Tag: Lawmakers

Lawmakers push for probe into Pentagon’s telecom security failures after historic cyberattack

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In the wake of what some lawmakers are calling the worst telecom attack in the nation’s history, two senators are calling for an investigation into whether the Defense Department could use its purchasing power to better secure telephone communications from foreign spies. In a Wednesday letter to DoD Inspector General Robert Storch, Sens. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), said the Pentagon, despite being one of the largest buyers of wireless telephone services in the country, has failed to leverage its significant purchasing power to require better cybersecurity practices…

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House lawmakers advance bills on acquisition security, IT procurement

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House lawmakers have advanced a raft of bills aimed at bolstering supply chain security efforts, streamlining technology purchases and increasing cross-agency sharing of software code. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Wednesday advanced 13 bills to the full House floor. Among them was the unanimously passed “Federal Acquisition Security Council Improvement Act,” which would bolster the council’s ability to ban products from federal supply chains. The council was created as part of the SECURE Technology Act of 2018. It currently has the authority to issue recommendations for removing or…

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House lawmakers push for EEOC to defend furlough threat

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Two House lawmakers are pushing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to explain why it almost had to furlough almost all of its employees and are accusing agency leadership of “severe mismanagement.” Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), the chairwoman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), the chairman of the committee’s workforce protections subcommittee, wrote to EEOC Chairwoman Charlotte Burroughs seeking documents and answers to questions about the decision to first issue the possible furlough notice and then to rescind it. They called the threat of the…

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Lawmakers, DoD to explore portfolio-based acquisition

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When it comes to acquisition, the Defense Department is mostly focused on individual products as they’re defined in the DoD budget. Lawmakers are now asking the DoD to explore portfolio-based management, which could allow the department to invest and field modern technologies a lot faster. In the Defense Department’s science and technology community, for example, investment lines are organized around portfolios of capabilities, such as electromagnetic warfare, communications, or command and control. The approach gives more flexibility to support a wide variety of development efforts.  But on the acquisition side,…

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Lawmakers want answers about Pentagon’s increasing reliance on Microsoft

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Members of Congress sent a letter to the Pentagon on Wednesday asking about the department’s push to begin implementation of Microsoft’s most expensive licenses, known as E5, across all components starting next month. The Pentagon is considering mandating all department offices to implement the full suite of Microsoft 365 E5 licenses across their Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNet) within the next 12 months as part of its effort to achieve the target level of zero trust by 2027, according to a draft memo first obtained by Axios.  In a…

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Lawmakers press agencies on ‘employment barriers’ for federal employees teleworking overseas

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The Biden administration is stepping up plans to make the federal government an employer of choice for military and Foreign Service families. Now lawmakers are pressing agencies for an update on these efforts. Democrats on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee are asking agencies how they’re “eliminating employment barriers and advancing employment opportunities” for military and civilian families who serve overseas. The 11 committee members, led by Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) are specifically asking the 24 largest federal agencies about how many of their employees are holding jobs while teleworking…

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