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Rep. Mike Gallagher, In-Q-Tel’s Sarah Sewall on Need for US-Allied Minerals Production Efforts
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Rep. Mike Gallagher, In-Q-Tel’s Sarah Sewall on Need for US-Allied Minerals Production Efforts

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., has said the U.S. must work to foster partnerships with “Five Eyes” allies to mitigate reliance on China for critical mineral components, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

Gallagher, who co-chairs the Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC), said at a recent webcast that he considers a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendment that he co-authored as a “small victory” in prioritizing the procurement of minerals from domestic and allied resources.

Speaking on his recent trip to Western Australia with the seapower committee chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Gallagher said the U.S. needs to fortify its relationship with Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand which previously earmarked significant allocations for rare earths supply.

According to Gallagher, Congress is taking Chinese threats seriously and have had positive developments in driving production in the domestic information and communications technologies supply chains

Sarah Sewall, executive vice president of In-Q-Tel, noted that the CSC made good recommendations in its white paper on securing the U.S. supply chain’s mineral resources.

She noted that the nation needs to avoid transitioning all production processes to onshore operations and “accept the fact that you’re going to still rely on external components in some cases.”

Australia also has a number of skilled experts in quantum computing and the U.S. needs to be more open on coalition efforts to combine expertise, said Sewall.

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Biden Administration Names New Executives to GSA Leadership Positions
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Biden Administration Names New Executives to GSA Leadership Positions

The Biden Administration has appointed new General Services Administration (GSA) officials to spearhead key initiatives, including COVID-19 relief, economic recovery, racial equity and climate, GSA reported on Wednesday.

Of the appointments, Katy Kale, former assistant to the President for Management and Administration under President Obama and GSA Chief of Staff, will be the deputy administrator and will serve as the acting administrator.

During the first term of the Obama Administration, Kale served as the deputy assistant to the President for Management and Administration and the special assistant to the President and Director of White House Operations.

She also served as the director of Operations for the Obama-Biden Transition Project. Before her tenure with the Obama Administration, Kale served in the U.S. Senate for nearly a decade. With the Senate, she focused her efforts on operational and legislative issues.

Sonny Hashmi, former chief information officer of GSA, will be the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) commissioner under Biden’s Administration. Hashmi will join the agency from Box, where he served as managing director of Global Government. With the company, he is responsible for marketing, brand and product strategy.

Hashmi began his career with GSA as deputy CIO and chief technology officer, where he supervised the agency’s Technology Portfolio as part of the Office of the Chief Information Officer Executive team. As CIO with GSA, managed GSA’s approximate $540 million annual IT investment portfolio.

In addition to the appointments of Kale and Hashmi, Biden’s team named nine additional appointments, including:

  • Dave Zvenyach will be the director of Technology Transformation Services (TTS)
  • Brett Prather will serve as Chief of Staff.
  • Sonal Larsen will be senior advisor on Climate.
  • Jacky Chang will be a senior advisor on technology.
  • Nitin Shah will be General Counsel.
  • Gianelle Rivera will be the associate administrator for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs.
  • Teressa Wykpisz-Lee will be the associate administrator of the Office of Strategic Communications.
  • Amy Chiou will lead community engagement.
  • Krystal Brumfield will be the Associate Administrator of the Office of Government-Wide Policy.
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Dewberry Promotes Four Executives to Vice President
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Dewberry Promotes Four Executives to Vice President

Dewberry has promoted Chris dePascale, Jean Huang, Stephen Kalaf and Mathew Mampara to vice presidents, the company reported on Tuesday. The promotions will further Dewberry’s ongoing expansion of engineering, architectural and consulting services. 

Throughout his career, dePascale successfully developed, managed and delivered infrastructure projects in the public, education and healthcare markets. He is skilled in managing design, developing contract documents, administering construction, managing contracts, exercising financial control, managing client relationships and mentoring direct reports. 

dePascale currently serves as a client manager for the mid-Atlantic site/civil group. He is a licensed professional engineer in Connecticut, Washington, D.C. and Virginia, and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). 

Huang is experienced in leading large multi-discipline teams to meet client goals and objectives. She supervises projects related to flood hazard engineering and mapping, climate change adaptation, stormwater management, environmental compliance, and other related water resources projects.

Huang serves as the program management director for the resilience solutions group. She is a licensed professional engineer in Maryland, New York and Virginia. Huang is also a certified floodplain manager and project management professional. 

Kalaf is the executive director of quality assurance. In the role, he leads Dewberry’s quality program and is a senior project manager in the resilience solutions group. Kalaf is a certified floodplain manager and project management professional. 

He has more than four decades of experience with the National Flood Insurance Program in a wide variety of roles, and has deep experience across all aspects of flood hazard and risk identification. 

Mampara is the director of innovation for the resilience solutions group. He is a licensed professional engineer in Maryland and is a member of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) and ASCE.

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Cypress International Names Hon. Kevin Fahey as President, COO; LTG David Halverson Quoted
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Cypress International Names Hon. Kevin Fahey as President, COO; LTG David Halverson Quoted

Cypress International has appointed Hon. Kevin Fahey, assistant secretary for acquisition at the Department of Defense (DOD), as president and chief operating officer (COO), effective April 12, the company reported on Wednesday. 

“Kevin returns to us after serving in the Administration with over 35 years of extensive experience in defense acquisition leadership roles,” said LTG David Halverson, USA(Ret), chairman and chief executive officer of Cypress. “Kevin’s recent assignment as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition will also be of tremendous value to our clients.”

With DOD, Fahey advises the under secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (USD(A&S)), the deputy secretary of Defense, and the secretary of Defense on DOD Acquisition System, acquisition program management and the development of strategic, space, intelligence, tactical warfare, command and control and business systems. 

Prior to his position in the federal government, Fahey served as vice president of Combat Vehicles and Armaments with Cypress. He has also served as the director of System of Systems Engineering and Integration in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology). 

Fahey previously served as the program executive officer for Combat Support and Combat Service Support, as well as program executive officer for Ground Combat Systems. Additionally, Before that, Fahey was deputy program executive officer for Ammunition. 

“His demonstrated expertise in the disciplines of program management, test and evaluation, transformation, industrial base, and systems engineering will be an excellent addition to the Cypress team,” Halverson added. 

Fahey recently delivered the opening keynote address during GovConWire’s Defense Digital Acquisition and Modernization Forum on Dec. 1, 2020. During the event, Fahey discussed the DOD’s acquisition process, as well as federal policies and procedures. 

With DOD, he has led recent efforts to improve contracting, focusing on bettering modeling and analytics of cost and pricing. Another line of effort is ensuring a resilient and secure industrial base. “We have to get better insight into the industrial base and multiple tier levels to improve supply chain risk management,” Fahey added. 

If you missed the Defense Digital Acquisition and Modernization Forum, you can still access the OnDemand Footage by visiting GovConWire’s Event Archive. 

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Jim Bridenstine Addresses Importance of Artemis Program
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Jim Bridenstine Addresses Importance of Artemis Program

Jim Bridenstine, a 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, recently discussed the importance of the Artemis program and moon missions moving into the future, SpaceNews reported on Wednesday.

Throughout 2020, NASA has worked to bolster the Artemis Program through contract and appointments. The agency recently named the 18 astronauts that will serve as part of a team responsible for helping the agency prepare for Artemis deep-space missions including the planned moon landing in 2024.

The astronauts, which were selected based on eligibility for initial moon missions, will help NASA and its industry partners develop hardware requirements, crew training activities and technologies such as the human landing system. The team will also engage with the public in support of the Artemis program and future NASA missions.

Additionally, NASA awarded Blue Origin, Leidos’ Dynetics subsidiary and SpaceX have won 10-month contracts worth $967 million combined to design and build human landing systems for the Artemis missions. Blue Origin proposed a three-stage Integrated Lander Vehicle platform designed for the company’s New Glenn vehicle as well as United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket.

SpaceX will work on its Starship concept intended for the Super Heavy rocket, while Dynetics will create a structure designed for lunar ascent and descent activities as well as integration on the Vulcan rocket and Space Launch System.

Dynetics noted its HLS proposal is also meant to support week-long surface habitation and that the HLS award builds on its prior work supplying hardware for the SLS stages, Orion crew vehicle and International Space Station.

Moving forward, Bridenstine noted that the Artemis Program should continue to remain of importance to solidify the nation's position and competition in the space race. 

“How do we build a program that can endure the test of time?” Bridenstine asked. “We need our Artemis program, we need our moon-to-Mars program, to span generations… We need to make sure that we’re leading the world in a return to the moon and on to Mars.”

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SpaceX Launches Additional Starlink Satellites on Falcon 9 Rocket
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SpaceX Launches Additional Starlink Satellites on Falcon 9 Rocket

SpaceX launched its latest set of Starlink satellites on Jan. 20, SpaceNews reported on Wednesday. With the launch, SpaceX has sent more than one thousand satellites for that broadband constellation. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. 

The Falcon 9’s upper stage deployed the payload of 60 Starlink satellites 65 minutes after liftoff. The rocket’s first stage landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX’s launch was the first time the company flew a booster eight times. The booster was most recently flown on the SXM-7 launch. 

“We at SpaceX have certainly enjoyed what I would call a thoughtful and creative technical collaboration with an ever-widening group of astronomers,” Patricia Cooper, vice president of satellite government affairs at SpaceX said, resulting in a “deeper and fuller technical understanding of the intersection of the satellite constellation sector and specific projects affect ground-based astronomy.”

SpaceX has worked to develop a version of the Starlink satellites, VisorSat, featuring visors to prevent sunlight from reflecting off antennas and other surfaces on the satellites. The VisorSats will reduce the brightness of the Starlink satellites to magnitude 7 or fainter. The company will collaborate with astronomers to mitigate the effect of Starlink.

“It’s important to keep the purpose of this disruption to astronomy, from your perspective, in context of the goal of the constellation we’re deploying, which is broadband connectivity,” Cooper said. “This collaboration needs to continue,” she added, because those discussions are “what’s getting us to a much better, more successful way of coexisting.”

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Alejandro Mayorkas Discusses DHS Workforce Initiatives, Cyber Posture
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Alejandro Mayorkas Discusses DHS Workforce Initiatives, Cyber Posture

Alejandro Mayorkas, president-elect Joe Biden’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), recently discussed how he plans to support the department’s workforce. Mayorkas noted that he will work to provide DHS employees with essential tools to support success across the department,  Federal News Network reported on Wednesday. 

“If indeed I have the privilege of serving as the secretary of Homeland Security, I will make the wellbeing and morale of the brave and noble men and women of the department my highest priority,” Mayorkas said at his nomination hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

In regard to DHS’ cybersecurity, Mayorkas noted that he plans to improve the department’s cyber posture. “[CISA] must strengthen the public-private partnership, not only for the benefit, of course, of the federal government, but for the benefit of the private sector itself,” Mayorkas said. The Senate has previously confirmed Mayorkas on three separate occasions as a U.S. attorney, USCIS director and DHS deputy secretary. 

“Once confirmed you will have a daunting job ahead of you, but you are a qualified and experienced leader,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.). “There’s no question we need strong and stable leadership in the Department of Homeland Security more than ever. Over the last four years the department has endured some chaos, mismanagement and instability.”

During the Obama administration, Mayorkas served as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services with DHS between 2009 and 2013, then as deputy secretary with the department from 2013 to 2016. 

In 2016, Mayorkas became a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. In Nov. 2020, President-elect Joe Biden announced that he would nominate Mayorkas as secretary of Homeland Security in his Cabinet.

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LexisNexis Risk Solutions Survey Uncovers Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Financial Crime Compliance for Financial Institutions
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LexisNexis Risk Solutions Survey Uncovers Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Financial Crime Compliance for Financial Institutions

Today, LexisNexis® Risk Solutions published an infographic summarizing the survey results of U.S. and Canadian compliance professionals on the range of challenges that financial institutions have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey outlines the issues that many financial institutions encounter today and finds that the pandemic continues to test the resilience and agility of businesses across every market.

The ongoing pandemic-related pressures that compliance departments face will likely also drive increased compliance costs in the future. This is true for financial institutions of all sizes. While technology seems to be a greater cost factor for larger financial institutions, labor costs impact smaller institutions on a greater scale.

"The events of 2020 have been unprecedented and financial institutions must prepare for increased risk of financial crime for the foreseeable future," said Leslie Bailey, senior director of financial crime compliance strategy for LexisNexis Risk Solutions. "Compliance teams can optimize resources to better navigate the new normal brought by the pandemic while maintaining the customer experience with a multi-faceted approach that includes efficient technology, intuitive analytics and extensive global risk intelligence."

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DOD Secretary Nominee Gen. Lloyd Austin Talks Pandemic Response, Military Alliances at Senate Confirmation Hearing
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DOD Secretary Nominee Gen. Lloyd Austin Talks Pandemic Response, Military Alliances at Senate Confirmation Hearing

Lloyd Austin, a retired U.S. Army general and President Biden’s nominee for the defense secretary post, said his top priorities once confirmed would be to address the COVID-19 pandemic, counter extremism within the U.S. and reaffirm military alliances with countries in the Indo-Pacific amid China’s aggression, Voice of America reported Tuesday.

He told Senate Armed Services Committee members Tuesday during his confirmation hearing that he will have a “laser-like focus” on ensuring that the U.S. maintains its competitive advantage over the Chinese military and noted that doing so will require U.S. investments in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other emerging technologies. Gen. Austin also shared his thoughts on the nuclear deal with Iran during the hearing.

“The preconditions for us considering to reenter into that agreement would be that Iran meet the conditions outlined in the agreement … back to where they should have been," he said.

C4ISRNET reported that Gen. Austin expressed support to the Department of Defense’s proactive cybersecurity approach called “defend forward.”

In a written response to lawmakers’ policy questions, Gen. Austin said DOD can advance the defend forward approach by enabling industry, interagency and international partners to come up with better defenses; gathering insights about the cyber capabilities and operations of adversaries; and initiating actions to stop or disrupt threat actors’ malicious cyber activities.

Gen. Austin also responded to a question about the dual-hat leadership arrangement for U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency.

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OFPP Chief Michael Wooten Issues Guidance for Agencies to Reduce Procurement Administrative Lead Time
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OFPP Chief Michael Wooten Issues Guidance for Agencies to Reduce Procurement Administrative Lead Time

Michael Wooten, administrator of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), has released a memo outlining frictionless acquisition strategies agencies can implement to reduce procurement administrative lead time (PALT). 

For the acquisition planning and presolicitation phase, OFPP cited the use of a facilitator to help the integrated program team develop performance work statements and other key requirement outputs and adoption of the acquisition requirements roadmap tool, according to the memo released Thursday.

The memo, which establishes a common definition of PALT, calls for agencies to conduct interactive question-and-answer sessions with vendors prior to the release of a solicitation and provide target or estimated price in solicitation during the second phase of acquisition.

For Phase 3 of the procurement process, frictionless strategies that agencies can implement include technical demonstration, product demonstration, video proposal, on-the-spot consensus, confidence rating, advisory downselect, streamlined documentation, comparative evaluation, highest technically rated offeror and performance evaluation modernization.

For the final phase, OFPP urges agencies to test how robotics process automation could help a contracting officer reduce the time in determining that a potential awardee is responsible.

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