Cybersecurity getting better, says former DHS cyber chief

11-20-09

Every Federal agency is working at keeping their networks safe. Agencies are making progress in staying ahead of the bad guys, but some power shifts are necessary to keep the positive momentum going. So says Greg Garcia, former Assistant Secretary of Cyber Security and Communications for the Department of Homeland Security. He told me today that overall agencies are headed in the right direction, but Congress's oversight process and the leadership structure inside the agencies both need a shakeup to assure the progress being made continues. He also shared his thoughts on the debate over the administration's cyber czar, and whether that person should be Senate-confirmed or not.

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Sen. Tom Carper on solving the issue of improper payments

11-19-09

By Dorothy Ramienski
Internet Editor
FederalNewsRadio

The Obama administration is taking a look at improper payments in the hopes of saving millions of dollars.

The president will soon issue an executive order requiring department secretaries to name a Senate-confirmed official to monitor improper payments.

Additionally, this information will be moved to an online dashboard to help agencies fix their problems.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) said he is pleased that the administration is taking this step, but also noted that it's a complicated issue and the problem can't easily be solved.

Carper said there are a number of reasons why the number has gone up so much in one near -- and one of those has to do with the fact that more agencies are required to report improper payments. Thus, there was $72 billion reported for 2008 and $98 billion for 2009.

President Obama's Executive Order would require all agencies at the cabinet level to report and recently OMB's Peter Orzag said a Senate-confirmed official will be personally responsible for reducing the amount of improper payments.

Carper said, it's a start.

"I hope whoever's put in charge of going after the improper payments is somebody that has some clout -- not just within OMB, but throughout the administration. . . . The administration seems not only intent on making sure that agencies are reporting improper payments and trying to reduce improper payments, [but] they share my interest -- the interest of our subcommittee -- in going after . . . overpayments and recover those as we can. When you're running a budget deficit of over $1 trillion, we've got to do a whole lot of things."

He tells Federal News Radio, however, that he does think more can be done.

"I'm concerned, among other things, that the portion of the Defense family that actually does reporting on improper payments is largely [focused] on payroll and benefits of our folks in the Armed services. There probably aren't going to be a whole heck of a lot of mistakes there. The part that's not reporting under the law is the contractor payments. We've seen some horror stories, particularly in Iraq, but to some extent in Afghanistan, that there's real money that's being wasted there."

This is why the Senator plans to hold a hearing in 2010 about why the contracting portion of DoD doesn't currently have to report on improper payments under the law.

He has also introduced legislation -- the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act -- which he said is on the same wavelength as the Executive Order.

"We can have laws. Agencies can say they comply with the laws enthusiastically, wholeheartedly or haphazardly or occasionally -- and folks that are running these agencies have a number of things to do, [so] what they need to hear from the Commander in Chief, the Secretaries of the departments and up and down the chain of command is that -- one, we want to identify improper payments; two, we want you to report properly the improper payments; three, we want you to reduce improper payments; and four, where monies have been misspent in overpayments or fraudulent payments, we want you to go out and get the money. . . .

"That message, to the extent that it becomes clearly sent from the administration and that OMB is making sure that it's going to be done [is] a huge help. We can pass a good piece of legislation. I think the initial law was good. We're going to make it better. One of the real keys is the determination of the administration to follow through. We're going to do our best to make sure they do. Our job in the legislative branch is to provide oversight."

Carper said he and many of his colleagues in the Senate realize that mistakes aren't always purposefully being made, but something needs to be done to reduce those errors and fight fraud.

"If you look at some of the post-audit cost recovery that's going on with respect to Medicare, it's actually encouraging. About three years ago, we started a demonstration project to go after fraudulent, misspent money in Medicare. During the first year, they recovered almost nothing. The second year they recovered something -- but last year they recovered about $700 million in just three states. We're intent, now, on extending that to the other 47 states."

Additionally, while the Medicare issue was being examined, Carper said Medicaid was also looked at during a hearing, and the subcommittee discovered something interesting.

"We had a witness from New York state who [was with] their Medicaid program, and he reported this year that the way that we have asked states to go after Medicaid fraud wasn't very smart. He said that the way the law works today is that all the states have 60 days to turn over half the money that we recover from fraud cases to the federal government. So, that means [states] have to make their cases, get a settlement, get an award and do it all in 60 days. That's not realistic, so, as a result, a lot of states look the other way on Medicaid fraud and don't do anything."

Carper said this problem is being handled in the Senate Finance Committee's healthcare reform bill, but it is indicative of the changes that need to be made to the overall system that examines improper payments.

To listen to the entire interview with Sen. Carper, click on the audio link at the top of the page.

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Attorney General Eric Holder's oversight hearing gets heated over 9/11 trials

11-18-09

Your agency head testifies at oversight hearings pretty regularly. But when he's just decided a few days ago to let a 9/11 criminal mastermind into the country for trial, those oversight hearings don't run in the normal way. That's the situation Attorney General Eric Holder found himself in today as he went before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Although much of the questioning focused on the terror trials, several Senators (including those featured in the highlights we played) wanted to know a lot about operational issues at DoJ.

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Performance budgeting gets a once-over from the House Budget Committee

11-18-09

Performance budgeting - the art of being able to pay for measures of performance - will require a partnership between the executive branch and the legislative branch. So says Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients in testimony to the House Budget Committee:

"Congress and previous Administrations laid some of the groundwork for government-wide performance management, starting with the Clinton Administration's implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) developed by the Bush Administration tried to create metrics at the program level. The result is that today we have thousands of metrics and plans in a number of overlapping systems.

"The test of a performance management system is whether it is used. Despite the extent and breadth of these historic efforts, the current approach fails this test. Congress doesn't use it. Agencies don't use it. And it doesn't produce meaningful information for the public.

"Most metrics are process-oriented and not outcomes-based. We do not track progress on goals that cut across agencies. Overall, too much emphasis has been placed on producing performance information to comply with a checklist of requirements instead of using it to drive change.

"This must change. Federal managers and employees at all levels must use performance goals and measures to set priorities, monitor progress, and diagnose problems. They must learn from practices that work and those that do not. They need to learn how to use goals and measures to motivate the best from our workforce and our service delivery partners to achieve greater results and to allocate scarce resources wisely."

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Federal agencies trying to prevent cyber attacks have their hands full

11-17-09

Key federal agencies responsible for cybersecurity were on the Hill today to discuss what their agencies are doing to keep the cyber realm safe. They also told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee what they can't do, no matter the resources available, because so much cyber infrastructure is controlled by the private sector. The primary focus was federal efforts to prevent a terrorist cyber attack that would take down chunks of our economy. This subcommittee hearing on cyber security was chaired by Maryland Senator Ben Cardin.

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Defense Logistics Agency using Enterprise Risk Management to serve the war fighter

11-17-09

"Everyone manages risk." Jeff Curtis, the director of Strategic Planning and Enterprise Transformation at the Defense Logistics Agency, says that no matter what you do, at work or at home, you manage all kinds of risk every day. At some point, your agency will have to decide whether to do it in a more organized, deliberate way. DLA has, using enterprise risk management (ERM) tools. Mr. Curtis joined me in studio, along with DLA's lead strategic planner, Linda Stacy-Nichols, and Jeff Stagnitti, the Chief Risk Officer at DLA. We had a wide-ranging discussion about what ERM tools are, why the agency adopted them, how they tested them, and how using ERM tools have produced a better result for DLA's end user - the war fighter.

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Collaboration experts sharing their wisdom, making your life easier

11-16-09

Collaboration is a key component of making progress in today's work environment. Even if a leader isn't sold on collaboration, so many of the people above - and below - that leader are working together, both formally and informally, that the leader will be swept along in a collaboration wave. As with surfing, you're better to ride the wave than drown in it. A group of collaboration leaders from government talked about how they've harnessed the power of collaboration to fulfill the missions of their agencies.

Tina Cariola, Program Manager for the IdeaFactory at the Transportation Security Administration; Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Fritzsche, Chief of Operations of Army Knowledge Online; Jack Holt, Senior Strategist for Emerging Media in the Defense Media Activity office at the Department of Defense; and Andy Krzmarzick, Community Manager for GovLoop.com all shared their experiences with collaboration.

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Brand-new agency would regulate all kinds of finanacial products

11-16-09

A brand-new Federal agency is on the horizon. The Consumer Financial Protection Agency is a potential new Federal agency that will oversee all kinds of consumer financial products, and regulate everything from complex financial products to the fees stores charge for their gift cards. Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin talked about it during a presentation at the American Bar Association's Banking Law Committee Fall Meeting.

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Nuclear Regulatory Commission Deputy CIO Thomas Boyce has a long to-do list

11-16-09

Change is coming in the IT shops across government, and because of how IT is integrated into the everyday business life of agencies, change is coming to every Federal employee. Dealing with the change - and smoothing the way for personnel to deal with change - is just as important to the job of the IT leader as actually making the changes.

Finding small successes is one way to facilitate that change. Thomas Boyce is the Chief Technology Officer at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and he says those small successes can demonstrate to other employees that the change that's coming can be change for the good. Mr. Boyce also talks about moving some NRC functions to a virtual environment, and how far his agency has ventured into the cloud.

Finally, he details a huge project the agency is undertaking, that will radically change the way the agency does business - and does technology.

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Four administration officials outline plan for hiring more vets at your agency

11-13-09

More vets may be coming to work at your agency thanks to new guidelines signed by President Obama. An event to add detail to the President's memo featured remarks by Ray Jefferson, Assistant Labor Secretary for Veterans Training and Employment; W. Scott Gould, Deputy VA Secretary; OPM Director John Berry; and Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Plans Gail McGinn.

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