Tag: data

How the Evidence Act pushed agencies to make data a strategic asset

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What: The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act When: Passed by Congress and signed into law in January 2019 Why it matters: The Evidence Act required agencies to name chief data officers focused on improving data quality, data management, data governance and data stewardship. To celebrate our 25th anniversary in 2025, we’re spotlighting 25 pivotal moments that reshaped the way the government operates. Visit our anniversary page each week as we look back on these defining moments. The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act set agencies down a path of using an…

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The Damage to Economic Data May Already Be Done

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This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. If you have been closely following the ongoing Bureau of Labor Statistics story—in which Donald Trump fired then-Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after being displeased by the bureau’s July jobs report and selected the Heritage Foundation economist E. J. Antoni to succeed her—you will have heard an unusual consensus about the airtight political independence of the agency and the people who work there. Among BLS employees, including former Commissioner William Beach, whom Trump appointed in…

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House Democrats introduce Taxpayer Data Protection Act in response to Musk’s actions

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House Democrats are making a push to secure data at the Treasury Department. A group of lawmakers have introduced the Taxpayer Data Protection Act. The bill seeks to add a layer of protection against anyone seeking to access the agency’s systems. The legislation would bar anyone with conflicts of interest or without a security clearance from getting into the Treasury Department’s data. The bill comes after billionaire Elon Musk and some of his employees gained access to Treasury Department data. House Democrats said they’re expecting a Senate companion bill for…

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Fiscal Service using death data to reduce improper payments

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The Bureau of Fiscal Service in the Treasury Department has a stretch goal — help prevent $ 12 billion in improper payments by 2029. Luckily for the bureau, Congress gave it some much needed help to improve its Do Not Pay database. The Fiscal Service now has access to the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File, which contains over 83 million records of deaths that have been reported to SSA. Tim Gribben, the commissioner of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, said Congress gave the agency access on a pilot…

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Better data protests could benefit, agencies, vendors alike

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When it comes to data on bid protests, the data is lacking to say the least. Beyond the annual bid protest report to Congress from the Government Accountability Office, agencies track few other outcomes from protests. David Drabkin, a fellow at the Stevens Institute of Technology Acquisition Innovation Research Center and a former senior procurement executive for the General Services Administration, said by not collecting and understanding this data, agencies are missing a host of opportunities to improve the acquisition process, the contracting workforce and industry response to solicitations. Dave…

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