FederalDaily - December 10, 2007
President Orders Federal Offices Closed on Dec. 24
President Bush has issued an executive order giving employees of executive departments and agencies
the day off on Christmas Eve, Monday, Dec. 24. While most feds will get the day off—and a four-day
weekend—agency heads will have the authority to keep some feds on the job that day, especially
in offices that serve national security or other critical public needs. To see the order, go to: www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/12/20071206-5.html.
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GAO: Returning Vets Could Swell Affordable Housing Demand
An anticipated surge of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan—some with physical and
psychological challenges—could significantly increase demand for affordable rental housing, said
a Government Accountability Office report. In testimony on Dec. 5 before a House Financial Services
subcommittee, GAO auditors said they looked at the veterans housing market in light of the disproportionately
large numbers of veterans who have appeared among the homeless population in recent years. GAO found
that in 2005 an estimated 2.3 million veteran renter households had low incomes and of those, about
56 percent (or an estimated 1.3 million) had housing affordability problems. Although veterans can
receive rental assistance through voucher programs from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s
(HUD) housing choice voucher, public housing and project-based programs, HUD’s major rental assistance
programs are not required to take a household’s veteran status into account when determining
eligibility. Complicating things is the fact that rental assistance is not an entitlement, which means
that not all who are eligible receive assistance. For example, only about an estimated 11 percent of
all eligible low-income veteran households (about 250,000) received rental assistance in FY 2005, the
report said. To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/new.items/d08324t.pdf.
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Report: State Should Improve Planning for Reconstruction Efforts
The State Department needs to improve planning and coordination of yet untested programs aimed at
the reconstruction and stabilization of weak and failing countries, said a new Government Accountability
Office (GAO) report. GAO examined the efforts of the State Department’s Office of the Coordinator
for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS), which was created in 2004, as well as at State’s
progress in implementing a Civilian Reserve Corps (CRC) to respond to foreign crises. In the report
released Dec. 6, GAO said that guidance on the roles of the different agencies involved in the reconstruction
and stabilization operations remains unclear and inconsistent. Also, while State has begun to develop
three civilian corps—including the CRC—that can deploy rapidly to international crises,
key details for establishing and maintaining these units remain resolved, the report said, including
questions related to staffing, training, funding and mission. To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/new.items/d0839.pdf.
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TSP Posts Year-End Processing Schedule
The Thrift Savings Plan will use a special processing schedule for end-of-the-year 2007 transactions.
The schedule is available at www.tsp.gov/curinfo/specint/yearend-cutoff-dates-2007Dec.pdf.
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