Jason Miller covers civilian agencies in the federal government with a focus on technology and acquisition. He is also an executive editor at Federal News Radio. Jason's reports can be heard Monday - Friday on the Federal Drive and In Depth.

New FAR rule would permanently require prompt payments to small subs

The Federal Acquisition Regulations Council's proposal would implement part of a July 2012 memo from the Office of Management and Budget. The memo directed agencies to take specific steps to ensure accelerated payments to small businesses.

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OMB delaying budget passback guidance, creating uncertainty

The White House typically gives agencies both funding and policy updates for the upcoming budget request by Thanksgiving. This year OMB decided to hold off on passback guidance because of the current fiscal negotiations with Congress. Several senior agency officials said this lag will compress the timeline to respond to the information and require them to prepare for something that may never happen.

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DHS issues $6B RFQ for continuous monitoring tools, services

The blanket purchase agreement lists 15 tools and 11 service areas that DHS wants vendors to provide to improve agency cybersecurity.

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OPM fast tracking draft regulations for phased retirement

Director John Berry said the agency's Innovation Lab is helping to take a different, more rapid approach to developing the proposed rule to implement the new program. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) also is suggesting the creation of a "leave bank" for workers who leave federal service but plan to return. Berry said that's an innovative idea OPM may look at.

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Online Chat: Charlie Armstrong, CIO, CBP

Federal News Radio hosted an online chat with Charlie Armstrong, assistant commissioner and chief information officer at Customs and Border Protection. If you missed it live, view an archived version of the chat here.

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Changes in federal acquisition environment taking toll on vendors

Preliminary results from a Grant Thornton survey of contractors show profits, revenues and overall participation in the government market is down. The pressure from the administration's steps to reign in high risk contracts and reduce spending is having an impact on most contractors. The Navy, for example, is trying to be more disciplined in how it buys goods and services.

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OMB ratchets up accountability on high-priority goals

The administration updated Performance.gov with a variety of data to highlight progress against each agency's goals and the cross-agency goals. OMB's Shelley Metzenbaum said the depth of information now on the site puts pressure on agencies to meet or surpass their goals. Interior and Education provide examples of how the discipline that the high-priority goals demanded has positively impacted their agency.

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Highest ranked agencies distinguished by strong leadership

NASA, the Surface Transportation Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation share a common trait that led them to the top ranking for their size class in the Partnership for Public Service's seventh annual Best Places to Work survey. Transportation, OMB and the National Credit Union Administration earn the most improved status by implementing the best practices of the leading agencies.

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Agency collaboration founded in personal relationships

Several departments are seeing the benefits from governmentwide collaboration. The interagency National Intellectual Property Coordination Center used its relationships to get the word out more quickly about counterfeit air bags that potentially could explode on impact. HR University absorbed millions of dollars in performance management training courses from an agency who on the CHCO Council.

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TSA's playbook keeps terrorists guessing

The agency developed a playbook to help officials keep their processes and procedures unpredictable. Deputy Administrator John Halinski said TSA is using a risk-management approach to protecting transportation systems. GAO said DHS as a whole is doing a better job using risk to make decisions.

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Declassification board 'agitates' for changes to document management

The Public Interest Declassification Board submitted 14 recommendations to President Barack Obama at the end of November. The suggestions cover everything from moving out of the three-tiered classification system to a two-tiered process to strengthening the National Archives and Records Administration's National Declassification Center to giving federal employees "safe harbor" protection if they adhere to a rigorous risk management process in how they perform their classification duties.

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Budget pressures force EEOC to shift gears

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission needed to find savings after its IT budget received a 15 percent reduction in 2012. Kim Hancher, the EEOC CIO, decided to reduce spending on mobile devices and instituted a BYOD policy to cut spending by almost 50 percent.
December 6, 2012

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OMB increasing the tempo of strategic sourcing

A new memo from acting OMB Director Jeff Zients to agency leaders codifies an interagency council to oversee the promotion and implementation of bulk buying. Each agency also must name a senior official to oversee their efforts.

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Lawmakers laying odds against sequester taking place

Sens. Mark Warner and Bob Corker and Rep. Chris Van Hollen all believe there is at better than a 50 percent chance Congress and the White House will agree on a budget reduction plan before Jan. 1. But federal pay and benefits, and contract spending remain on the table to be part of the cuts.

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GSA, ISE begin work on creating a standards-based acquisition process

The two agencies met this week to figure out how best to implement the recommendations in a white paper from ACT-IAC. The approach detailed in the document follows closely the methodology used to develop the NIEM and FICAM standards.

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GSA to phase out apps.gov portal

The agency cites its desire to streamline services as the reason to phase out the site. But industry experts say use of apps.gov has been minimal and there was no clear market for the portal. OMB launched the site in September 2009.

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Agencies making inroads with workforce, succession planning

IRS, DoD and Interior all are pursuing an assortment of initiatives to prepare for personnel reductions. DoD will release an updated workforce strategic plan by 2015. The IRS is using an online assessment tool to measure how ready employees are to move into leadership positions. Interior is getting managers to understand their important role in workforce planning.

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New contracts set EPA's roadmap toward IT centralization

Malcolm Jackson, the agency's CIO, said two new contracts for IT hardware and email will begin to transform the way EPA buys and uses technology.
November 29, 2012

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House Republicans deride VA for non-answers on conference spending

The Veterans' Affairs Committee is turning up its oversight heat after Veterans Affairs officials "stonewalled" their questions. Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) said there are 66 outstanding questions on conference spending that the committee has been waiting for answers from VA since August. VA pushed back saying it has responded as quickly and as accurately as possible.

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OPM's new closure policies aim to clear up confusion

The Office of Personnel Management wants to ensure the confusion over the status of federal offices during Hurricane Sandy is not repeated for future natural or man-made events. OPM officially released the new language Tuesday and updated its dismissal and closure procedures by incorporating the lessons learned from last month's superstorm and last January's ice storm. The language tries to simplify and clarify what federal employees should during natural or man-made disasters. OPM also wants agencies to refocus their efforts on telework so as many employees are able to work during an emergency as possible.

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