Congress OKs Fiscal 2019 Defense Authorization Bill; James Mattis Comments
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Congress OKs Fiscal 2019 Defense Authorization Bill; James Mattis Comments


Congress OKs Fiscal 2019 Defense Authorization Bill; James Mattis Comments
James Mattis

The Senate passed a $717 billion defense policy bill through an 87-10 vote Wednesday, six days after the House voted 359-54 to clear the legislation.

Congress approved the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which now awaits President Trump’s signature, at the “swiftest” pace in two decades, the Defense Department said Wednesday.

Politico reported the bill includes $616.9 billion in base DoD budget, $69 billion to fund the Pentagon’s overseas contingency operations and another $21.9 billion for nuclear weapons programs under the Energy Department.

The NDAA contains provisions to implement a government-wide ban on technology products from Chinese telecommunications firms and expand the authority of the Committee of Foreign Investment in the U.S.

The legislation would also earmark a 2.6 percent troop pay raise and provide funds to support the U.S. Navy’s modernization program.

“I am grateful for the strong commitment of members on both sides of the aisle to pass this year’s NDAA in record time,” said Defense Secretary James Mattis, a two-time Wash100 winner.

“It is now our duty to implement these policies responsibly and ensure a culture of performance and accountability,” Mattis added.

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DoD OIG Report Lists Open Recommendations for Department Program, Operation Management
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DoD OIG Report Lists Open Recommendations for Department Program, Operation Management


DoD OIG Report Lists Open Recommendations for Department Program, Operation ManagementThe Defense Department‘s Office of the Inspector General has found that the heads of multiple DoD components have yet to finish taking corrective action on almost 2,000 recommendations that the office proposed following various audits and evaluation initiatives.

Recommendations in the 2018 Compendium report covered various topics such as logistics, intelligence, acquisition programs, finance and accounting, information technology resources, contractor oversight, healthcare and morale, construction and installation support and environment.

The OIG said that, as of March 31, 1,558 of its recommendations remain “open,” of which 25 were deemed “high priority,” meaning acting on them could improve agency operations significantly, while 33 were identified as potentially leading to financial benefits worth $2.3 billion.

On the other hand, 102 recommendations were deemed “unresolved,” meaning they were rejected by the DoD units to whom they were directed.

Dissenting DoD units will subsequently have to come to an agreement with the OIG on how best to address the issues that were detected.

The office pointed out that its recommendations aim “to improve program management and operations, and to address fraud, abuse, mismanagement, and waste of DoD funds” and called on DoD senior management “to focus attention on implementing open recommendations and ensure that prompt resolution and action is taken.”

Okla. Science & Tech Secretary Kelvin Droegemeier to be Nominated OSTP Director
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Okla. Science & Tech Secretary Kelvin Droegemeier to be Nominated OSTP Director


Okla. Science & Tech Secretary Kelvin Droegemeier to be Nominated OSTP Director
Kelvin Droegemeier

Kelvin Droegemeier, secretary of science and technology for the state of Oklahoma, will be nominated by President Trump to serve as director at the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Droegemeier also serves as vice president for research and teaches meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, the White House said Wednesday.

He helped establish and led the National Science Foundation’s Science and Technology Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms as well as the NSF Engineering Research Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere.

The meteorologist also served on the National Science Board under the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.

In his two six-year terms with the board, Droegemeier was vice chairman for four years.

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ODNI Announces Release of Declassified Materials Related to Vietnam War’s Tet Offensive
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ODNI Announces Release of Declassified Materials Related to Vietnam War’s Tet Offensive


ODNI Announces Release of Declassified Materials Related to Vietnam War’s Tet OffensiveThe Office of the Director of National Intelligence has announced the release of the first set of declassified documents from CIA and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency about the Tet Offensive.

ODNI said Tuesday the Tet Offensive involved the North Vietnamese army, Viet Cong and their surprise attacks against the South Vietnamese and U.S. military forces on Jan. 30, 1968.

The release of the documents came after DNI Dan Coats, a two-time Wash100 recipient, asked intelligence agencies in January to identify historical data of current relevance and evaluate them for declassification in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the offensive campaign as part of the Vietnam War.

ODNI said the intelligence community will release additional declassified documents in three segments over a 15-month period through intelligence.gov.

The declassification effort related to the Tet Offensive is part of the IC’s implementation plan in 2015 for the community’s intelligence transparency principles.

GAO: DoD Needs Data Sharing Strategy for Commercial Item, Price Reasonableness Determinations
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GAO: DoD Needs Data Sharing Strategy for Commercial Item, Price Reasonableness Determinations


GAO: DoD Needs Data Sharing Strategy for Commercial Item, Price Reasonableness DeterminationsThe Government Accountability Office has recommended that the Defense Department adopt a strategy to help defense agencies share information regarding the quality and price reasonableness of commercial off-the-shelf products.

GAO said Tuesday DoD should also develop a plan to fill the Commercial Item Group database with more data and appoint an entity to oversee the exchange of information regarding commercial items.

The government audit agency urged the department to determine how the database should be sustained and financially supported.

GAO found during a study that defense agencies face challenges in collecting market data on COTS products and that contractors occasionally take longer to submit information about their offerings.

The watchdog noted that implementing an information sharing strategy will help DoD determine if a specialized product needs to be modified prior to delivery.

Kirstjen Nielsen: DHS Seeks to Encourage Threat Info Sharing via National Risk Mgmt Center
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Kirstjen Nielsen: DHS Seeks to Encourage Threat Info Sharing via National Risk Mgmt Center


Kirstjen Nielsen: DHS Seeks to Encourage Threat Info Sharing via National Risk Mgmt Center
Kirstjen Nielsen

Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and a 2018 Wash100 recipient, announced at a recent cybersecurity summit that DHS will establish a center to connect private and public sector entities in cyber defense efforts, CNBC reported Wednesday.

She noted that the National Risk Management Center will offer “crowd-sourced” methods for government and industry cyber professionals to respond to different threats in cyberspace.

DHS’ headquarters in Washington D.C. will house the new facility.

Nielsen added the department plans to launch a voluntary supply chain risk management program that will involve partnering cybersecurity representatives from company with agencies to track certain security vulnerabilities.

DHS also intends to form a new elections task force to support state secretaries in assessing security risks ahead of November midterm elections.

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Report: Senate Plans to Merge Defense Spending Bill With HHS-Labor-Education Measure
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Report: Senate Plans to Merge Defense Spending Bill With HHS-Labor-Education Measure


Report: Senate Plans to Merge Defense Spending Bill With HHS-Labor-Education MeasureSenate lawmakers plan to combine into one package the fiscal year 2019 defense policy bill and the FY 2019 spending measure for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, Bloomberg Government reported Monday.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said he believes the White House would back the move to combine those two spending bills.

“If they’re not against it, you can kind of see their support. … Maybe in different degrees,” Shelby told reporters.

The report said the proposed two-bill package would represent approximately $850 billion of the fiscal 2019 discretionary spending worth between $1.2 trillion and $1.3 trillion.

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Lt. Gen. VeraLinn Jamieson: Air Force Should Leverage AI in Battlespace Decision-Making
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Lt. Gen. VeraLinn Jamieson: Air Force Should Leverage AI in Battlespace Decision-Making


Lt. Gen. VeraLinn Jamieson: Air Force Should Leverage AI in Battlespace Decision-Making
VeraLinn Jamieson

Air Force Lt. Gen. VeraLinn “Dash” Jamieson, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance on the air staff at the Defense Department, has said artificial intelligence can facilitate real-time decision-making for airmen operating in virtual and physical battlespaces, Military.com reported Monday.

“We do need our analysts to harmonize the data to decision quality at speed,” Jamieson said Thursday at an Air Force Association event.

“We must build the next-generation ISR enterprise capable of possessing decision advantage across the entire spectrum of conflict,” she added.

Jamieson noted the Air Force needs a culture change to advance the transition to a new approach that seeks to optimize use of data, analytics, machine intelligence and human-machine teaming technologies.

She also cited China’s increasing spending on AI systems and its potential impact on the U.S. military’s competitive edge in AI tech.

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Mike Pence: Senate Should Form New Cyber Agency at DHS Through Legislation
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Mike Pence: Senate Should Form New Cyber Agency at DHS Through Legislation


Mike Pence: Senate Should Form New Cyber Agency at DHS Through Legislation
Mike Pence

Vice President Mike Pence has urged the Senate to pass before this year ends a measure that would establish a cybersecurity agency within the Department of Homeland Security.

Pence said in his speech delivered Tuesday at DHS National Cybersecurity Summit in New York that the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency will serve as the “central hub for cybersecurity” that will gather the national government’s resources to counter cyber threats.

He said the White House has requested $15 billion in cybersecurity budget for next year and will continue to collaborate with Congress to secure the needed resources for the country’s cyber defense efforts.

Pence offered updates on the National Cyber Strategy, Trump administration’s data sharing efforts with the private sector over threat indicators and the planned expansion of the “national cyber situational awareness room” project to ensure the security of the U.S. midterm elections in November.

He noted that the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee will unveil in the next few weeks a “moonshot” initiative that aims to advance digital and cybersecurity skills.

Other programs Pence mentioned at the summit include the FBI’s foreign influence task force and DHS’ election information sharing analysis center.

“This project, which all 50 states and more than 900 counties have already joined, will help prevent attacks before they happen, identify them when they’re underway and stop them before they can do any lasting damage,” he said of the DHS center.

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NASA IG Offers Recommendations for Space Station Management, Utilization
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NASA IG Offers Recommendations for Space Station Management, Utilization


NASA IG Offers Recommendations for Space Station Management, UtilizationNASA’s Office of Inspector General has reviewed agency efforts to maximize International Space Station use for human exploration missions and examined the challenges of managing operations in the orbiting laboratory.

The OIG said in a report published Monday it found that the agency plans utilize ISS as part of efforts to address technology gaps and health risks associated with long-duration manned spaceflight.

NASA projected, as of February, that research for at least six of 20 human health risks and four of 40 technology gaps that require ISS use for testing cannot be completed by the end of fiscal year 2024, when funding allocation for the space station is scheduled to stop, as per a proposal in President Trump’s FY 2019 budget request.

To address the problem, the OIG said the agency may consider extending ISS operations past 2024, explore non-space-based testing methods or venture into riskier future crewed deep space missions.

The office recommended that NASA develop a contingency plan for each human health risk that cannot not be resolved before 2024. The same goes for exploration-enabling technology demonstrations that cannot not be fully evaluated by that time.

NASA should also study options to acquire supplemental emergency deorbit propellant support from U.S. commercial vehicles, the OIG added.

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