Biden’s pick for Pentagon’s S&T position pledges to reduce barriers to entry for small businesses

Aprille Ericsson, President Joe Biden’s nominee to be the assistant secretary of defense for science and technology, told lawmakers that streamlining processes for small businesses to engage with the Pentagon will be her top priority if confirmed. “I understand that some of the problems that the Department of Defense has with their SBIR/STTR programs are very similar to what we’ve experienced in NASA. So bringing those lessons learned to this community would be an asset,” Ericsson told lawmakers during her confirmation hearing Tuesday. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) urged Ericsson to…

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Sen. Grassley puts hold on Biden’s deputy VA pick

The federal government is setting a new record for overall small business contract spending. More than a quarter of federal contracting dollars went to small businesses last year. That is well above a 23% goal set governmentwide. Ten agencies earned an A-plus on the Small Business Administration’s contracting scorecard, and another 10 received A’s. SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman said small business owners in the federal marketplace support over a million jobs, including jobs in manufacturing, construction, and research and development. (Agencies making ‘substantial progress’ toward higher small, disadvantaged contracting goal…

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Biden’s pick for OPM deputy director addresses concerns about federal hiring, retirement processing

President Joe Biden’s nominee for second-in-command at the Office of Personnel Management, Rob Shriver, shared his priorities for the federal workforce with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. During a Sept. 29 nomination hearing, the committee raised concerns about the future of telework, the federal hiring process and delays in retirement processing — all of which are involved in OPM’s mission. Telework was a prominent issue for a few of the committee members. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) asked Shriver about the governmentwide telework policy for agencies, saying that…

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U.S. Democrat opposes Biden budget pick Tanden, risking confirmation and complicating agenda – Reuters

U.S. Democrat opposes Biden budget pick Tanden, risking confirmation and complicating agenda  Reuters Democratic Senator’s Opposition Imperils Confirmation of Biden Budget Pick  Voice of America Democratic U.S. senator opposes Biden budget pick, confirmation in doubt  Yahoo Finance Sen. Joe Manchin Opposes Neera Tanden’s Nomination to Lead OMB  The Wall Street Journal Manchin says he’ll vote against Biden OMB nominee Neera Tanden  CNN View Full Coverage on Google News “us democrats” – Google News

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