to get answers from FEMA officials over rebuilding coastal areas, V-Zones, decimated during hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He lifted the hold after recieving a letter from FEMA Acting Administration Nancy Ward promising to resolve the rebuilding issue quickly.
He said he was pleased that FEMA responded to his concerns.
Louisianans have gotten way too many easy spoken assurances from FEMA over the last four years that didn’t mean anything. Now that I’ve secured a specific written commitment from them on the V-Zone issue, we can move forward.”
Fugate’s nomination had been thought to be non-controversial. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved his nomination by voice vote April 27. A floor vote on his nomination hasn’t been scheduled.