Jason Miller Reports 
Top News
- Senators push Tangherlini for assurances GSA is improving
- As VA works to eliminate one backlog, one more might emerge
- Senator: IRS to pay $70M in employee bonuses
- Furlough song: Laugh or you'll cry
- Navy strikes enterprise licensing deal with Oracle
- Contractors with security clearances lack path to report problems
- NSA leak case gives vendors reason to reevaluate personnel
- Does security clearance process need a makeover?
- 8 contract executives guilty of 8(a) contracting fraud
- Whistleblower suit leads to $12M false claims settlement by SAIC
- NASA engineer, 29, recognized for improving aeronautical testing
- USPS reaches energy reduction goal ahead of schedule
- NOAA meteorologist helps save lives one storm at a time
- NASA picks 8 new astronauts, 4 of them women
- House passes sweeping $638 billion defense bill
- NIH tops list of best companies for baby boomers
- Latest postal reform proposal OKs 5-day delivery
- Wednesday federal headlines - June 19, 2013
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.
Army IT Agency showing the value, potential of emerging technologies
Greg Garcia, the director of the Army's IT Agency, said the organization has been piloting a virtualized desktop initiative and almost is ready to move into full production.
Senators push Tangherlini for assurances GSA is improving
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee members support Dan Tangherlini to be the permanent administrator of the General Services Administration. Lawmakers, however, wanted more answers about the troubled SAM program and the recent IG report on management interference of contract negotiations.
EPA CIO Jackson returning to private sector
Malcolm Jackson, the Environmental Protection Agency's chief information officer and assistant administrator in the Office of Environmental Information, will leave government after three years.
House approves IT reform amendment to Defense bill
The first major IT reform bill in a decade has cleared the first of three hurdles to become law. The bill would empower CIOs by reducing the number of people with that title to one per agency, and give that person authority over the IT budget and personnel decisions.
GSA to review all internal contracting practices after latest IG report
The review comes in the wake of the agency's recent inspector general report that revealed management interference on schedule contract negotiations. Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini said the review will ensure the agency's contracting work is "performed with transparency and honesty."
House lawmakers press VA for more details, assurances after cyber attacks
House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) and ranking member Michael Michaud (D-Maine) sent Secretary Eric Shinseki a letter asking for an explanation on why VA didn't tell the committee about multiple nation state attacks. The lawmakers call for VA to offer credit monitoring services to tens of millions of veterans.
Lawmakers, industry press OFPP not to make strategic sourcing mandatory
The House Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and the Workforce is searching for answers about the potential impact on competition if the White House mandates the use of strategic sourcing contracts. Four industry associations provided little support for compulsory use, citing potential risks to the government and harm to vendors.
GSA's Rung to lead Office of Governmentwide Policy
Anne Rung will take over for Kathleen Turco and continue to be the agency's chief acquisition officer.
DISA collapsing wired networks, expanding wireless
Dave Bennett, the DISA chief information officer, is reducing the number of classified and unclassified networks to reduce costs and improve capabilities. At the same time, he's ready to expand the use of wireless capabilities across Fort Meade, Md.
June 13, 2013
DHS finds classified cyber sharing program slow to take off
The Enhanced Cybersecurity Services program has seen a lot of interest by vendors, but few have invested in accepting cyber threat data from the government. Meanwhile, the Cyber Information Sharing and Collection Program is growing through the two-way sharing of unclassified threat indicators.
White House to SES: No Presidential Rank Awards bonus money in 2013
The administration has suspended the monetary part of the program because of budget reductions. OPM will continue to accept nominations through Friday, however.
Rep. Issa heading down familiar path for IT reform; Senate still in discovery mode
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) plans to offer the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) as an amendment later this week to the 2013 Defense Authorization bill. The Senate held a hearing looking at the best approach to empower federal CIOs. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee heard that transparency, visibility and senior leadership are common traits among successful CIOs.
Inside the Reporter's Notebook: Some question who's in charge at GSA with six feds on admin leave
Industry experts say GSA is looking for scapegoats for the problems outlined in two recent inspector general reports, instead of stepping back and understanding the real issues auditors raised.
Agencies improving security of IT networks slowly, but surely
The White House released updated progress report on the cross-agency cybersecurity goals and found most agencies improved. The administration said more agencies are using smart cards to log onto their networks and more are implementing continuous monitoring.
New data could be difference-maker for move to shared services
OMB and Treasury have been working with the four federal financial management shared services providers to collect information on cost and performance. OMB Deputy Controller Norman Dong said the data will help agencies make true comparisons of the providers.
OPM offering 300 buyouts, early outs across 14 divisions
The Office of Personnel Management wants to trim its ranks as part of a comprehensive workforce strategy. The goal is to transform the workforce to better align skills and mission needs.
IG: 'Serious problems' with OPM's $2B revolving fund must be addressed
The Office of Personnel Management's inspector general says he needs $6 million to address "serious problems" with the agency's $2 billion revolving fund. Patrick McFarland told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that his current budget isn't nearly enough to root out waste, fraud and abuse across the revolving fund and other areas of OPM.
NRC jumping into cloud, baby-stepping into mobile computing
Darren Ash, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's CIO, said the agency is reviewing vendor responses to a sources sought notice in preparation to move systems to the cloud. NRC employees also are piloting mobile devices.
June 5, 2013
Lawmakers, IG expose further vulnerabilities in VA's cybersecurity
The Veterans Affairs Department has been compromised by at least eight different nation state organizations that stole data from its systems, House lawmakers and other experts say. VA officials say there always are risks, but their computer security is better than ever before.
Todd Grams to return to IRS as chief of staff
Acting Commissioner Danny Werfel requested Grams come back to the IRS for a third stint and leave his current role as the executive-in-charge in the Office of Management and chief financial officer at the Veterans Affairs Department.
