NEWS: Dec. 2, 2016 The Military | The Nation Outspoken Retired Marine General Is Choice for Secretary of Defense President-elect Donald Trump has picked retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to be his secretary of defense, tapping yet another outspoken ex-military leader who butted heads with the Obama administration to carry out the president-elect's planned overhaul of Pentagon operations and a shift in national-security priorities. Mattis, a decorated combat leader nicknamed "Mad Dog" for his salty language and obsessive dedication to the military, was the top U.S. commander in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2010 to 2013. >> Politico, Military Times Wisconsin VA Dentist May Have Infected Hundreds Nearly 600 veterans could have been infected with HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C at a Veterans Affairs facility in Tomah, Wis., because a dentist didn't properly clean his instruments. The Tomah VA is investigating the dentist, who has been removed from patient care. >> McClatchey Newspapers Navy Presses Contractor to Pay for Personal-Data Breach The Navy is pressing private contractor Hewlett Packard Enterprise to pay for credit-monitoring services for sailors affected by a data breach that exposed more than 130,000 Social Security numbers. >> Navy Times Public Officials | California 'Come at Us,' Congressman Tapped to Be State AG Dares Trump Placing a defender of immigrant rights at the forefront of anticipated legal battles between California and the incoming Trump administration, Gov. Jerry Brown picked U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra to be California's next attorney general. Becerra, who if confirmed would be the state's first Latino to hold the post, said that if the Trump administration wants "to take on a forward-leaning state that is prepared to defend its rights and interests, then come at us." >> Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee St. Paul Mayor Won't Seek 4th Term St. Paul, Minn., Mayor Chris Coleman confirmed that he will not seek re-election to a fourth term, declining to discuss his future plans and remaining coy about whether he will run for governor in 2018. >> St. Paul Pioneer Press Public Workforce | New Jersey Court Strikes Down Civil-Service Changes A New Jersey appeals court struck down controversial changes Gov. Chris Christie's administration made to the state's civil-service system, the latest development in a years-long battle over the rules governing how thousands of public workers are hired and promoted. >> NJ.com California Governor Asking Court to Block Planned Strike Gov. Jerry Brown's administration will go to state court today to try to block an unprecedented one-day strike planned for next week by California's largest state-employee union. >> Sacramento Bee Transportation | The Washington, D.C., Region Metro Knew About Track Flaws a Year Before Derailment, NTSB Says Metro knew of track flaws more than a year before a July derailment, and the regional transit agency's track inspectors may have contributed to the crash by falsifying inspection reports month after month, according to documents released by the National Transportation Safety Board. >> Washington Post Commuter-Train Engineer Who Fell Asleep Sues Railroad The engineer who fell asleep at the controls of a New York commuter train that derailed in 2013, killing four people and injuring 61, has sued the Metro-North Commuter Railroad, alleging that it was negligent in failing to install an automatic braking system. >> Reuters Regulation | The Nation White House in Frenzy of Last-Minute Rulemaking The White House is engaged in a frenzied, final effort to put in place as many new rules and regulations as it can before President Obama leaves office on Jan. 20. Under consideration are executive actions that would affect public land in the West, private-sector pay, workplace safety, industrial energy efficiency and Wall Street bonuses. >> Washington Post Michigan Lawmakers Move to Ban Bag Bans The Michigan House gave final passage to a bill that would prohibit local communities from banning or imposing fees on plastic bags used by retailers to package goods in their communities. >> Detroit Free Press >> Follow GovManagement on Twitter >> Share this edition: | DATAPOINT About 50 Number of handguns, along with 80,000 rounds of ammunition, confiscated by Arizona state troopers from the state Department of Economic Security's basement shortly after director Tim Jeffries--who had expanded the agency's armed police force--was forced to resign and escorted from the building, according to the agency's interim director, who said troopers followed Jeffries to his Scottsdale home where they confiscated a handgun he had purchased for himself with public funds >> Arizona Republic | More data QUOTABLE “We're not three-year-olds who need sippy cups.” Minnesota state Sen. Torrey Westrom, who is among members trying to relax some of the chamber's strict rules of decorum, which include a ban on bringing food and beverages including bottled water to the Senate floor, a rule that supporters say is needed to protect the chamber's antique desks from water damage >> Minneapolis Star Tribune | More quotes VIEWPOINT Public Administration | Tom Fox How Federal Execs Can Navigate the Transition President-elect Donald Trump's transition landing teams have begun to descend on federal agencies across the government. For federal employees, this can be an unsettling time with many unknowns that include probable policy changes and new personalities calling the shots. But it also can be an opportunity for career executives to lay the groundwork for productive working relationships with the new team. There is no magic formula. It is about career executives providing transition team members with useful information, offering them the best possible insights and meeting their requests whenever possible. >> Washington Post PLUS: Dan Chenok on the challenges that await the new presidential administration's political appointees. >> Government Executive | More commentaries UPCOMING EVENTS American Enterprise Institute Seminar: "Global Economic Challenges for Donald Trump" Dec. 5, 10 a.m.-noon ET, Washington, D.C. Brookings Institution Report release, address by U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer and discussion: "Transforming Transportation with Autonomous Vehicles and the Sharing Economy: Are we ready?" Dec. 5, 10 a.m.-noon ET, Washington, D.C. Governing California Leadership Forum Dec. 6, Sacramento, Calif. Urban Institute Discussion: "Community Colleges Since the Great Recession" Dec. 6, 9:30-11 a.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Heritage Foundation Book discussion: "Defending American IP Rights and Promoting Due Process Protections Overseas: What Should the Next Administration Do?" Dec. 6, noon-1 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. American Society for Public Administration Webinar: "Big Data and Smart Cities Development" Dec. 6, 1 p.m. ET >> Full events listings
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