• The Defense Department generally escaped the effects of Friday’s global internet problems. That’s according to Gen. C.Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He told an audience at the Aspen Security Forum that the botched Crowdstrike update didn’t impact DoD operations, but that it’s a reminder that the department needs to be ready to respond to cyber incidents.
  (Aspen Security Forum - YouTube)
• A worldwide IT outage on Friday struck multiple government agencies. The Social Security Administration plans to reopen field offices on Monday after a global IT outage forced SSA to close all local operations Friday. The outage is linked to a faulty software update from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services also warned some callers to expect long wait times due to the outage. The White House is convening agencies to better understand the impacts of the incident across government.
  (Crowdstrike outage: SSA shutters offices, other agency impacts - Federal News Network)
• The governmentwide Technology Modernization Fund is awarding more money to agency AI projects. The TMF is giving $10 million to the National Institute of Standards and Technology to support the growth of its recently launched AI Safety Institute. The TMF board also granted nearly $4 million to the Energy Department to modernize its critical nuclear emergency response infrastructure.
  (Technology Modernization Fund announces investments in nuclear safety and AI governance - General Services Administration)
• The Army’s new memo on generative artificial intelligence provides guidance for developers, system owners, users, and commands on how to use GenAI tools. The document instructs system owners and developers to ensure that users can easily determine if their systems rely on GenAI and have the option of accepting or rejecting Gen AI-generated outputs. The guidance encourages the commands to use Gen AI tools and puts the onus on them to identify their GenAI developers, system owners and users to mitigate risk when introducing AI tools into their workflows. The guidance is effective immediately. The Pentagon’s chief information officer office will review this guidance annually.
  (Army’s memo on GenAI setting guardrails around technology - Army Publishing Directorate (APD))
• Higher pay rates could be coming soon for some blue-collar federal employees. A proposal to reform the Federal Wage System is entering the early stages of the government’s rulemaking process. The pay system was first created to improve pay rates of nearly 200,000 blue-collar feds. But now decades after its creation, three-quarters of the pay system’s localities have fallen out of step with the private sector. Proposed regulations to fix the issue by re-mapping the Federal Wage System are expected to be published to the Federal Register this October.
  (Blue-collar federal pay reform heading toward rulemaking process - Federal News Network)
• Federal employees can now donate their unused annual leave to feds impacted by Hurricane Beryl. The Office of Personnel Management program lets feds offer any leave hours that they haven’t used, to those who may need additional time off during emergencies. Launching the program for Hurricane Beryl is the most recent instance, but OPM’s use of the emergency leave transfer program has grown in recent years. In 2023, there were seven emergencies that led to OPM initiating a new leave transfer opportunity.
  (Emergency leave transfer for feds affected by Hurricane Beryl - Office of Personnel Management)
• The Defense Innovation Board said the Pentagon continues to overclassify information. The advisory board wants the Pentagon to revisit the issue of classification when working with allies and partners. Board members said the Pentagon defaults to no foreign dissemination protocols. The Defense Department even failed to develop processes for communicating controlled unclassified information in an environment where information sharing is important from the earliest stages of projects.
  (Defense Innovation Board wants DoD to address overclassification - Defense Department)
• A longtime intelligence official is taking the reins at the National Counterterrorism Center. Brett Holmgren has been named acting director of the NCTC. He replaces Christine Abizaid, who had served as NCTC director for the past three years. Holmgren previously served at the State Department as assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research. He spearheaded a new digital modernization strategy at the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Holmgren started out his career as an analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
  (DNI Haines thanks NCTC Director Christy Abizaid, welcomes acting Director Brett Holmgren - Office of the Director of National Intelligence)

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• House Democrats say a top official at the Federal Communications Commission helped write a policy blueprint for a new Trump administration. Now they’re calling on government ethics officials to investigate. Lawmakers say FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr a Trump appointee wrote an entire chapter of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 calling for major changes to his own agency. Lawmakers said Carr contributed to Project 2025 in his official capacity as an agency executive. They’re calling on FCC’s inspector general the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of Government Ethics to look into the matter.
  (Huffman leads lawmakers decrying FCC commissioner misusing official position to advance Project 2025 - Rep. Jared Huffman )
• The Pentagon is mapping out what officials say is a “paradigm shift” in how the military handles repair and maintenance for its major weapons systems. Instead of handling most of the work in stateside facilities, DoD wants more of it to happen at overseas locations – closer to where ships and other equipment is stationed. The new approach is called the Regional Sustainment Framework. Officials plan to test the concept with allied countries in Indo-Pacific Command this year, and in Europe next year.
  (DoD looks move equipment maintenance overseas - Federal News Network)
• The 2017 defense policy bill required the Pentagon to split the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics into the offices of the acquisition and sustainment (A&S) and research and engineering (R&E). The advisory board wants the Pentagon to bring the offices under the new Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for International Integration and Cooperation. DIB member Charles Phillips says the current setup doesn’t allow the Pentagon to work well with allies and partners.
  (DIB wants Pentagon to reorganize its acquisition shop - Federal News Network)
• The Defense Department technology leaders are deepening their relationship with the Singapore Ministry of Defense in the areas of data, analytics and artificial intelligence. Radha Plumb, the Pentagon’s chief digital and artificial intelligence officer signed a statement of intent earlier this week that will allow both defense enterprises to exchange best practices on leveraging data, analytics and AI more effectively. The two countries have identified main areas of collaboration, including responsible development of AI and talent management. Singapore remains a key technology innovator in the Asia-Pacific region and one of the main partners for the Defense Department.
  (DoD to collaborate with Singapore on data and AI efforts - Defense Department)
• The federal government’s shift from paper to electronic records has been at least a decade in the making. But this month, the National Archives and Records Administration finally stopped accepting analog record transfers from agencies, with some limited exceptions. Over the past year, agencies rushed to get their transfer requests in. NARA saw more than 1,000 offers for documents to be sent directly to the Archives, representing approximately 65,000 cubic feet of records, between July 2023 and June 2024. And NARA’s Federal Records Centers – where records aren’t stored forever – saw 40,000 transfer requests representing 930,000 cubic feet of records. Going forward, the majority of records transfers to NARA will be measured in gigabytes and terabytes instead of cubic feet.
  (NARA requests 1M cubic feet of records - Federal News Network)
• Over the next couple months, agencies will have to conduct data analysis to figure out if they need to make their pay policies more equitable. Agencies have until this October to report back to the Office of Personnel Management on their pay data and any plans for changes. The data call is one of the latest steps OPM has taken to address the government's gender-based pay gap. Currently, women are paid about 5 cents less on the dollar than men in the federal workforce. But it's a larger gap when taking into account race and ethnicity. OPM says it's looking to do more to reach its goal of bringing the federal pay gap down to zero.
  (Pay gap data analysis guidance - Office of Personnel Management)
• The Office of Personnel Management will soon be reopening enrollments into the government’s Flexible Spending Account program, FSAFEDS (F-S-A feds). OPM previously suspended all new enrollments in the program after a recent surge in fraudulent activity that impacted hundreds of federal employees' accounts. The suspension on enrollments will officially end August 1st. And in an effort to strengthen cybersecurity, FSAFEDS will also soon transition to using Login.gov. Starting in October, FSAFEDS users will have to complete identity verification steps to be able continue accessing their accounts online.
  (OPM to lift pause on FSAFEDS enrollments in August - Federal News Network)
• OPM plans to finalize a rule implementing the Administrative Leave Act by December. The 20-17 legislation puts limits on how long agencies can put employees on paid administrative leave while investigating claims of wrongdoing. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility sued OPM earlier this month over delays in completing the long-awaited guidance. The group said employees can wait months or years until agencies clear them of wrongdoing … which puts their careers at risk.
  (Final Rule - Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs )

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• It’s the season when feds tend to get reminders about the do's and don’ts of political activity. For Department of the Navy employees, that means mandatory training. In a message yesterday, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro ordered commanders to finish training all of their personnel on the Hatch Act and DoD’s official instruction on political activity no later than Sept. 15. The rules are different for various categories of employees — like active duty members, reservists, “less restricted” and “greater restricted” civilians. But there are some universal prohibitions — like using government resources for politicking, or doing anything that might imply government endorsement of a candidate.
  (Guidance on Political Activities of Department of the Navy Personnel - U.S. Navy )
• A new bill is trying to ease restrictions for federal applicants who have used marijuana in the past. If it’s enacted, a bill nicknamed the “DOOBIE” Act would mean agencies can’t deny a job or security clearance application only because of a candidate’s past marijuana use. There’s already guidance for agencies pushing similar policies, but Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who introduced the bill, says there’s still confusion on the topic. Some candidates are still hesitant to apply for a federal job or security clearance because they’re worried about past marijuana use. The Senate Homeland Security Committee is expected to consider the new legislation next week.
  (‘DOOBIE’ Act looks to ease security clearance restrictions on past marijuana use - Federal News Network)
• The Defense Department is still finalizing new plans for its delayed background investigation system. The Pentagon expects to finalize a new schedule and cost estimate for the National Background Investigation Services system, or NBIS, within one month. The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency oversees the new IT system. It was originally scheduled to be completed by 2019. But officials say the project has been beset by cost overruns, an unreliable schedule and an inadequate technical approach. Now, DCSA is just working to get the next-generation background investigation system on track over the next 18 months.
  (Troubled background investigation system still under review at Pentagon - Federal News Network)
• Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira is now expected to face a military court-martial, months after he pleaded guilty to federal charges for leaking highly classified military documents. Teixeira has admitted to illegally collecting some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets and sharing them on the social media platform Discord. Military prosecutors say he will now face charges of disobeying orders and obstructing justice. The Air Force said he'll be tried at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts, though no trial date has been set. Teixeira’s lawyers have argued that a court-martial would amount to prosecuting him twice for the same offense.
  (Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira to face a military court-martial, Air Force says - Associated Press)
• The Department of Veterans Affairs is weaning veterans off a traditional username and password to access their health and benefits records online. The VA said it will transition all veterans to use the government’s own identity verification service, Login.gov, or a commercial provider, ID.me, over the next year. VA said the transition will improve security, and impact about 3 million veterans and other beneficiaries. The VA said veterans will no longer be able to sign into its health portal with a username and password after Jan. 31 next year. Veterans will be able to access their data and manage their benefits once they create a new account.
  (VA begins transition to simpler online sign-in experience for veterans’ account access - Department of Veterans Affairs)
• The Department of Veterans Affairs is telling lawmakers it’s looking at a nearly $15 billion shortfall. VA officials are projecting a $3 billion shortfall this year, and a nearly $12 billion shortfall in fiscal 2025. The department gets funding for its mandatory health and benefits programs a year in advance to avoid any disruption from a government shutdown. VA financial experts briefed the House VA Committee earlier this week. Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.) said hiring accounts for some of the cost overruns. The VA planned to shed 10,000 positions next year. But Bost said the VA is now on track to add 22,000 full-time employees.
  (VA warns of historic $15B budget shortfall. House committee says more hiring ‘above all’ is driving up costs - Federal News Network )
• The Defense Department’s mental health program is often too slow to get in touch with service members transitioning to civilian life. Military members who may need mental health support typically don’t hear from DoD’s “inTransition” program until two or three months after they’ve separated from their service. A new report from the Government Accountability Office said those first few months are a particularly vulnerable time for transitioning members. GAO said the program should change its outreach methods, and create auto-contact options to reach at-risk members more quickly.
  (DoD and VA Health Care - Government Accountability Office)
• Kristyn Jones, who performed the duties of the Air Force under secretary for over a year, has officially retired from federal service. Jones has served as the assistant secretary for financial management and comptroller since 2022. During her time as under secretary, Jones helped launch a sweeping review of the service’s processes and organizational structures. Melissa Dalton stepped into her role as under secretary in May following her Senate confirmation.
  (Air Force Kristyn Jones officially retires from federal service - Linkedin)
• The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has made some key leadership changes official. Jeff Greene is now CISA’s executive assistant director for cybersecurity. And Trent Frazier has been appointed assistant director for stakeholder engagement. Both had been serving in those roles in an acting capacity. Greene previously was at the Aspen Institute. He replaced Eric Goldstein, who left CISA’s top cyber job to join Capital One last month. Frazier joined CISA after serving in a variety of leadership roles throughout the Department of Homeland Security.
  (CISA announces key leadership appointments - Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency)
• DISA’s program executive office for transport wants a more graceful transition plan from the industry. The Defense Information Systems Agency’s PEO for transport is essentially the internet for the Defense Department. As the office is working to adopt next-generation networking gear, it is seeking standards-based solutions from multiple vendors. Chris Paczkowski, the PEO transport director, said he wants to see more roadmaps from the industry.
  (DISA’s PEO transport wants ‘graceful transition plan’ from industry - Federal News Network)

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• The Social Security Administration says a recent policy change should make it easier to compensate beneficiaries who received underpayments. To try to get reimbursements out more quickly, SSA recently updated its requirements for payment distributions. Now any underpayment less than $15,000 can be distributed without a peer review. Previously, that was capped at just $5,000. As a result, SSA says more underpayments are going out more quickly. In total, the SSI program has released more than $900 million in underpayments to about 80,000 people.
  (SSI policy change - Social Security Administration)
• A coalition of employee organizations is heightening calls of support of women in law enforcement. Advocacy groups are pushing back against recent stories calling the assassination attempt on former President Trump a result of the Secret Service’s efforts to promote gender diversity in hiring. In a memo published Tuesday, the coalition, led by the 30-by-30 initiative, says blaming women in law enforcement for the attack is “disingenuous” and “dangerous.” Increasing public safety is a matter of expanding, not shrinking, the federal law enforcement applicant pool, the coalition says. The group adds that it will continue to push in favor of agencies hiring officers based on their skills and qualifications — not based on their gender.
  (Statement supporting women in law enforcement - 30x30 Initiative)
• Agencies are sitting on more real estate than they need, and could recover billions of dollars by selling off excess space. The Public Buildings Reform Board is looking at 27 high-value federal properties in cities with a strong federal presence. Those include DC, Boston, Atlanta, Miami and Los Angeles. The board found that most of these 11 million square feet of federal office space is underutilized, and that agencies could save about $3 billion in the long term by eliminating about 60% of this space. Here’s the board’s executive director, Paul Walden. “The board views this current reality as an extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the government to right-size its portfolio,” Walden said.
  (Federal buildings board: Agencies can save billions by shedding ‘vastly underutilized’ office space - Federal News Network )
• Top Republicans who oversee the Small Business Administration are calling on the agency to delay an overhaul of its online certification portal, at least until after the end of the fiscal year. SBA is planning to upgrade its online certification platform, starting on August 1. The agency says the upgraded system will be available for new applications by early September. Lawmakers say taking the platform offline in the final months of fiscal 2024 could cause problems for firms with critical year-end contracting deadlines that may need to recertify their small-business status.
  (GOP lawmakers demand SBA postpone IT upgrades amid year-end contract spending surge - Federal News Network )
• Agencies just passed a major digital records deadline. They submitted requests to transfer nearly 1 million cubic feet of analog records to the National Archives and Records Administration over the past year. Those transfer requests came in advance of the June 30 deadline for analog records transfers. Going forward, NARA will only accept records in an electronic format, with some limited exceptions. The only governmentwide exception is for federal official personnel folders and employee medical files. Agencies will still have more time to digitize those records.
  (NARA sees requests to transfer nearly 1M cubic feet of records ahead of deadline - Federal News Network )
• The Defense Department is looking for acquisition professionals to join a 12-month immersive fellowship program. The Defense Innovation Unit and Defense Acquisition University launched the program in 2022 to help the DoD adopt best practices for commercial procurement within the department. The program includes virtual classroom training and experiential learning focused on other transaction authorities through DAU's Defense Acquisition Credentials program. Applications are open through early August.
  (DoD looking for acquisition professionals to join fellowship program - Defense Department)
• The Defense Department is preparing to recompete its contract for Advana. Since 2021, the General Services Administration has provided most of the lifecycle IT support for the Advana platform. Advana has grown exponentially in the last three years, prompting the DoD to open up the platform to multiple vendors. Recompeting the contract for Advana platform is part of the Pentagon’s broader approach to scale data, analytics and artificial intelligence capabilities across the DoD known as Open DAGIR.
  (DoD recompeting Advana contract - Federal News Network)
• A bipartisan bill in the Senate would direct the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services to tighten their collaboration on cybersecurity initiatives. The “Healthcare Cybersecurity Act of 2024” would create special liaison to HHS within CISA. The legislation would also direct those agencies to share cyber threat indicators and defensive information with the health sector. The new bill comes after several major cyber attacks on the healthcare organizations this year, including the Change Healthcare ransomware attack.
  (Rosen, Young, King introduce bipartisan bill to improve cybersecurity in healthcare, public health - Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) office)

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• Social Security online users will soon have to create Login.gov accounts, if they don't already have them. The website is a one-stop-shop for Americans to access government benefits and services online. The Social Security Administration is transitioning all users who made their accounts before 2021, to the Login.gov platform. Any beneficiary who already has a Login.gov account doesn't need to take any action. More than five million customers have already made the switch. SSA says the change aims to simplify the sign-in process, while providing more secure access to online services.
  (Upcoming changes to accessing online services - Social Security Administration)
• The cloud security program, known as FedRAMP, is now taking on another long-held frustration by its industry and agency customers: the need to automate system security plans. A new technical document hub, released last Friday, aims to give users technical documentation, best practices and guidance for creating and managing digital authorization packages using the OSCAL framework. By using this open source language, FedRAMP hopes vendor plans move from 600 page Word or PDF files to files that are machine readable and promote automation.
  (FedRAMP’s Automation Website: A new hub for technical documentation and guidance on digital authorization packages - FedRAMP)
• The Department of Homeland Security wants to reduce duplicative cyber incident reporting requirements. DHS is working on interagency agreements so organizations don’t have to report cyber incidents to multiple agencies. Those agreements fall under DHS’ implementation of the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act. DHS assistant secretary for cyber Iranga Kahangama. “We are going to be viewing and administering CIRCIA with an eye towards harmonization.” The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency published the draft CIRCIA rule in April. CISA expects to finalize the rule next spring.
  (DHS official details efforts to harmonize cyber reporting rules - Federal News Network )
• A new Senate bill would target counterfeit electronics in the federal government’s supply chain. Senators John Cornyn and Gary Peters introduced the Securing America’s Federal Equipment in Supply Chains Act or the SAFE Act last week. The legislation would require agencies to only buy electronics from original manufacturers or authorized re-sellers. The lawmakers say gray-market sellers can circumvent trusted supply chains and introduce risks into federal networks. Their bill does include an option to waive the requirements if it’s in the interest of national security.
  (Cornyn, Peters introduce bill to safeguard U.S. supply chains, cybersecurity - Office of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tx.))
• At the Department of Health and Human Services, using shared certificates has cut the agency’s time-to-hire by as much as 50 percent. Along with reducing time-to-hire, HHS human capital leaders say shared certificates create a better experience for candidates. They also help HR staff work more strategically. Sharing certificates is a relatively new recruitment practice in government. It lets federal recruiters expedite some of the early steps of the hiring process by sharing applications across different offices that are hiring for the same position. Over time, HHS has increasingly relied on shared certificates. In the last four years, HHS hired nearly 12,000 employees using that strategy.
  (‘An extraordinary opportunity’: How HHS uses shared certificates in hiring - Federal News Network)
• A new study finds significant increases in the diagnosis of chronic pain among female service members exposed to combat. Military wives also show higher odds of developing chronic pain when their spouses are deployed. Researchers looked into military health records of female patients suffering from chronic pain from 2006 to 2020. Researchers intended for the military wives to serve as a control group. But the research showed that military wives are at a much higher risk of developing chronic pain as well.
  (During combat, female service members show higher odds of chronic pain and so do military wives - JAMA Network Open)
• The Department of the Navy reported the greatest increase in suicide deaths in the first quarter of 2024. The news comes after the Navy’s internal survey revealed that the percentage of Sailors reporting “severe or extreme” levels of stress has increased significantly since 2019. The Air Force reported 17 deaths by suicide — up from 13 in the first quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, the Army saw a significant decrease in suicide deaths this year.
  (Military suicide rates continue to rise - Defense Department )

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• The Supreme Court overturned a 40-year-old precedent at the core of how federal agencies issue regulations. Now top Republicans on two House committees are asking agencies how they’re affected by the decision. They’re asking the Environmental Protection Agency, and the departments of Transportation and Homeland Security about regulations or regulatory decisions made under the Biden administration. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Missouri) joins House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kent.) in sending the letters. They say some of these agency rules are based on interpretations of the law that could be challenged following the court’s ruling.
  (Graves & Comer request information on Biden administration agency interpretations following SCOTUS decision overturning Chevron deference - House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
• In a vote of 55 to 37, the Senate has confirmed Anne Wagner as the third and final member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority. Wagner's confirmation to the role means the three-member FLRA will now be able to break ties when settling disputes between unions and agencies. Several federal unions lauded Wagner's confirmation Wednesday, saying the decision will bring the FLRA to a fully operational status. The FLRA is responsible for administering the government's labor-management relations program.
  (Confirmation of Anne Wagner to FLRA - U.S. Senate)
• Persistent federal leadership vacancies are making it harder for agencies to fulfill their missions. Across government, there are hundreds of senior positions requiring a presidential nomination and confirmation from the Senate. But many of those positions have remained empty for years. That’s according to new analysis from the Partnership for Public Service. 21 positions have been completely vacant since the Obama administration. And since 2016, more than 80 roles have been unfilled more than half the time. The persistent vacancies are a result of the Senate confirmation process becoming increasingly difficult, the Partnership says.
  (Critical federal leadership positions go unfilled for years - Partnership for Public Service)
• The IRS collects $1 billion in overdue tax revenue, after launching a crackdown on millionaires not paying what they owe. The agency targeted 1,600 individuals last fall, with more than $1 million in annual income and more than $250,000 in tax debt. Audit rates for high-wealth individuals fell over the last decade and have been at “historic lows.” But IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel says the IRS is staffing up and using tools like artificial intelligence to beef up enforcement. “Our message for these taxpayers is that now that we are resourced, we can do the job of ensuring that they pay.”
  (IRS recovers $1B in crackdown on taxes owed by millionaires - Federal News Network )
• In three cities on July 31, the General Services Administration wants to bring the power of artificial intelligence to bear for federal websites and other digital services. GSA and industry sponsors are hosting a hackathon in Washington, DC, Atlanta and New York City and putting up $10,000 in prize money to ask experts to help answer a simple question: How should federal websites evolve to meet the future where Americans will increasingly rely on generative AI tools to find information and access services? Individuals and teams of no more than five people must register by July 29.
  (GSA to host Artificial Intelligence Hackathon July 31 - General Services Administration)
• The Defense Department needs another month to figure out the new development path for the IT systems to support background investigations. The 90-day sprint to get the National Background Investigation Service's IT systems back on track wasn't enough. The DoD now says it will take another month to rebaseline the requirements and redo the funding model and oversight of the troubled modernization effort. Milancy Harris, the undersecretary of Defense for intelligence and security, told Senate lawmakers yesterday that this is not a restart of the program. "We are looking to make sure we can use what has been built. We are exploring exactly what needs to happen going forward to ensure we meet the full level of capability that is expected from this system."
  (Personnel vetting, security clearance and trusted workforce 2.0 hearing - Senate Intelligence Committee)
• The Senate Armed Services Committee wants to limit funding for U.S. Cyber Command’s Joint Cyber Warfighting Architecture until the commander provides a detailed plan on the future of the platform. A provision in the 2025 defense policy bill says the command can’t spend more than ninety five percent of allocated funds until there are more details for ceasing the current architecture's continued development. The committee wants the plan to include timelines, coordination with the military services, descriptions of proposed capability sets and additional authority or resources needed to move to the next phase.
  (Senate to limit funding for CYBERCOM’s JCWA - Senate Committee on Armed Services)
• The Senate Armed Services Committee wants the Defense Department to develop a plan to budget for the costs associated with artificial intelligence in defense programs. If passed, the 2025 defense policy bill would require the Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer office to have a plan that assesses the current programs containing artificial intelligence components and the costs associated with the data needs required to train and maintain artificial intelligence models. The Defense Secretary would begin the implementation of the plan four months after its release.
  (Senate to require cost budgeting plan for AI - Senate Committee on Armed Services)
• New legislation in the Senate would put a White House office in charge of harmonizing federal cybersecurity regulations. Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) introduced the Streamlining Federal Cybersecurity Regulations Act this week. The bill would set up an interagency harmonization committee led by the Office of the National Cyber Director. It would require all agencies, including independent regulators, to consult with the committee before issuing new cyber rules.
  (Peters and Lankford introduce bipartisan bill to harmonize federal cybersecurity regulations - Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs)
• The White House is out with new cybersecurity guidance. Agencies need to submit an updated zero trust implementation plan to the White House by Nov. 7. That’s according to fiscal 2026 cybersecurity budget guidance released yesterday. In addition to investing in zero trust capabilities, the memo directs agencies to prioritize secure software development and a strong cyber workforce. Agencies will also need to make sure they have funding set aside to transition to post-quantum cryptography. The new memo comes as Congress continues to debate appropriations for fiscal 2025.
  (Administration cybersecurity priorities for the fiscal 2026 budget - Office of Management and Budget)

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• The Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the defense policy bill would make registering for military conscription automatic for all citizens between the ages of 18 and 26. The House passed its version of the bill last month that would automatically register men with the Selective Service, which they are already legally required to do. The Senate Armed Services Committee wants to expand automatic registration to include women. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chairman of the committee, spearheaded the proposal. The committee’s version of the Defense bill is now headed to the Senate floor for debate.
  (FY2025 NDAA bill text - Senate Committee on Armed Services)
• The Senate Armed Services Committee wants to change the 2022 defense policy bill provision that tells the Defense Department how to buy cyber services. The fiscal 2022 defense bill requires the Defense Department to centralize the procurement of cyber products and services. The bill says the DoD components can’t independently purchase cyber services unless they can buy it at a lower price. An amendment in the 2025 defense policy bill would allow DoD components to buy cyber independently if they can demonstrate the compelling need for the product or to ensure product competition within the market.
  (Senate NDAA to give more authority to DoD components to buy cyber services - Senate Committee on Armed Services)
• The federal government’s landlord told Congress it needs more funds to offload unneeded office space. The General Services Administration is asking Congress for a $425 million dollar “optimization” fund in next year’s budget. The funding would help agencies move out of underutilized office space. Elliot Doomes is the commissioner of the GSA’s Public Buildings Service. He said GSA helped agencies consolidate office space about 90 times over the past eight years. But they missed more than 120 other chances to consolidate and save hundreds of millions of dollars. “We’re going to have to spend some money in order to save some money,” Doomes said.
  (GSA says more funds needed to offload unneeded federal office space - Federal News Network )
• The Department of Veterans Affairs is ending mandatory overtime for most employees who process benefits claims. The Veterans Benefits Administration is shifting to a system of mostly voluntary overtime that’s capped at a maximum of 20 hours each month. VBA will keep mandatory overtime in place for some employees. That includes workers who process claims for military sexual trauma, radiation exposure and pensions. Joshua Jacobs is the VA’s Under Secretary for Benefits. He said VBA relied on mandatory overtime for the past seven years, to keep up with its workload. “I have never thought that mandatory overtime is a sustainable operating practice,” Jacobs said.
  (VBA media roundtable - Department of Veterans Affairs )
• The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is dealing with ongoing staffing issues, even years after a hiring freeze ended. But despite staffing challenges, a large backlog and funding limitations, USCIS employee engagement is still on the rise. The agency's score in the Partnership for Public Service's Best Places to Work rankings rose by more than 4 points for 2023. And USCIS leaders are making further adjustments to try to support the current workforce, by holding town halls and improving supervisor training.
  (Amid hiring issues, USCIS’ Jaddou aims to boost current workforce - Federal News Network)
• The ink is finally drying on a new union contract for employees at the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA leaders have officially signed a new collective bargaining agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees. The new contract covers about 8,000 staff members at the agency. AFGE and EPA first approved the new contract in May. But they were still moving through the final steps of the approval process until just this week. The new agreement locks in several new provisions: one on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility; and another on scientific integrity.
  (EPA and AFGE collective bargaining agreement - Environmental Protection Agency)
• A Department of Homeland Security Office is bouncing back after facing attrition concerns earlier this year. DHS’ Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office has hired about 30 people over the last few months. That includes 10 people at last month’s DHS job expo in northern Virginia. The CWMD office had lost two dozen people — about 10% of its federal workforce — after Congress failed to reauthorize the office last year. But CWMD still has funding, and it plans to continue hiring new staff through the remainder of 2024.
  (How one DHS office is trying to bounce back amid low morale numbers - Federal News Network )
• The Department of Homeland Security is recruiting 20 more experts into its Artificial Intelligence Corps. Individuals who are hired will help DHS components pursue AI and machine learning applications. Others will be involved in shaping oversight and policy for the emerging technology. DHS announced the first 10 hires for its AI Corps in June. The department plans to hire a total of 50 AI experts through the end of 2024. Applications for the latest recruiting round are open through September 6th.
  (Job posting for AI technology expert - USAJOBS)

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• The troubled Air Force program to modernize aging nuclear missiles survives despite ballooning costs. Earlier this year, the Air Force’s Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program exceeded baseline cost estimates, triggering the Nunn-McCurdy Act. A breach occurs when the cost of a program grows by 25% unless the Defense Department proves that the program meets the criteria to continue. Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante determined that the program can continue despite soaring costs. The Sentinel program is now expected to cost $140.9 billion.
  (Air Force's Sentinel program survives as costs soar - Department of Defense)
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is running into staffing problems for its marine operations. NOAA data shows high employee turnover among its mariner workforce, and that attrition has outpaced hiring in three of the past five years. The Government Accountability Office said problems with work-life balance, and high disqualification rates in medical screenings is hurting NOAA’s recruitment and retention efforts.
  (NOAA mariner recruitment and retention - Government Accountability Office)
• Want to be the National Institutes of Health's first permanent CIO in 18 months? Well, submit your resume and qualifications by July 11. NIH is trying for a second time to hire a permanent CIO since Andrea Norris retired in December 2022. For this senior executive service position, NIH said it wants someone to lead the IT and cybersecurity management for the agency. NIH changed the make up of its CIO's office soon after Norris retired, separating its CIO from the director of the Center for Information Technology to create two distinct positions after almost 25 years of combining the roles. Dennis Papula has been the acting CIO for the last 18 months.
  (NIH chief information officer - USAJobs)
• The Supreme Court overturned a 40-year-old precedent at the core of how federal agencies issue regulations. So what happens next? The court eliminated Chevron deference. It’s a legal precedent that required judges to defer to an agency’s interpretation of relevant laws when its regulations were challenged in court. The court further weakened agency rulemaking in two other recent decisions. Caroline Wolverton is former senior trial counsel for the Justice Department Civil Division’s Federal Programs Branch. She said the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are among the agencies that might see the most legal challenges, after the court’s ruling. “Those could be areas where you see upticks in litigation,” she said.
  (What does — and doesn’t — change for agencies after Supreme Court’s Chevron ruling - Federal News Network )
• There are 45 rule changes in the works for Federal Acquisition Regulations. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs issued its semi-annual regulatory agenda detailing 25 acquisition regulations in the pre- or proposed rule stage and 20 in the final rule stage. Rules expected to be finalized this year include one from 2015 implementing reverse auction guidance and another from 2019 to bring procedures on suspension and debarment of contractors into closer alignment. The FAR Council is also expected to issue notices of proposed rulemaking to address organizational conflicts of interest, including contract clauses, and another about protecting controlled unclassified information in contracts.
  (The 2024 Spring Regulatory Agenda - Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs)
• The Department of Homeland Security is working with start-ups to boost the privacy of digital wallets. DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate has awarded contracts to six companies to work on the identity security effort. The vendors will develop technologies that protect the identity and security of people who use digital versions of credentials for immigration and travel. The initiative comes as more states have started to issue digital drivers licenses and other documents.
  (Homeland Security awards contracts to six startups to identify, develop, and implement privacy-enhancing digital wallets technologies - Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate)
• The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is getting some push back on its proposed cyber incident reporting rule. The Information Technology Industry Council said CISA should scale back the scope of its incident reporting regulation. The council is one of several tech industry groups that provided comments to CISA this month. ITI said the proposed rule could lead to over-reporting of cyber incidents and potentially bury the cyber agency with irrelevant data. CISA published the proposed incident reporting rule in March. The agency is expected to finalize the regulations by next year.
  (ITI comments responding to CIRCIA - Information Technology Industry Council)
• The Army is looking to refine requirements for its Unified Network Operations program. The service’s goal is to provide standardized and interoperable tools to support both tactical and enterprise environments. The Unified Network Operations program is central to the Army's efforts to modernize and unify its network operations. This request for information is open to all business types and responses are due by July 17. The service expects to issue the multiple award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract in fiscal 2026.
  (Army seeks to refine requirements for Unified Network Operations program - SAM.gov)

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• Participants in the Thrift Savings Plan will see some new features available on the TSP mobile app. Users now have the option to use facial recognition or a fingerprint to log into their accounts from their phones. Once logged into the app, TSP participants can access a summary of their retirement accounts, along with other investment information. The TSP app was first launched in 2022 as part of a major update to the TSP’s platforms.
  (TSP mobile app update - Thrift Savings Plan)
• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will update its separation policies after several employees left the agency without returning their laptops. In a new audit, the NRC inspector general found multiple instances in 2023 where departing staff held onto their work computers. The IG found the NRC did not have a policy for ensuring the return of items under a $2,500 threshold. The NRC agreed with recommendations to update its policies and complete an inventory of agency-issued laptops, desktops and tablets.
  (Evaluation of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Information Technology Asset Management - NRC IG )
• The Defense Information Systems Agency’s intelligence director is laying the foundation for the agency’s brand new intel shop. The new intelligence unit will initially comprise about 30 people, which is small compared to other J2 units. Army Col. Richard Leach, DISA’s intelligence director, said he wants to start with a more agile team and scale it in the future. Onboarding all 30 people and fully operationalizing the intel shop will take at least two years. Last year, DISA introduced the J-code system, creating the first-ever intelligence unit at the agency.
  (DISA working to fully operationalize its new intel shop - Federal News Network)
• The Army is getting more serious about the transition to IP version 6. Leo Garciga, the Army's chief information officer, set a series of deadlines for all of the service's new and existing IT-related networks and systems. Garciga said starting in fiscal 2025, all new information systems must be IPv6 enabled before they are approved for operational use. For existing systems, they must transition to IPv6 or operate in both IPv4 and IPv6 environments by the end of 2025. Finally, any system that cannot be transitioned to IPv6 must have a plan to be replaced or retired by the end of 2025. Garciga said he will issue a separate policy focused on operational technology and its migration to IPv6 in the future.
  (Chief Information Officer Guidance for the Army’s Transition to Internet Protocol Version 6 - Department of the Army)
• The Defense Information Systems Agency is developing a system that will allow cyber analysts to search data across multiple data sources from a single interface. This will provide analysts with a federated search capability where they can search for data wherever it exists within the agency without having to log into various databases. Creating a federated search capability is part of the agency’s efforts to get rid of data silos and connect its security tools as the agency is working to achieve a target level of zero trust by 2027.
  (DISA wants to automate 75% of cyber activities, but it’s nowhere near the goal - Federal News Network)
• Federal employees and citizens with disabilities will see changes to the areas in front of and around federal buildings in the coming years. As part of adopting new accessibility standards for real property design and construction, the General Services Administration will shorten travel distances from on-street parking to building entrances, will increase the sidewalk sizes, and will reduce the incline around passenger loading zones. GSA issued a final rule under the Federal Management Regulation outlining the changes to ensure areas around federal buildings are readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities. The rule applies to all new construction, alteration and renovation projects.
  (Federal Management Regulation; Accessibility Standard for Pedestrian Facilities in the Public Right-of-Way - Federal Register)
• Federal workforce diversity is still lagging in higher levels of the General Schedule. People of color make up about 40% of the federal workforce overall, according to 2023 data. But at the same time, they take up just about a quarter of career positions in the Senior Executive Service. The SES is also disproportionately male. Just about a third of career SES members are women. Data from the Partnership for Public Service shows that there is a slight trend toward more racial diversity in the SES, rising by 1% in the last year.
  (Federal workforce diversity still lagging in more senior roles - Federal News Network)
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services continues to grapple with staffing challenges. In a new report, the USCIS ombudsman found the agency has about 21,000 employees — 3,000 positions less than its fully authorized workforce. The ombudsman said USCIS is struggling to fill positions after a lengthy hiring freeze was lifted in 2021. Still, the agency was able to cut the immigration backlog for the first time in a decade last year. USCIS handled about 40,500 requests for various immigration benefits each business day in 2023.
  (USCIS Ombudsman 2024 report - Department of Homeland Security)
• A public-sector advocacy group is suing the Office of Personnel Management over a nearly seven-year delay in implementing a law passed by Congress. The Administrative Leave Act allows agencies to put federal employees on paid administrative leave for a maximum of 90 days while they investigate alleged wrongdoing. The group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility says federal employees have spent years on paid administrative leave, and seen their careers suffer. OPM introduced proposed guidance for the legislation in 2017, but has yet to finalize it. PEER filed its lawsuit to compel OPM to finalize its guidance.
  (Lawsuit urges OPM to end 7-year delay to keep feds off indefinite paid administrative leave - Federal News Network )
• The IRS expects it will recover billions of dollars in taxes owed — just as soon as it sorts through a backlog of more than 30,000 whistleblower claims. The IRS paid nearly $89 million dollars to more than 120 whistleblowers in fiscal 2023. That’s about a quarter of the $338 million those whistleblowers helped the IRS recover. But it’s no quick payday. Whistleblowers wait, on average, between 10 and 11 years before receiving a financial award for their disclosure. The IRS only pays whistleblower awards once taxpayers under investigation have exhausted all of their appeal rights. The IRS Whistleblower Office has helped recover nearly $7 billion in taxes owed since 2007. Whistleblowers have gotten more than $1 billion of that money.
  (IRS recoups billions from whistleblower claims. Tipsters can wait a decade for their cut - Federal News Network )

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• The Biden administration is calling on agencies to add more electric vehicles to the federal government’s fleet. To do that, the General Services Administration is seeking public feedback on how to manage all those EV batteries. GSA is looking for best practices on charging EV batteries, and how to maximize battery life. It’s also looking at how to reuse or recycle EV batteries, and how to safely dispose of them. GSA said it will use that information as the foundation for an EV battery strategic plan it’s working on.
  (GSA electric vehicle battery management strategic plan - Federal Register)
• Across government, more than 140,000 employees joined the civil service between 2019 and 2023. That's an increase of about 7% in the last couple of years, according to data the Partnership for Public Service released this week. In 2023 alone, the workforce size increased by 80,000 employees. But in Congress, current budget deliberations may change that. The GOP-led House Appropriations Committee is eyeing budget cuts for many agencies in 2025 spending legislation. Democrats, though, have said that limiting agencies’ budgets could lead to hiring freezes and staff layoffs. With most Democrats opposed to the House's proposals, agency budgets for 2025 likely won’t be finalized for months to come.
  (The federal workforce is growing, as House appropriators consider agency spending cuts - Federal News Network)
• The intelligence community is working on new standards and policies to guide the adoption of AI. Over the next few years, intelligence agencies will also work to establish shared AI services, including a model repository and training data. Those are just some of the action items in the intelligence community’s new IT roadmap. “This roadmap really provides a unified vision for where the IC needs to go over the next five years,” IC Chief Information Officer Adele Merritt said in an interview.
  (Intelligence community pushes for 'AI at scale' under new IT roadmap - Federal News Network)
• Agencies and unions have an upcoming opportunity to learn how to deal with some in-the-weeds arbitration issues. An upcoming training, hosted by the Federal Labor Relations Authority, will explain recent changes to its framework that stem from a 2023 FLRA decision. The FLRA's three members will lead the virtual training event, which will take place on July 23rd. Those interested in attending can register online on the FLRA's website.
  (Management rights in arbitration: The CFPB test - Federal Labor Relations Authority)
• A Department of Veterans Affairs employee is suing the VA over its rollout of a new Electronic Health Record. The lawsuit claims VA’s new Oracle-Cerner EHR doesn't work with assistive devices, such as screen readers that allow visually impaired users to access information on a computer screen. Laurette Santos is a licensed social worker who’s worked at the VA for over a decade, and is leading the lawsuit. She’s legally blind, and said her screen reader software worked with VA’s legacy health record, which is still used by most VA health care facilities. But it doesn’t work with the new Oracle-Cerner EHR. She said the VA didn’t address accessibility concerns she raised prior to the new EHR going live at her workplace in 2022.
  (VA employee files EHR lawsuit, claiming lack of accessibility features - Federal News Network)
• The chief records officer for the U.S. government is stepping aside. In a memo to agencies this week, Laurence Brewer announced that his last day at the National Archives and Records Administration will be July 13th. William Fischer will step into Brewer’s role in an acting capacity. Brewer has served as NARA’s chief records officer since 2015, and at the Archives since 1999. In recent years, he’s helped guide the federal government’s transition to digital record-keeping. Brewer’s next stop is the Justice Department, where he'll serve as director at the Office of Records Management Policy.
  (Leadership changes in the Office of the Chief Records Officer for the U.S. Government - NARA)
• The Technology Modernization Fund has a permanent leader. Larry Bafundo is losing the word "acting" from his title as executive director of the Technology Modernization Fund. General Services Administration Deputy Administrator Katy Kale announced his promotion to staff yesterday. Bafundo returned to GSA in January to be deputy executive director and acting executive director of the TMF program management office, replacing Raylene Yung. Kale said in the email obtained by Federal News Network that Bafundo has provided thoughtful and strategic leadership that has set up the TMF team for future success. The TMF Board has made nine awards worth more than 168 million dollars since January.
  (Deputy Administrator Katy Kale - General Services Administration)
• The Department of the Air Force releases its zero trust strategy. The new strategy focuses on seven key areas that will drive the department’s allocation of resources. The strategy aligns with the Defense Department’s zero trust strategy and reference architecture, the Air Force’s zero trust roadmap and zero trust implementation plan, as well as recently released DoD Fulcrum Digital Advancement Strategy. The new document will help the service strengthen its cybersecurity posture, reduce the number of separate systems, improve interoperability and unlock crucial capabilities such as Combined Joint All-Domain Command & Control (CJADC2).
  (Air Force releases zero trust strategy - Department of the Air Force)
• NATO’s Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) initiative launches its second round of challenges to find innovative solutions for defense and security needs. Challenge areas include energy and power, data and information security, sensing and surveillance, and critical infrastructure and logistics. Those interested in applying are encouraged to consider how their solutions can support environmentally friendly technologies and practices while increasing resilience. Applications are due by August 9. Proposals will be assessed against dual-use potential and commercial viability.
  (NATO’s DIANA launches second round of challenges - North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

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• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is taking several steps in light of recent findings of a workplace culture that was fraught with allegations of sexual harassment and other kinds of misconduct. The FDIC Board of Directors will create two new offices, the Office of Professional Conduct (OPC) and the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity. It also approved the development of two new policies, one around Anti-Retaliation and another focused on Anti-Fraternization. The board says FDIC employees will play a role in developing the policies by offering feedback. Finally, the board says the agency will hire a third-party to monitor and audit all of its recommendations to improve agency culture, policies, procedures and structures.
  (New offices, policies part of how FDIC plans to chance culture - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
• The Forest Service is lifting a hiring pause, but only filling its highest-priority vacancies. The agency is moving move forward with 157 tentative job offers for non-wildland fire positions, such as administrative and law enforcement jobs. But the agency says remaining applicants who received tentative job offers won’t move onto the next stage of hiring. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore says the agency is seeing a lower rate of attrition, and a tighter budgets, after federal employees this year received their highest average pay raise in over 40 years. Wildland firefighting positions are unaffected by these hiring restrictions.
  (Forest Service lifts hiring pause on non-fire workforce, but plans to only fill ‘highest priority’ vacancies - Federal News Network )
• The head of the FCC is proposing cybersecurity requirements for public alert systems. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has released draft cyber rules for the U.S. emergency alert system, as well as for wireless emergency alerts. They would require communications providers to use cybersecurity risk management plans, and alert the FCC within 24 hours of any equipment defects. They would also require emergency alert providers to have contingency plans in place in case of a system outage. Rosenworcel says her proposal is in line with Department of Homeland Security efforts to set minimum cyber requirements for critical infrastructure.
  ( FCC Chairwoman calls on agency to strengthen security of U.S. emergency alert systems - Federal Communications Commission)
• A top federal cybersecurity division is losing another familiar face. Ross Foard is stepping down as senior engineer in CISA’s cybersecurity division. Foard spent eight years at the agency, leading efforts on identity security and helping to shape the continuous diagnostics and mitigation program. Foard’s departure comes after CISA’s executive assistant director for cybersecurity, Eric Goldstein, stepped down last month. Goldstein has now landed at Capital One as head of cyber risk for the bank.
  (Ross Foard’s LinkedIn - LinkedIn)
• The Army takes another key step toward creating its network of the future. The branch is out with its first pass as what its unified and modern network could look like. A new request for information from PEO-C3T is asking for industry feedback on draft solicitation requirements for the Unified Network Operations or UNO program. The Army is expecting to issue the multiple award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract in mid-fiscal 2025. It has an expected ceiling of more than a billion dollars. The Army is using the software pathway acquisition model to develop a software-defined, agile network of the future. Vendors must ask the Army PEO-C3T for access to the draft documents. Comments on the RFI are due by July 17.
  (Army outlines first details about $1B UNO program - SAM.gov)
• The Department of Veterans Affairs is spending nearly $27 million on legal services for veterans experiencing, or at risk of homelessness. VA is awarding grants to public and non-profit organizations that provide legal help for veterans in need. The funding is meant to help veterans avoid eviction, obtain VA disability benefits, and aid in court proceedings over child support or custody. VA estimates the U.S. homeless veteran population has fallen by nearly 5% since 2020.
  (VA awards $26.8M in grants to support legal services for Veterans experiencing or at risk for homelessness - Department of Veterans Affairs)
• Traffic is expected to surge next week in the nation’s capital, with the U.S. hosting a NATO summit in downtown D.C. To help ease what will likely be high frustration for commuters, agencies are being encouraged — wherever possible — to let their employees telework all next week. The Office of Personnel Management’s memo to agencies says employees can also take time off as a way to avoid traffic. For feds who do have to go to the office, OPM recommends adding in extra time to get to work, and checking for street closures.
  (Memo on NATO summit in Washington, D.C. - Office of Personnel Management)

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• Younger Thrift Savings Plan participants will soon see a new investment option in the TSP. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board is launching the "L 2070" lifecycle fund at the end of July. The retirement investment fund is meant for TSP participants who will retire during or after 2068. Once the new fund is created, it'll bring the total up to 11 different L funds that are available through the TSP. The TSP's L funds generally track target-date retirement funds.
  (New Lifecycle Fund coming soon - Thrift Savings Plan)
• The 2024 Feds Feed Families campaign is officially underway. The annual food drive gives federal employees the opportunity to donate to, or volunteer for, local food banks. The program is run by the Department of Agriculture and began back in 2009. Since its inception, federal employees have collectively donated more than 99 million pounds of food. This year's Feds Feed Families campaign launched last week and will run until September 30.
  (2024 Summer Campaign - Feds Feed Families)
• The National Institute of Standards and Technology is getting feedback on its draft plan for advancing federal tech standards. NIST will accept comments on the draft roadmap for setting standards on critical and emerging technology through July 12. The roadmap is intended to broaden standards participation, grow a standards-savvy workforce, and ensure inclusivity and integrity in developing tech standards. NIST is charged with taking a lead role in championing U.S. standards in areas like artificial intelligence.
  (NIST seeks public input on draft roadmap for USG national standards strategy for CET - National Institute of Standards and Technology)
• The State Department has a new AI hub. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says AI.State includes training and other materials to help employees harness new AI tools. The State Department has rolled out several new capabilities, including a chat bot and a media analysis tool. During an event Friday, Blinken and other officials said State Department employees are encouraged to experiment, “I'd encourage everyone to test it out, to try it out, to explore it, to try to learn from it. And also lend your own ideas and input because this is something that will continue to be iterative and a work in progress,” Blinken said.
  (With new AI tools available, State Department encourages experimentation - Federal News Network)
• The Defense Information Systems Agency wants to automate 75% of its cyber capabilities. Brian Hermann, DISA's director of cybersecurity and analytics, says that while there is no set timeline to achieve the goal, the agency is currently not where it needs to be. Because of a large number of data silos, the agency is currently working on streamlining its data to get closer to the goal. The agency is also implementing a federated search capability, which will allow their team to search data wherever it exists.
  (DISA wants to automate 75% of cyber activities - AFCEA International)
• The Defense Information Systems Agency’s Hosting and Compute Center continues to expand its cloud capabilities to the military services and mission partners outside the continental U.S. The Center is working with the agency’s Program Executive Office transport and cloud service providers to find out where they are planning to expand their cloud services to and how they connect back to U.S. data centers and cloud facilities. The goal is to provide low latency to the service branches as they move from tactical to operational to strategic levels of capability. DISA unveiled its plans to expand its cloud capabilities to the military services and missions partners overseas last year.
  (DISA continues its push to provide OCONUS cloud services - AFCEA International)
• The long-awaited Alliant 3 solicitation has hit the streets. The General Services Administration met its first goal with the next version of the Alliant 3 governmentwide acquisition contract for IT services: Get the RFP on the street in the third quarter of 2024. That happened Friday. Now, the work begins to stay on track. Industry has until October 28 to submit bids for the multiple award contract. In the meantime, GSA will be accepting questions about the solicitation through July 26 and plans to offer answers by August 23. GSA outlined at least 45 IT services covered under Alliant 3, ranging from 3D printing to energy sustainability management to quantum computing.
  (GSA released RFP for Alliant 3 IT services GWAC - SAM.gov)
• The departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development are the latest agencies seeking more funding to address ongoing emergencies. The Biden administration submitted a new request to Congress for almost $4 billion on Friday to address two big challenges. First, the White House is asking for $3.1 billion for Transportation’s Emergency Relief Program. This money would help cover increased needs for repairing and rebuilding highways and roads that have been damaged in disasters and other emergencies across the country, including the cost of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The administration is asking for $700 million for HUD's Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program. The additional funding is for victims of the Maui fires in Hawaii as well as other disasters such as hurricanes in Florida and Georgia and flooding in Vermont.
  (White House seeks additional funding for DOT, HUD - White House)

Correction: The audio version of this article says the Alliant 3 contract has a ceiling of $75 billion over 10 years. There is actually no ceiling for the contract.

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• The Justice Department's Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative chalked up another successful case by winning more than $11 million from two contractors to resolve False Claims Act allegations. Guidehouse paid $7.6 million and Nan McKay and Associates paid $3.7 million to put to rest claims they violated the False Claims Act. The companies failed to meet cybersecurity requirements in contracts intended to ensure a secure environment for low-income New Yorkers to apply online for federal rental assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guidehouse and Nan McKay admitted that they failed to satisfy their obligation to complete the required pre-production cybersecurity testing of the system.
  (DoJ wins biggest cyber False Claims Act settlement yet - DoJ)
• House appropriators are digging in even further into federal telework and agencies’ return-to-office policies. One fiscal 2025 spending bill that the GOP-led committee advanced this week includes language targeting teleworking feds. Language accompanying the bill would set new requirements for agencies to publicly report their policies on telework and office space. It would also require agencies to publicly share their office space utilization rates in the D.C. area. Unions are pushing back against the language, saying that telework policies should be tailored to the nature of employees’ work, rather than having a one-size-fits-all approach.
  (More House appropriators target federal telework, office space - Fedeal News Network)
• Two Defense Department projects made the cut for the Presidential Federal Sustainability Awards the White House announced this week. One is a project the Air Force has been working on since 2019 at Florida’s Tyndall Air Force Base, about half of which was destroyed by Hurricane Michael the previous fall. The White House credited Air Force officials with rebuilding with a “base of the future” in mind, and using construction techniques that should make the installation more resilient against severe weather. The second is the huge Edwards Air Force Base solar project, which became one of the world’s biggest solar and battery storage facilities when officials cut the ribbon last year. The 4,000-acre project is also DoD’s biggest public-private partnership to date.
  (DoD Components Receive Presidential Sustainability Award - Department of Defense)
• The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) finalizes the "fast pass" approval process for AI tools. The FedRAMP cloud security program is opening up its doors to specific types of generative artificial intelligence capabilities for priority approvals starting August 31. Under the new emerging technology prioritization framework, FedRAMP is telling vendors to submit three types of GenAI tools for expedited reviews. The FedRAMP management office said it will start with GenAI tools used for chat interfaces and code generation, and debugging tools that use large language models and prompt-based image generation. It also will review associated application programming interfaces (APIs) that provide these functions. It will release the first list of prioritized AI tools by September 30.
  (FedRAMP to begin prioritizing AI cloud capabilities for approvals - Federal News Network)
• The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency is managing a surge in security clearance applications. DCSA Director David Cattler said his agency is receiving up to 11,000 new applications for investigations every week. The surge has led to longer security clearance processing timelines. Cattler told the House Oversight Committee this week that secret-level cases are taking an average of 92 days to process and a top-secret case about 188 days.
  (An examination of DOD’s struggling background check system - House Oversight and Accountability Committee )
• For the first time in a decade, the Government Accountability Office is out with a proposed revision of federal internal controls. Called the "Green Book," GAO said its changes emphasize preventive control activities and highlights management's responsibility for internal control at all levels and within all functions of an agency's structure, such as program and financial managers. The proposed revisions provide additional requirements, guidance and resources for addressing risk areas such as fraud, improper payments and information security when designing, implementing and operating an internal control system. GAO has not updated the Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government since 2014. Comments on the proposed revisions are due by August 26.
  (GAO proposes first updates to the 'Green Book' since 2014 - GAO)
• The Department of Homeland Security is expanding a new cyber personnel system. DHS established the Cyber Talent Management System (CTMS) in 2021. It got off to a slow start, but DHS has now hired nearly 200 people using CTMS. DHS Chief Information Officer Eric Hysen said the department has made hundreds of offers using the system. Hysen told the House Homeland Security Committee that in the coming years, DHS will expand use of CTMS across the department.
  (DHS aims to expand CTMS after ‘challenges’ with rollout - Fedeal News Network)
• The Partnership for Public Service is down to just six finalists for the 2024 Sammies People’s Choice Award. The finalists are part of the larger awards program, which recognizes the work of career civil servants. The People’s Choice finalists include one team that made it possible for non-tax forms to be electronically submitted to the IRS. Another finalist developed an app that lets veterans use their phones to make health care appointments and manage insurance claims. Voting on all six finalists is open to the public until July 12. The winner will be recognized later this year during a Sammies ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
  (2024 Sammies People’s Choice Award finalists - Partnership for Public Service)

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