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NEWS: Nov. 21, 2016
IG: Despite Data Breach, OPM Still Weak on Cybersecurity The Office of Personnel Management, which suffered a devastating data breach last year, still suffers from extensive cyber weaknesses, including inadequate scanning for computer vulnerabilities and extremely high turnover among information-security staffers, according to an audit by OPM's inspector general. The agency also had five different chief information officers during the past three years, the audit noted. >> Nextgov IG Dings IRS Workers on Use of Insecure Email Internal Revenue Service employees do not always adhere to official policy on avoiding transmission of private, personally identifiable taxpayer information via insecure, unencrypted email, according to an inspector general's report citing the risk of identity theft. >> Government Executive Michigan State University Uncovers Data Breach An email sent to Michigan State University attempting to extort money helped the university identify a data breach that affected about 400,000 records for 449 people and included names, Social Security and MSU identification numbers, a university spokesman said. >> Lansing State Journal Public Officials | The Nation New GSA Program to Train Political Appointees The General Services Administration is spending $1 million for a new program addressing one of the biggest missing pieces of the presidential transition: training and continuous education for political appointees, many of whom come in with little or no executive-branch knowledge and risk stepping into policy or regulatory potholes. >> Federal News Radio Indiana Sheriff, Mayor Indicted on Bribery Charges A federal grand jury indicted Lake County, Ind., Sheriff John Buncich, his chief deputy and Portage Mayor James Snyder, accusing them of collecting bribes for contracts for towing and other services. >> AP/Indianapolis Star
Obama Urged to Remove NSA Chief Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. have recommended to President Obama that the director of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael S. Rogers, be removed, with top officials expressing frustration over the speed at which Rogers had moved to combat the Islamic State and the agency's repeated loss of closely guarded secrets. Rogers is being considered by President-elect Donald Trump to be his nominee to replace Clapper. >> Washington Post, New York Times Poll: 1 in 4 Troops Worried About Trump Orders Despite overwhelming support for President-elect Donald Trump among active-duty military-service members, one in four worry that he may issue orders that violate military rules or traditions, according to a new Military Times/Institute for Military and Veterans Families Poll. >> Military Times
Governor Launches Initiative to Fight Hate Crimes, Guard Rights Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched an initiative to combat hate crimes and protect civil rights, saying the divisive presidential campaign has prompted a wave of disturbing incidents across the state and the country. Cuomo said he would form a hate-crimes unit of the state police, propose legislation increasing protections against discrimination for public school students, and establish a legal defense fund for impoverished immigrants. >> Reuters Maryland's High Court Urged to Reform Bail System Judges in Maryland would not be able to set bail too high for a poor defendant to pay unless the defendant is considered a flight risk or a danger to society under a rule change that a key judiciary committee voted to recommend to the state's highest court. >> Washington Post K-12 Education | Detroit State: Kids Have No Fundamental Right to Literacy Attorneys for Gov. Rick Snyder say no fundamental right to literacy exists for Detroit schoolchildren who are suing Snyder and state education leaders alleging that decades of state disinvestment and indifference to the city's schools have denied them access to literacy. >> Detroit News Texas Agency: Kids with Disabilities Must Be Served Facing increasing criticism over its special-education enrollment benchmark, the Texas Education Agency told schools that they must provide services to all eligible students with disabilities and that they will no longer be penalized for serving too many children. >> Houston Chronicle (subscription required)
Ex-Berkeley Law School Dean Drops Racial-Discrimination Suit Sujit Choudhry, the former University of California-Berkeley law school dean who resigned while facing sexual-harassment allegations, has dropped his racial discrimination suit against the university. Choudhry, who is of Indian descent, had contended that he was being treated more harshly than two white faculty colleagues who also were accused of sexual harassment. >> San Francisco Chronicle Moody's: Trump Rhetoric Could Cut International Students Xenophobic rhetoric and nativist policies heralded by President-elect Donald Trump could have consequences for colleges counting on foreign students to raise revenue by slowing the flow of students from overseas, according to Moody's Investors Service. >> Washington Post >> Follow GovManagement on Twitter >> Share this edition:
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DATAPOINT Nearly $9,000 Amount by which average annual earnings of graduates of public colleges' career-training programs exceed the average earnings of those who received their certificates from for-profit schools, according to a U.S. Department of Education report finding that nearly a third of for-profit graduates have median earnings below the federal minimum wage, currently set at $7.25 an hour >> AP/Yahoo News | More data
“Austin is losing a moral and joyous leader, and I'm losing a friend.” Austin Mayor Steve Adler, confirming that the Texas capital city's police chief, Art Acevedo, will be moving to Houston to become the first Latino to lead the police force of the nation's fourth-largest city, saying that Austin's departing chief "has made our community safer and closer, and he is trusted and much loved by so many" >> Houston Chronicle | More quotes VIEWPOINT Politics | Tyler Roylance What Autocrats Can't Deliver Our unusually ugly and divisive presidential election has been met with gloating in authoritarian capitals. The Kremlin's chief propagandist said it was "so horribly noxious that it only engenders disgust towards what is still inexplicably called a 'democracy.'" Many Americans would agree with such sentiments. But it is important to remember that the institutions of democracy are designed to perform multiple, sometimes contradictory tasks. One is to protect the rights of individuals and minorities. Another is to channel public grievances into peaceful changes in leadership and policy. Authoritarian states are clearly failing to deliver on either goal. >> Freedom House | More commentaries
UPCOMING EVENTS Brookings Institution Documentary discussion: "Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise" Today, 6-7:30 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Urban Institute Webinar: "A Universal Child Allowance to Reduce Poverty and Improve Child Development" Nov. 22, noon ET, Washington, D.C. Government Technology Webinar: "Social Media Is a Record: How Juneau, Alaska, Protects Transparency with Automated Archiving" Nov. 22, 2 p.m. ET Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security Nov. 27-Dec. 9, Cambridge, Mass. National Association of Attorneys General Fall Meeting Nov. 28-30, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Federal Computer Week Conference: "Federal IT After the Transition" Nov. 29, Washington, D.C. Jennifer Schaus & Associates, George Mason University Procurement Technical Assistance Center and Arlington Economic Development Seminar: "Doing Business With DoD and Intel Community" Nov. 28, 7 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET, Arlington, Va. American Enterprise Institute Discussion: "Conversation with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann" Nov. 29, 9:30-10:30 a.m. ET, Washington, D.C. >> Full events listings |
