Category: Congress

New cloud category sinks FITARA scores, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing

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Federal agency scores plummeted on the 17th Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) scorecard. The reason for the drop in grades: Continued struggles to implement best practices for moving workloads and services to the cloud. But oversight leaders say the decrease in grades is not only expected, but not indicative of the progress agencies have made over the last decade. The scorecard, released today by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), co-author of FITARA, showed double the amount of “C” grades with 10 “Cs” and three “Ds” for the first time since…

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

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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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Congressional repeal of Social Security’s ‘evil twins’ nears finish line

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The possibility of repealing Social Security’s so-called ‘evil twins” is closer than ever to the finish line. There are now 303 House cosponsors on the Social Security Fairness Act. It is the second highest number of cosponsors on any pending bill in all of Congress. If enacted, the legislation would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). The two provisions reduce, and in some cases eliminate, Social Security benefits for certain federal retirees. The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) is urging the…

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Government shutdown can kicked down the road, again

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It’s not a snow day in the DMV today, but federal agencies in the Washington, D.C.-area are open under what the Office of Personnel Management calls a “two-hour delayed arrival.” OPM also said that feds have the option for unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework. Emergency employees, though, are expected to report to work on time. (Washington, DC Area, 1/19/24 – OPM) A government shutdown has been averted and Congress has another six weeks to get fiscal 2024 funding across the finish line. House and Senate lawmakers passed the third continuing…

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Congress labors to keep the budget deal alive

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The continuing resolution funding the government runs out Friday at 11:59 p.m. So far the spending limits Republicans and Democrats agreed to, a week or so ago, have not translated into bills for full 2024 appropriations. That means neither a long-term continuing resolution nor a shutdown is off the table. For the latest, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller. Interview Transcript:    Mitchell Miller Right now things are looking better, but things were not looking good heading into the weekend. But during…

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Concerns over NASA’s SEWP VI small business strategy come to surface

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Concerns about NASA’s sixth iteration of its governmentwide acquisition contract known as SEWP have been bubbling underneath the surface for much of the past few months. Industry experts have quietly been wringing their collective hands over NASA’s plans for the small business size standard it detailed in the draft solicitation. The worry is the new size standard would exclude or make it nearly impossible for a large swath of small businesses to compete on the contract. Those fears broke through the surface in a new letter from Reps. Roger Williams…

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