The Office of Personnel Management released a final rule implementing direct-hire authority for mission-critical information technology positions. OPM said in the document published Wednesday that the authority will allow agency leaders to bypass select steps in hiring new personnel to address the shortage of applicants in critical IT roles. 

“IT managers who are looking to hire in critical roles who cannot get people to fill those critical roles are able to get the head of the agency to authorize direct-hire authority for those roles,” said Margaret Weichert, deputy director of management at the Office of Management and Budget and current acting director of OPM, at the FedScoop IT Modernization Summit. 

OPM will require IT officials to submit justification before exercising the hiring authority. The office said it will closely monitor each agency’s use of the authority to avoid abuse.

Agencies can use the authority to hire IT professionals for limited terms. Employees hired under the rule can work in government for up to eight years. Direct-hire authority is expected to take effect on May 3.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, a 2019 Wash100 winner, will announce the agency’s initial plan to bring astronauts back to the surface of the moon by 2024, Space News reported Tuesday.

The plan is currently under development, which originally aimed to make the next manned lunar mission in 2028. 

“What we’re doing right now is trying to assess very quickly what would be required to achieve the end state of boots on the moon in 2024,” Bridenstine said. “The plan is all there. A lot of the pieces of the architecture are already there. We’re just going to have to pull a number of them forward.”

NASA intends to work with the White House in finalizing the plan to have a “consolidated position from the administration” before delivering it to Congress.

The space agency is also considering commercial options to achieve the 2024 goal. NASA is considering United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4 Heavy and the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket as potential alternatives to the Space Launch System if the development encounters future delays. 

Bridenstine said NASA would seek additional funding to support the plan.

The Office of Management and Budget will not publish select data on the federal government’s information technology spending for 2020 on the IT Dashboard web site, Bloomberg Government reported Tuesday.

Officials will withhold information related to federal infrastructure, management and security investments as part of its “data masking decision,” according to the General Services Administration.

Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president for the Professional Services Council, said federal contractors uses the IT Dashboard as a tool for strategic planning activities.

“It’s been a useful tool, both from a budget standpoint as well as an oversight perspective,” he said. “Congress should be concerned that they’re losing a readily available source of spending information.” 

According to the report, approximately $36B of the White House’s $88B unclassified IT funding request for 2020 is noted on the website.

The Department of Defense will require contracting officials to secure approval from the agency’s program manager before restricting companies to subcontract in procurement deals.

Officials issued the final rule in the Federal Register Monday to implement section 824 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2019. The update covers the regulations under the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement.

“The contracting officer shall not withhold consent to subcontract without the written approval of the program manager or comparable requiring activity official exercising program management responsibilities, if the contractor has an approved purchasing system,”  according to the announcement. 

The Department of Energy is investing $26.1M in to develop marine and hydrokinetics technologies that would help the country continue leveraging hydropower. Officials said Monday that the department’s water power technologies office will identify projects that reduce the cost and boost the flexibility of hydropower and marine energy.

The research investment effort will consist of four study areas. The first area aims to boost the flexibility of hydropower technologies and address constraining factors while the second will leverage the potential of low head hydropower and in-stream hydrokinetic systems.

The third area is intended to design, develop and prepare wave energy converters for open-water tests, and the final area will modernize the research infrastructure of national marine renewable energy centers.

“This opportunity is critical to advancing new water technologies that harness energy from our nation’s rivers and oceans,” said Daniel Simmons, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The Department of the Interior saved $14.8 million in 2018 as it expanded its fleet of unmanned aircraft systems to support operations across the U.S. The department released its UAS Program 2018 Use Report Monday that details the agency’s spending and aircraft use during the year.

The agency conducted 10,342 unmanned aircraft flights in 2018, two times higher than the 2017 figure.  Use of drones for natural disaster response accounted for the majority of missions in 2018. The number is expected to continue to rise as first responders find new opportunities for the aircraft to assist in their missions, Mark Bathrick, director of DOI Office of Aviation Services, told Nextgov.

Interior uses 530 drones to survey federal lands, inspect infrastructure, track wildlife and assist disaster response efforts. The agency plans to increase its aerial drone fleet to nearly 800 systems by 2020. Officials also plan to increase investment in-house capabilities with 205 new drone pilots added to the agency’s certified operators.