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Senate OKs $716B Defense Policy Bill for Fiscal 2019
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Senate OKs $716B Defense Policy Bill for Fiscal 2019


Senate OKs $716B Defense Policy Bill for Fiscal 2019The Senate on Monday voted 85-10 to pass a bill that would authorize $716 billion in defense budget for fiscal 2019, Reuters reported Tuesday.

The fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act seeks to allocate $639 billion in base budget and $69 billion in additional war spending.

The report said the measure would authorize the acquisition of materials to support the development of Virginia-class nuclear submarines, a provision that could bode well for shipbuilding firms Huntington Ingalls Industries and General Dynamics.

The Senate added an amendment to the defense policy bill that would preclude sales of Lockheed Martin-built F-35 fighter jets to Turkey provided the Trump administration proves that the country does not buy defense systems from Russia, threaten NATO or detain U.S. citizens.

The Senate’s NDAA would expand the review authority of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. over land purchases and other transactions.

CNBC reported that the Senate’s version of the defense bill includes a provision that would reinstate a ban that prohibits Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE from purchasing components from U.S. companies for breaching a settlement over illegal shipments to North Korea and Iran.

The upper chamber’s measure needs to be reconciled through a conference committee with the House’s NDAA version that passed in May.

The report said the White House could advance efforts to overturn the ZTE ban as both chambers hash out differences between the two versions of the legislation.

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Report: Trump Announces Plan to Establish ‘Space Force,’ Inks New Directive for Space Traffic Mgmt
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Report: Trump Announces Plan to Establish ‘Space Force,’ Inks New Directive for Space Traffic Mgmt


Report: Trump Announces Plan to Establish ‘Space Force,’ Inks New Directive for Space Traffic MgmtPresident Donald Trump announced Monday that he would order the Defense Department to form a new “space force” as the sixth military branch in order to maintain U.S. dominance in space, The Washington Post reported Monday.

Trump said Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would lead the establishment of the space force, which would be equal but separate from the U.S. Air Force.

Dunford’s staff issued a statement saying the general’s office will collaborate with Defense Secretary James Mattis, other DoD officials and Congress to carry out the president’s guidance.

Dunford and Mattis are both 2018 Wash100 recipients.

Trump announced the new service branch during the third meeting of the National Space Council and signing of a new directive that would direct federal agencies to work with industry to introduce a new space traffic management framework.

The Space Policy Directive-3 provides new guidelines for space debris monitoring in the Earth’s orbit and for satellite development and operation, the report added.

The new policy came nearly a month after Trump signed the Space Policy Directive-2 that aims to introduce reforms to commercial space regulations.

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USDA’s Gary Washington: IT Modernization Through Centers of Excellence a ‘Change Management Effort’
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USDA’s Gary Washington: IT Modernization Through Centers of Excellence a ‘Change Management Effort’


USDA’s Gary Washington: IT Modernization Through Centers of Excellence a ‘Change Management Effort’
Gary Washington

Gary Washington, chief information officer at the Agriculture Department, has said he considers as a “change management effort” the information technology modernization initiative being carried out at USDA through the White House’s centers of excellence, Federal News Radio reported Friday.

“At the end of our engagement the ideas that we will have implemented across our department in every mission area will basically change the way the Department of Agriculture does business moving forward,” he said at the ACT-IAC Igniting Innovation awards event in Washington, D.C.

Washington said such an effort calls for USDA to prepare its workforce and position the agency to oversee, maintain and operate the new environment.

He noted that IT and process modernization efforts will extend to other mission areas in addition to the updated Farmers.gov portal.

“In our market and regulatory program areas, [the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service] will be automating their whole permitting process,” he said.

“We are having conversations with the Food Safety and Inspection Service about their import-export certificates and digitizing that, and the loan process at Rural Development is a big one on the slate,” Washington added.

USDA and the General Services Administration will host on June 27 a planning session to discuss their procurement strategies with contractors as part of the CoE program’s second phase, the report noted.

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GAO Prompts OPM Agencies to Fully Implement Workforce Cybersecurity Assessment, Coding Requirements
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GAO Prompts OPM Agencies to Fully Implement Workforce Cybersecurity Assessment, Coding Requirements


GAO Prompts OPM Agencies to Fully Implement Workforce Cybersecurity Assessment, Coding RequirementsThe Government Accountability Office has recommended that agencies under the Office of Personnel Management fully implement the requirements for baseline cybersecurity assessments and coding procedures for federal finance personnel.

The GAO, in a report issued Thursday, said that 13 of the Chief Financial Officers Act’s 24 agencies provided limited assessment accuracy and operations assurance for the Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment Act of 2015.

The OPM was required under the 2015 act to code a cybersecurity structure and develop a process for the assignment of codes to civilian roles pursuant to the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education.

The GAO reported that three CFO Act agencies did not perform the assessment and four discarded some reportable information after assessment reports from 21 agencies were submitted to Congress in March.

The agency also said that six CFO Act agencies only addressed partially the activities for the OPM procedures.

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FedRAMP Updates JAB Prioritization Guidance, Seeks New Business Cases for Connect Program
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FedRAMP Updates JAB Prioritization Guidance, Seeks New Business Cases for Connect Program


FedRAMP Updates JAB Prioritization Guidance, Seeks New Business Cases for Connect ProgramA Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program office has launched the next round of an initiative to evaluate potential government cloud service providers based on a set of criteria and on demand.

FedRAMP said Thursday its program management office will select three cloud service providers each quarter to receive prioritization status in obtaining a provisional authority to operate from the Joint Authorization Board through the Connect program.

CSPs are required to achieve a FedRAMP Ready designation within 60 days after they obtain prioritization status. Providers then can coordinate with JAB within 90 days of being prioritized.

For the latest round, interested vendors will have until July 13 to submit their business cases to info@fedramp.gov.

Teletrac Navman’s Fleet Management Solutions subsidiary, Infor, ManTech International, Monster Government Solutions and Xerox received priority status in February to work with JAB.

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U.S. Air Force, Norway Complete Tests for F-35 Missile System Integration
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U.S. Air Force, Norway Complete Tests for F-35 Missile System Integration


U.S. Air Force, Norway Complete Tests for F-35 Missile System IntegrationThe U.S. Air Force and Norway have completed several weapons development tests for the fifth-generation Joint Strike Fighter‘s anti-surface warfare missile system.

Norway will proceed with the integration and evaluation of the Joint Strike Missile after it has matured through ground, captive carriage and live-drop tests at Edwards Air Force Base, the service branch said Friday.

Raytheon partnered with Norway-based defense company Kongsberg Gruppen to develop the JSM for the internal weapons bay of the F-35A Lightning II aircraft.

Test activities at Edwards AFB involved inert JSM variants loaded onto the F-16 Fighting Falcons prior to the final flight test, which included target neutralization using full-mission guidance and software systems.

Testing began at Edwards AFB in 2015 with the first JSM variant including an active autopilot and a glide-only weapon. Flight tests of different versions of the JSM helped determine the independent power and navigation of the missile at extended operations.

The JSM features an infrared imaging seeker enabling autonomous target recognition for long standoff and distance anti-ship operations.

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House Subcommittee Calls for DoD to Submit Govt, Commercial Satcom Acquisition Strategy
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House Subcommittee Calls for DoD to Submit Govt, Commercial Satcom Acquisition Strategy


House Subcommittee Calls for DoD to Submit Govt, Commercial Satcom Acquisition StrategyThe House Appropriations Committee’s defense subpanel has released a report that would require the Defense Department to come up with an acquisition strategy that explains how it will buy commercial space systems and services to support its military communications satellites, SpaceNews reported Saturday.

The report was issued alongside the defense subcommittee’s proposed defense policy bill for fiscal 2019.

The report said the subcommittee’s defense spending measure would redirect $49.5 million in funds from “pathfinder” projects toward the establishment of a new “program of record” within the U.S. Air Force for commercial satcom.

“The committee is looking holistically at the space architecture … This is a monumental move by the committee,” an industry official told the publication.

The House Appropriations Committee’s measure builds on the fiscal 2018 defense spending law, which ordered the move of commercial satcom procurement responsibility to the Air Force Space Command from the Defense Information Systems Agency, the report added.

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GSA Begins E-Commerce Portal Implementation Program’s Phase II With 2 RFIs
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GSA Begins E-Commerce Portal Implementation Program’s Phase II With 2 RFIs


GSA Begins E-Commerce Portal Implementation Program’s Phase II With 2 RFIsThe General Services Administration has sought information from industry as part of the second phase of a program to establish an e-commerce platform that federal agencies can use to buy commercial products and services.

GSA issued a request for information on Friday asking e-commerce platform providers to share their data standards; spending trends; cybersecurity; user experience and program design; terms and conditions such as order tracking, issue resolution and delivery.

The agency asked information on product categories, program design and terms and conditions from suppliers that use such portals to sell their products under the second RFI posted Friday.

GSA will hold on Thursday, June 21, a town hall-like meeting for the market analysis and consultation phase and accept responses on the RFIs through July 20, according to the notices.

GSA and the Office of Management and Budget will use the feedback from the RFIs to develop the Phase II report that is scheduled for submission to Congress in March 2019 with plans to come up with a proof of concept before fiscal 2019 ends.

The RFIs for the Phase II came three months after GSA released the implementation plan for the e-commerce portal.

GSA Begins E-Commerce Portal Implementation Program’s Phase II With 2 RFIsExecutive Mosaic‘s Potomac Officers Club will host a forum in Falls Church, Va., on July 18. The “GSA Plans and Priorities Forum” will feature public and private sector leaders to discuss how industry can assist the agency to deliver real estate, acquisition and technology services to the government and the public.

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DoD, NASA, GSA Issue Interim Rule to Ban Use of Kaspersky Lab’s Products, Services
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DoD, NASA, GSA Issue Interim Rule to Ban Use of Kaspersky Lab’s Products, Services


DoD, NASA, GSA Issue Interim Rule to Ban Use of Kaspersky Lab’s Products, ServicesThe Defense Department, NASA and the General Services Administration have introduced an interim rule that seeks to prohibit federal agencies and contractors from using Kaspersky Lab’s software, hardware and services by Oct. 1.

A Federal Register notice posted Friday says the regulation was introduced to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation in compliance with a provision of the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.

The interim rule would require contracting officers to include the prohibition in solicitations and contracts released on or after July 16 and direct vendors and subcontractors to report any Kaspersky-built products discovered during the contract’s performance period.

The agencies also asked industry input on measures the government intends to implement in order to determine potential challenges to contractors with regard to the identification of “covered articles” under the interim rule.

Interested stakeholders have until Aug. 14 to submit their comments, which will be used by the three agencies to develop the final rule.

The Department of Homeland Security issued in September 2017 a binding operational directive that requires agencies to discontinue the use of Kaspersky Lab’s anti-virus platforms and related products within 90 days to protect their information systems from potential security vulnerabilities.

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Report: Trump Taps Kathy Kraninger to Lead Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
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Report: Trump Taps Kathy Kraninger to Lead Consumer Financial Protection Bureau


Report: Trump Taps Kathy Kraninger to Lead Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Kathy Kraninger

Kathy Kraninger, an associate director at the Office of Management and Budget, has been picked by President Donald Trump to serve as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Bloomberg reported Sunday.

Lindsey Walters, a spokeswoman for the White House, said in a statement Kraninger is “a staunch supporter of free enterprise” whose management experience would help advance reforms initiated by OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, who has led CFPB since November 2017 on a part-time basis.

Kraninger will succeed Mulvaney as the consumer watchdog’s permanent head once confirmed by the Senate.

She has managed budget matters for financial regulators since joining OMB in 2017 and previously served as a staff member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and an official at the Department of Homeland Security prior to OMB.

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