The Buzz

Private Screening

Under the screening partnership program, the nation's 440 commercial airports can begin applying to TSA starting Nov. 19 to opt out of the federal screening system and contract with private companies. The guidance is sure to stoke a contentious debate over whether airports should continue using a federal screening workforce, which Congress set up under TSA in the aftermath of 9/11.

Nobody is talking about returning to the system that was in place before 9/11, when airlines hired private screeners, usually with minimal background checks, and provided little training and low wages. Under the opt-out program, TSA will set standards, conduct oversight and enforce compliance of all screening operations.

Under TSA's guidelines, contract screeners must perform at least as well as their federal counterparts, and must comply with passenger and baggage standard operating procedures as prescribed by the law.

The new guidance appeared to satisfy at least one TSA critic: Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation. "This is a positive, evolutionary step in decentralizing the Soviet-style federal hiring, training and scheduling system that was structured after 9/11," Mica says.

Executive Sweeteners

Percentage of executives who said their agencies used Senior Executive Service performance management systems as a tool to manage the organization to a "great" or "very great" extent:

• Education - 26%
• HHS - 29%
• NASA - 33%

• Education - 28%
• HHS - 37%
• NASA - 47%

Source: General Accounting Office

Insecure D.C.

In June, members of the House Government Reform Committee hauled Thomas Lockwood, who became director of DHS' Office of National Capital Region Coordination in May, to Capitol Hill to respond to findings by government auditors that coordination of security and spending is sorely lacking in and around Washington.

"There really doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency by DHS with regard to the national capital region," said Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va. He noted that freight trains carrying hazardous and explosive material travel on a railroad line that runs through Washington and within a mile of critical government facilities.

Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., criticized DHS for leaving Lockwood's position vacant for five months. "The fact that they left this open for so long raises doubt about the commitment of the administration."

Lockwood said his office is developing an integrated plan for the region within "the next several months." He said his priorities are public education, development of interoperable communication systems, integration of intelligence and information sharing, and distribution of funds. He said he has visibility and support within DHS.

Hot Seat

WHY: Because the office was established in the wake of an inspector general's investigation, which found that contracting offices in GSA's Federal Technology Service violated procurement laws and regulations.

WHAT HE SAYS: "GSA needs to ensure robust competition for federal government business . . . . and [take] aggressive actions to fortify the integrity of acquisition activities."

Bush on Defense: Then and Now

Source: National Journal, June 26, 2004, based on data from the Defense Department and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments

ON THE RECORD: James Gilmore

On proposed legislation to create a director of national intelligence: I think that the real challenge that I would want to focus on is that if you're going to place somebody who's the director of national intelligence, make sure he has the authority to run the show. I had some sense of nervousness that, perhaps, some of the people at the second tier might end up actually with more knowledge and authority than the guy at the top, in which case he's a sitting duck.

I absolutely believe that budgetary authority is called for. In fact, when our commission first recommended a White House organization to develop a national strategy, we thought a central component of that would have been budgetary authority over all the different departments and all the different divisions in order to centralize some authority and power into one place to create that strategic vision.

On sharing information between levels of government: We have to find a way to get information going up and down the line. We see it centrally as a culture problem-an unwillingness, particularly for federal authorities, to share information or even to seek information. And yet, state and local people are often going to have that information. We have to put a structure into place that encourages that cooperation.

Frankly, the FBI hasn't always done all that well. I was an elected prosecutor for six years, and the interaction with the FBI was not particularly strong. But on the other hand, FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] is a model for working together between federal, state and local people.

So I think it's a cultural issue. We have to get away from our federal arrogance that says all knowledge and all assets and all residue of wisdom are located in the federal government.

On proposals to create a domestic intelligence-gathering agency: We argued over this for virtually a year. And there was a certain line of thinking of the commission that basically said, "Look, security is everything here. We've got to go to something that's not a law enforcement model." And that actually ended up prevailing as our recommendation to the Congress. My view and that of one or two others on the commission was that the FBI is the better approach. They are properly deployed. They, by virtue of their activity with law enforcement, understand what the Constitution is, what the law is and the fact that it applies within the domestic homeland.

Crowning Kerry

In a briefing for reporters, AFGE President John Gage said that the 210,000-member union believes Kerry would reverse President Bush's efforts to outsource government jobs and revamp civil service rules.

AFGE officials have vociferously criticized President Bush. For example, Gage has said the president "is in the midst of an all-out attack on the good citizens who make up the civil service."

Earlier this year, the Office of Special Counsel ordered AFGE to cease its get-out-the-vote efforts at federal agencies even before it endorsed Kerry.

OSC chief Scott Bloch ruled that statements by AFGE leaders attacking Bush indicated that the union's efforts were not nonpartisan.