FederalDaily.com > NTEU Lawsuit Challenges FCIP Hiring Rules

FederalDaily - January 26, 2007

NTEU Lawsuit Challenges FCIP Hiring Rules

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) has filed a lawsuit challenging rules covering the Federal Career Intern Program (FCIP), alleging that government agencies use FCIP to circumvent merit principles in federal workforce hiring. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges the rules issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to implement FCIP, which started as an interim program seven years ago, but became a permanent hiring authority via OPM regulations in 2005. FCIP was designed as a limited, special-focus hiring effort with the aim of providing structured, two-year training and development “internships” as a strategic recruiting tool. But it has turned into something else, according to NTEU. The union said that, government-wide, agencies in Fiscal Year 2001 used FCIP authority to hire about 400 employees. But in FY 2005, NTEU said, the number had grown to more than 11,000, while the number of employees hired through competitive procedures declined by approximately the same number. In a statement, OPM Director Linda Springer called the lawsuit “unfortunate,” saying the government needs “every available tool” to ensure an effective workforce in the face of large-scale impending retirements. To see more, go to www.nteu.org.

Murray Presses VA/Pentagon for Seamless Vet Transition

Citing long waiting lists for healthcare and benefits, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., questioned top officials from the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) about how the government plans to improve its support for servicemembers returning home from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. At a Jan. 23 hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Murray cited government investigations in telling Defense Dept. (DoD) Undersecretary David Chu and Deputy VA Secretary Gordon Mansfield that the status quo is unacceptable. Murray noted returning veterans were having trouble getting housing, with some estimates saying that up to 1,000 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are homeless today. Other vets have complained of waiting up to six months to see a VA doctor for primary care, she said. “From the veterans I’ve talked to, it’s clear that we do not offer them a “seamless transition” from the battlefront to the home front, and that has really got to change,” Murray said. To see more, go to: http://murray.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=267841.

OIG Drops Call for Fines on Four SSA Employees

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Social Security Administration (SSA) has withdrawn proposed fines of up to $3.5 million that it sought against four SSA employees, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said on Jan. 24. NTEU served as counsel for two bargaining unit employees and a supervisor at SSA’s Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) to fight the huge fines sought by the OIG. NTEU, which represents about 800 employees at ODAR, also served as amicus curiae for private counsel representing the fourth SSA employee facing fines. The charges arose when the OIG invoked a section of the Social Security Act aimed at those who fraudulently seek Social Security benefits, and attempted to apply the law to SSA employees for conduct that occurred in the performance of official duties. NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said that the OIG’s “sudden reversal of course and its extraordinary agreement to forgo taking any action at all against these employees shows that there was nothing to the OIG’s charges from the beginning.” To see more, go to: www.nteu.org.

Ex-State Dept. Official Sentenced for Secrets Violations

A former State Department official was sentenced to a year and a day in jail for removing classified government material and then lying about it to federal investigators. Donald Willis Keyser, 63, of Fairfax Station, Va, was sentenced Jan. 22 to the jail time and a $25,000 fine following his guilty plea to charges that he unlawfully removed classified documents from State and took them to his residence. Keyser also admitted that he lied to a federal investigator about his ties to Isabelle Cheng, an intelligence officer of Taiwan. During a search of Keyser’s home on Sept. 4, 2004, FBI agents discovered 3,559 classified documents in hard-copy form. These documents included 28 classified at the Top Secret Level, including National Intelligence Estimates and other documents containing Sensitive Compartmented Information. Also, the FBI found numerous floppy disks in Keyser’s home that contained classified information, 100 of which were classified at the Secret level. “Mr. Keyser had an absolute obligation to safeguard the classified information entrusted to him and utterly failed to do so,” U. S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg stated, “His sentence of imprisonment is a warning to others in positions of public trust.” To see more, go to: www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae/Pressreleases/01-JanuaryPDFArchive/07/20070122keyser_donaldnr.pdf.

TSP Executive Director Resigns

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Executive Director Gary Amelio announced he is resigning from his post after three and half years on the job. He will accept a position as president of the retirement services business unit of insurance and investment services company ULLICO, Inc. Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board Chairman Andrew Saul said Amelio’s private sector retirement services experience had been “just the right recipe for leading the already successful TSP to the next level.” In late 2005, Amelio oversaw the launch of the TSP Lifecycle (L) funds, which currently are being used by about a half million TSP participants.