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‘Consensus’ Reached on FedRAMP & Other ExecutiveGov Need-to-Read Stories

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ExecutiveGov’s round-up of news you need to read to stay up to speed on federal policy impacting the government-contracting community.

Image: Melanie Gamarra

Obama to Feds: Give Us Suggestions for Federal Reorg

As the government takes on reforming the 12 federal agencies responsible for trade and export, President Barack Obama has released a video beseeching federal employees to put in their two cents on the best way to reorganize.

A number of administration officials are working on proposals for the reorg. The White House wants federal employees to vote on the proposals on a special website, mirroring a similar initiative known as the SAVE Awards, which solicited members of the federal workforce for ideas to cut back on wasteful spending.

Click here to read more from The Washington Post.

DOE and NIST Partnering with Private Sector to Protect Smart Grid

The Energy Department and the Commerce Department’s science-and-policy shop, the National Institute of Standards and Technology are partnering with the private sector to develop cybersecurity solutions for the nation’s “smart” electrical grid, Government Computer News reports.

“The goal is to begin moving the electricity sector stakeholders out of the compliance mindset and into a continuous monitoring mindset,” said Bill Hunteman, senior cybersecurity adviser at Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability.

Click here to read more.

GSA Official Says ‘Consensus’ Reached on FedRAMP Rules

A General Services Administration official said this week that drafters of proposed cloud-computing security guidelines have reached consensus, FierceGovernmentIT reports.

“We have come up with a way, we think, of a unified set of controls and a new policy and a model of how we’re going to make this work,” said Sanjeev “Sonny” Bhagowalia, GSA deputy associate administrator in the office of citizen services and innovative technologies.

The proposed rules will use the Federal Information Security Management Act as a “baseline,” along with added continuous monitoring controls.

Click here for more information.

DoD Comptroller Reveals Slower Growth Rate in 2012 Budget

Despite all the talk of pruning the Pentagon lately, the Defense Department’s comptroller and chief financial officer told a Senate committee earlier this week DoD’s funding request for 2012 doesn’t reflect a cut but rather a slower rate of growth.

All together, the department has identified $178 billion in savings through fiscal-year 2016, DoD CFO Robert Hale said. That includes $100 billion in efficiencies to reinvested within the department and $78 billion to be used reduce the federal deficit.

Click here to read more.

Genachowski Debuts FCC Budget

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski took his agency’s proposed budget to Congress this week, touting it as a “fiscally responsible” budget that would keep necessary programs afloat, according to a report in Broadcasting and Cable.
Clocking in at about $354 million, B&C reports the FCC budget is entirely funded through fees and auction proceeds.

Click here or more information.

OMB to Agencies: Lips Sealed about Shutdown

USA Today reports the Office of Management and Budget is telling federal agencies to keep their lips zipped about what the potential effects of a government shutdown would be.

“Agencies should not be previewing shutdown plans — that is, policy and operational decisions — in any way,” OMB directed agencies in emails last month, USA Today reports.

Further, public statements “should not state or imply what functions would or would not be continued in the event of a funding gap.”

Click here to read more.

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