HHS in Focus: Exploring Leadership, Budget & Priorities
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HHS in Focus: Exploring Leadership, Budget & Priorities

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services plays a pivotal role in the nation’s healthcare framework. It is one of the largest federal agencies, with a broad mandate to enhance and protect the health of all Americans. 

For healthcare professionals and government contracting executives, understanding HHS’s history, leadership, budget priorities and overarching structure is crucial for navigating industry trends and aligning with its initiatives. This comprehensive guide will provide a detailed breakdown of HHS to give GovCon professionals a clear understanding of its impact and operations.

HHS in Focus: Exploring Leadership, Budget & Priorities

Meet HHS leaders on Dec. 11 at the 2024 Healthcare Summit hosted by the Potomac Officers Club. Register now for the Healthcare Summit before tickets run out.

History of the Department of Health and Human Services

Established in 1953 as the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, HHS emerged as a standalone department in 1979 following the creation of the Department of Education. Its mission has always been centered on improving public health, advancing biomedical research and delivering essential health and human services, particularly for vulnerable communities.

Over the decades, HHS has spearheaded many landmark initiatives, including the establishment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. Today, the department is at the forefront of addressing pressing healthcare challenges such as pandemic response, mental health care accessibility, health equity and chronic disease prevention.

Key Leaders of HHS

Effective leadership has always been crucial to HHS’s success. Below are some of the key officials integral to its strategic direction:

Xavier Becerra, Secretary of HHS

Xavier Becerra has served as the 25th HHS secretary since March 2021. In this role, he is the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health-related matters.

Andrea Palm, Deputy Secretary of HHS 

Andrea Palm plays a key role in policy implementation, overseeing the department’s day-to-day operations to ensure all HHS programs align with its mission.

Jennifer Wendel, HHS CIO

Former FBI leader Jennifer Wendel serves as CIO for HHS. Wendel previously served as deputy CIO and then acting CIO before being permanently elevated to the position in November 2024.

Hear Jennifer Wendel speak at the 2024 Healthcare Summit hosted by the Potomac Officers Club on Dec. 11! Secure your ticket to the Healthcare Summit while seats are still available.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., potential incoming HHS Secretary

Chosen as HHS Secretary by President-elect Donald Trump in November 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could be tasked with leading the department through critical transformations. He has prioritized combating chronic diseases and addressing deceptive practices within the industrial food and drug sectors throughout his career.

HHS Budget Priorities for FY 2025

The HHS Fiscal Year 2025 budget reflects its commitment to modernization and transformation. With $1.7 trillion in mandatory budget authority and $130.7 billion in discretionary funding, the department plans significant investments in:

Expanding Coverage and Lowering Costs 

Initiatives include lowering drug prices through enhanced Medicare negotiations, increasing Medicaid accessibility and modernizing health centers.

Research & Development 

The NIH has requested $46.4 billion, with major funding for programs like Cancer Moonshot and studies addressing health disparities.

Customer Experience 

Efforts are underway to improve accessibility, such as simplifying enrollment in federal healthcare programs and enhancing online tools like Medicare’s claims pages. 

Agencies Under HHS

HHS comprises multiple agencies, each with distinct mandates to ensure public health and safety. Below are three major agencies under its umbrella:

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 

With a staggering $1.6 trillion allocation in FY25, CMS oversees vital programs like Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP, serving as a lifeline for millions of Americans.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) 

Dedicated to health research, the NIH’s 27 institutes drive progress in areas such as cancer prevention, AI integration in healthcare and maternal health.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

The CDC’s $9.7 billion FY25 budget helps it combat infectious diseases, prepare for bioterrorism threats and address youth violence prevention.

Other integral agencies include the Indian Health Service, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Food and Drug Administration.

Recent HHS News

The HHS continues to make headlines with its ongoing advancements and initiatives. Here’s a quick recap of recent developments:

HHS Reorganization

In June 2024, HHS announced its plan to reorganize its cyber, data and artificial intelligence policy functions. As part of the reorg, HHS renamed the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology as the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, or ASTP/ONC.

AI Strategic Plan Coming Soon

According to HHS’ Acting Chief AI Officer Micky Tripathi, the agency expects to release a strategic plan to guide its AI activities in January 2025. Tripathi said the plan will look at areas in which AI can be useful to HHS, as well as boundaries that may be needed to guide the use of AI.

Organ Transplant IT System Cybersecurity 

The HHS Office of the Inspector General recommended tighter cybersecurity measures for the organ transplant IT system in order to ensure the security and privacy of sensitive health data. 

Meet HHS Leaders at the 2024 Healthcare Summit

With its significant budgetary investments, forward-thinking leadership and mission-driven goals, the Department of Health and Human Services is shaping the future of healthcare in America. Meet HHS leaders like CIO Jennifer Wendel at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Healthcare Summit on Dec. 11! Register for the Healthcare Summit to save your seat.

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NASA Announces Launch of Expanded Geospatial AI Model
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NASA Announces Launch of Expanded Geospatial AI Model

NASA, IBM and Germany-based research institution Forschungszentrum Julich have launched an expanded version of a geospatial artificial intelligence foundational model that could help track changes in land use, predict crop yields and monitor disasters worldwide.

What Is the Prithvi Geospatial AI Foundational Model?

NASA said Wednesday the open-source Prithvi Geospatial AI foundation model is pre-trained on the space agency’s Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2, or HLS, dataset and can be accessed through the data science platform Hugging Face.

“We’re excited about the downstream applications that are made possible with the addition of global HLS data to the Prithvi Geospatial foundation model. We’ve embedded NASA’s scientific expertise directly into these foundation models, enabling them to quickly translate petabytes of data into actionable insights,” said Kevin Murphy, chief science data officer at NASA.

“It’s like having a powerful assistant that leverages NASA’s knowledge to help make faster, more informed decisions, leading to economic and societal benefits,” added Murphy.

Improving Earth Science Applications

With the inclusion of global HLS data, the Prithvi Geospatial AI foundation model has been tested in several applications, such as burn scar mapping, landslide detection, post-disaster flood mapping, above ground biomass estimation and estimation of gross primary productivity.

According to NASA, the model can identify crop patterns by using the Department of Agriculture’s crop data and analyzing time-sequenced data.

NASA and IBM first launched the AI model in August 2023.

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CISA Issues CDM Data Model Document Version 5.0.1
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CISA Issues CDM Data Model Document Version 5.0.1

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has issued an updated document designed to provide a description of a common data schema to ensure that prescribed diagnostic activities within Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation, or CDM, platforms are consistent across all federal agencies. 

CISA said Wednesday the CDM Data Model Document Version 5.0.1 aligns with fiscal year 2023 metrics of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act, or FISMA.

Federal agencies use the common data schema to meet critical objectives: reducing the threat surface, increasing visibility into the federal cybersecurity posture, streamlining FISMA reporting and enhancing federal cybersecurity response capabilities.

What Is the CDM Data Model?

According to the public version of the document, the CDM Data Model is a common schema of data attributes and elements based on requirements and recommendations conveyed in the CDM architecture.

The schema plays a role in the development of the data requirements for the CDM program and represents the data’s “to-be state” within and outside of Layer C of the CDM architecture.

Document’s Purpose

The updated document outlines the basic data requirements that the program expects each CDM platform to incorporate and offers guidance regarding the data that CDM tools at agencies must collect.

CISA said CDM integrators should use the document to advance the development of a holistic platform, integrating data requirements into the operational flow of security tools and sensors.

Idaho Lab & University Sign Agreement on Enhancing R&D Cooperation
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Idaho Lab & University Sign Agreement on Enhancing R&D Cooperation

The Idaho National Laboratory and Idaho State University have signed the Strategic Understanding for Premier Education and Research, or SUPER, agreement.

SUPER Objectives

The goal of the effort is to expand cooperation in critical and strategic materials and minerals research, which involves the investigation and development of materials and minerals vital to modern technology and industrial processes but whose supply is at risk of disruption, INL said Wednesday.

The effort also seeks expanded cooperation in environmental sustainability and security, including carbon reduction, digitalization and artificial intelligence, and spent fuel storage and disposition.

Terms of the Agreement

The SUPER agreement will last five years, during which cooperation between the signatories will involve shared academic materials, visiting research scholars and various joint events like workshops and conferences. The signatories will also pursue ongoing research and development collaborations.

“Research in critical and strategic materials and minerals is essential to our nation’s manufacturing and tech centers. This agreement with the university has the potential to elevate INL’s impact on this urgent national priority,” INL Laboratory Director John Wagner said.

For his part, ISU President Robert Wagner said, “ISU and INL have a long history of successful partnerships and collaborations,” adding, “Not only do we prepare our students for the future, INL and ISU faculty are finding innovative solutions to the energy challenges ahead.”

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Charles River Books DARPA Contract for Automated Planning
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Charles River Books DARPA Contract for Automated Planning

Charles River Analytics has been awarded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Strategic Technology Office a contract worth $9.9 million to develop automated strategies for planning complex operations.

The company said Monday it will work with Data Machines on Phase 2 of the project, which involves further development of the Meta-Reinforcement Learning System for Strategy and Tactics Assistance using Force-on-Force Forecasting, or MERLINS-STAFF. Phase 1 of the contract, worth $4 million, covered the development of a new neuro-symbolic artificial intelligence approach using strategic games to support the planning process.

What Is MERLINS-STAFF?

MERLINS-STAFF is a component of DARPA’s Strategic Chaos Engine for Planning, Tactics, Experimentation and Resilience, or SCEPTER, program. It aims to develop machine-generated strategies using neuro-symbolic AI to assist humans in planning operations and making complex decisions.

With the limitation of existing AI systems, DARPA aims to fully develop and utilize AI-enhanced planning through the SCEPTER program. The agency envisions a human-machine teaming system capable of adapting to different environments and developing statistically significant enhancements.

According to Michael Harradon, principal scientist at Charles River and principal investigator on MERLINS‑STAFF, real-time strategy computer games can be used to evaluate how new AI techniques perform in a controlled environment.

“In Phase 1, we achieved significant advancements, including playing longer games, reducing training time by 1000x, handling more complex entity controls and creating human-understandable plans,” said Harradon.

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FCC Selects UL Solutions for IoT Cyber Labeling Program
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FCC Selects UL Solutions for IoT Cyber Labeling Program

The Federal Communications Commission has selected UL Solutions to serve as the lead administrator and cybersecurity label administrator, or CLA, of its voluntary cyber labeling program for Internet of Things products.

As lead administrator, the Northbrook, Illinois-based privacy security company will develop and recommend IoT-specific standards and testing procedures for the program, the FCC said Wednesday, adding that the organization will also serve as a liaison between the commission and CLAs. The commission noted that UL Solutions was approved for the roles as it satisfied the program requirements.

FCC Marks on Qualified IoT Devices

According to the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, additional CLAs will be announced soon and they will be authorized to certify the use of IoT marks on products that comply with the commission’s cyber labeling program rules. The program will use labels, such as the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark, on qualified smart products, enabling consumers to make informed purchasing decisions.

The FCC program will also help consumers identify trustworthy products and encourage manufacturers to apply higher cybersecurity standards on the devices they release to the market. It will also function as a collaborative platform for the public and private sectors.

Public and Private Sector Partnership

While the commission intends to advance partnerships under the effort, it will retain oversight and control of the program while selected third-party administrators will be allowed to supervise activities, such as evaluating product applications, granting permission for label use and educating consumers.

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NIST Seeks Public Input on Zero Trust Guidance
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NIST Seeks Public Input on Zero Trust Guidance

The National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence within the National Institute of Science and Technology is soliciting public comments on its final draft of the NIST’s implementation guide on zero trust architecture, or ZTA, to help tame cyberattack risks in government and industry. The guide was developed from the findings on NCCoE’s consultations with 24 vendors on their best ZTA practices, NIST said Thursday. 

Titled “Implementing a Zero Trust Architecture,” the 45-page guidance contains technical data and findings on the 19 ZTA implementations demonstrated during the vendors’ consultations.

Functional ZTA Cybersecurity Mapping

The implemented ZTAs in the guide include policy engines from Microsoft, IBM, Symantec and Palo Alto Networks. The NCCoE draft publication also provides mappings for ZTA cybersecurity functions to help an organization’s senior management understand that resources spent in ZTA implementation can also support meeting other security requirements.

In addition, the guide recommends steps that an organization adopting ZTA should take, the first of which is an inventory of such assets as software and hardware in its operating environment. Another recommendation calls for continuous ZTA improvement in response to changing cyberthreats, new technologies and shifts in organizational goals.

Submission of comments on the NIST guide have a deadline of Jan. 31.

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Luke Cropsey to Lead USAF’s Information Dominance Systems Center
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Luke Cropsey to Lead USAF’s Information Dominance Systems Center

President Joe Biden has nominated Maj. Gen. Luke Cropsey to be the first chief of the newly created Air Force Information Dominance Systems Center.

Cropsey serves as head of the Department of the Air Force’s command, control, communications and battle management—a.k.a. C3BM—program executive office in Washington, D.C., the Department of Defense said Wednesday. He oversees the department’s efforts to advance the DOD vision of connecting the U.S. military’s warfighting systems through the Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control program.

Prioritizing C3BM Efforts

If confirmed by the Senate, the USAF general will receive his third star and run AFIDSC, which was established to support the service’s increasing focus on C3BM efforts, including cyber operations, electronic warfare, information systems and enterprise digital infrastructure. When it becomes operational, four PEOs, namely C3BM, cyber and networks, electronic systems and business enterprise systems, will be realigned from the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center to the new center.

New Center’s Initial Operational Details

The Air Force designated Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts as the new AFIDSC headquarters. The organization will operate within the Air Force Materiel Command and will be manned by around 136 personnel.

The basing decision for the center will be finalized by year’s end and the Air Force plans to formally stand up AFIDSC in 2025.

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DIU Seeks Solutions for Resilient DOD Energy Installations
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DIU Seeks Solutions for Resilient DOD Energy Installations

The Defense Innovation Unit has issued an area of interest, or AOI, solicitation for Phase 2 of the Department of Defense’s Finance First initiative seeking industry-made capabilities for resilient energy installations. The solicitation seeks proposals for installations that can be completed within two to three years and can deliver an acceptable per kilowatt hour cost with small or no upfront investment, DIU said.

The agency noted that AOI proponents have to provide alternative financing structures and operational strategies for cost-effective energy generation. The potential approaches to meet such goals include requesting access to DOD land and tax credit and awards grant applications.

Technical Capability Requirements

The proponents’ basic qualifications outlined in the solicitation include the technical capability to accomplish build-own-operate-and-transfer projects or similar delivery schemes. Pitches on the DIU solicitation should also include a letter of credit indicating a proponent’s capacity to undertake a project valued at over $50 million. The AOI solicitation’s response deadline is on Dec. 20.

The selected solution providers are eligible for other transaction contracts for follow-on production without further competition. The vendors may also be awarded contracts for solutions across the federal government.

The DIU initiated Finance First in March 2023, with an AOI solicitation for the Department of the Air Force energy installations as the focus.

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Air Force Tests New Air-to-Surface Missile
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Air Force Tests New Air-to-Surface Missile

The U.S. Air Force Armament Directorate has completed a test to evaluate the capability of the new tactical air-to-surface weapon to separate from an aircraft.

Eglin Air Force Base said Monday the Stand-in Attack Weapon, or SIAW, was launched from a 40th Flight Test Squadron F-16 Fighting Falcon during a test held on Nov. 7 over the Gulf of Mexico. This was the first time the new air-to-surface missile was released from an aircraft.

Stand-in Attack Weapon Drop Test

The SIAW air-to-surface missile is designed to neutralize rapidly moving targets such as cruise and anti-ship missile launchers and jamming platforms. To test it, a jettison test vehicle was used. JTVs are tools used to assess the separation process of a weapon. This test missile does not have a rocket motor or internal electronics.

The SIAW drop test was a collaborative effort among different units of the 96th Test Wing. Test conductors were responsible for the planning and control of the test from the Eglin Central Control Facility. Engineers monitored the separation process while pilots and photographers captured aerial footage. The engineers will also conduct post-flight analysis.

Maj. James Tipton, assistant director of operations of the 780th Test Squadron, remarked, “Successful execution of this test was a testament to the outstanding teamwork from everyone involved.”

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