The General Services Administration has started following a new acquisition process that aims to help agencies combine purchases and shorten negotiations with contractors, GCW reported Tuesday.

GSA created new order level materials and commercial supplier agreement rules after vendors and the agency’s personnel sought to leverage the two procurement policies.

Alan Thomas, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA, said the first phase of the policy implementation will run through the end of 2018, with the official execution expected to start in 2019.

The agency also seeks to focus on the commercial solutions opening process, which streamlines vendor selection timelines, simplifies contract terms and protects the intellectual property of contractors. 

The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act included provisions appointing authorities that GSA can approach regarding CSOs.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has recommended that the federal government adopt the “hack back” approach when responding to cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The proposal could attract interest from private companies but also present risks as nation-states and foreign hackers continue to virtually threaten U.S. businesses.

Whitehouse also called on the federal government to authorize a cybersecurity official to inform the public about various weak points in cybersecurity systems and measures.

He noted that there is a need for President Donald Trump to appoint a cybersecurity “storyteller-in-chief” to disclose instances of threats and attempted attacks such as hacking and data theft.

Lastly, the senator proposed reviewing the U.S. government’s cybersecurity guidelines for power plants and other critical infrastructure operators to ensure they are encouraging better security.

Whitehouse aims to share his proposals before a congressional hearing on cybersecurity that will include testimonies from national security officials on critical infrastructure attacks.

Senators on Monday resumed debates on amendments to a fiscal 2019 minibus spending bill that will appropriate funds for multiple federal agencies, including $675B for the Defense Department, the Washington Examiner reported.

The Senate approved two amendments to the 2019 defense bill, one of which allocates $10M to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency for the purposes of identifying U.S. servicemen among the remains repatriated from North Korea at the end of July.

Senate Armed Services Subcommittee Chairwoman Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., who sponsored the amendment, said that identifying the remains would give families of the deceased an “opportunity to gain closure and to give their loved ones the respectful, dignified remembrance that they deserve.”

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed optimism that the chamber would be able to tackle more amendments in the upcoming week, while Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., warned against so-called “poison pill” amendments that have slowed down proceedings in previous years.Shelby said, however, that “[there] are reasons to believe that this year will be a different year,” adding that “[we] have a lot to do this week, but we can do it.”

President Donald Trump is expected to officially nominate Army Lt. Gen. Richard Clarke, director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Staff, as head of U.S. Special Operations Command in Florida, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

Some U.S. officials said Clarke will replace Army Gen. Tony Thomas, who is set to retire in 2019, once the Senate confirms him for the post.

Clarke was instrumental in the planning and execution of the 2011 raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden during his time as an operations officer with Joint Special Operations Command in North Carolina.

The officials said the White House is expected to nominate Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, director of the Joint Staff, to succeed the retiring Army Gen. Joseph Votel as head of U.S. Central Command that is responsible for operations in the Middle East.

The Trump administration is also poised to nominate Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters as head of U.S. European Command and NATO supreme allied commander Europe.

Wolters currently leads Air Force Europe, Allied Air Command and Air Force Africa and is expected to replace the retiring Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti.

Navy Adm. Craig Faller has also been nominated by the White House to serve as head of U.S. Southern Command.

National Background Investigation Bureau Director Charles Phalen said the agency started preparing to move into the Defense Department upon the enactment of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act in 2017, MeriTalk reported Monday.

Phalen noted during the Government Matters program that the 2018 NDAA required the DoD to handle its portion of background investigations from NBIB.

“We have been working very closely with the department ever since the [NDAA] came out back in December, first on the partial shift, now [we are] focused completely on the whole piece,” he said.

However, the bureau still needs to wait for a presidential executive order to formalize its integration into the DoD.

Phalen noted that the executive order, which will elaborate on NBIB’s merger with DoD, is currently being processed.

He added that working with the department in the past few months has reduced the number of pending background investigations that the agency needed to handle.

Senators on both sides of the aisle are concerned that President Trump’s proposal to establish a “Space Force” would add to overhead costs at the Defense Department, The Hill reported Tuesday.

“How do we make sure we’re protecting taxpayer dollars and making sure they’re most efficiently used while achieving that objective?” Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa said.

Vice President Mike Pence said the Trump administration plans to ask Congress for an initial $8B budget to cover five years of space procurement efforts through the proposed sixth military branch.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that the Pentagon would first need to establish a space-dedicated combatant command as stated in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.

The report noted Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas is the only member of the committee who fully supports the idea of building a Space Force service.

“Our vulnerability in space and the increasing aggressiveness of our adversaries threatening our space architecture is significant and troubling and I applaud the administration elevating the focus on defending that space architecture,” Cruz said.