House and Senate conference members have passed a package of three bills that would appropriate fiscal 2019 funds for the Department of Veterans Affairs, military construction, energy and water infrastructure and legislative branch.

The minibus measure would allocate $86.5B in discretionary funds for VA’s health records system modernization effort, Mission Act programs and claims backlog work, the House Appropriations Committee said Monday.

Military construction projects, such as infrastructure upgrades to support deterrence operations, would get $10.3B in fiscal 2019 funds.

The energy and water appropriations bill would earmark $15.2B for the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons security initiatives; $7B for the Army Control of Engineers’ flood control and navigation efforts; and $13.5B for electrical grid security and related energy programs.

The legislative branch spending measure would appropriate funds for the Capitol Police, office of employee advocacy and paid internships.
 

Suzette Kent, federal chief information officer, has said government agencies have reached a critical point in efforts to transform processes through innovation, Federal Times reported Tuesday.

“There is always a fear of what’s going to happen if we get things wrong,” Kent told audience at a Professional Services Council-hosted event Tuesday.

“It’s about that vision, it’s about that boldness to change the status quo.”

The Office of Management and Budget issued $45M in grant awards to the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Energy and Agriculture in June through the Technology Modernization Fund.

White House officials have urged other agencies to pursue remaining grants on the initial $100M TMF program, the report noted.

Nextgov reported Tuesday the White House aims to collect input from government, academic and industry professionals on workforce transformation strategies through an executive symposium the administration will host on Tuesday.

William Eggers, executive director of the Deloitte‘s Center for Government Insights, said the government seeks to update the skill set of approximately 300K federal employees over the next three years.

 

The U.S. Army has demonstrated the capabilities of the digital cockpits of two prototype UH-60V Black Hawk helicopters during a recent limited user test.

The LUT involved immersing the two aircraft in various flight simulations to leverage their survivability equipment and trigger pilot actions, the service said Monday.

Derek Muller, UH-60V LUT test officer with USAOTC, noted that the threat simulation used in the evaluation demonstrated a combat-like environment and provided “quality” training for the aircrews.

After the LUT, an aviation test team from the Army Operational Test Command interviewed the UH-60V pilots regarding their experience interacting with the digital platform during missions.

Muller added that data collected during the test will be used to support an Army Evaluation Center study, as well as notify the Utility Helicopter Program Office when to initiate the limited production for the digital cockpit.

Initial operational test and evaluation for the UH-60V is expected to occur in late 2019.

The Government Accountability Office has recommended the Defense Department and U.S. Navy issue an updated or new set of guidelines for developing plans to sustain legacy weapon systems.

GAO said in a report published Monday that the Navy inconsistently documented its sustainment strategies for C-2A, E2C, EA-18G and F/A-18A-D aircraft since 2012.

Meanwhile, the DoD lacks clear guidance on whether developing a sustainment strategy is required and needs to be modified every five years for weapons systems that are already being operated and supported.

The GAO noted that clarifying requirements for documenting sustainment plans for aging systems will allow agencies to check the availability and operating and support costs of aircraft and any associated risks.

For the study, the agency assessed the aircraft availability goals and O&S cost trends of the Navy and U.S. Air Force for a selected pool of fixed-wing planes between 2011 and 2016.

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., has introduced a bill aiming to protect U.S. citizens from the damages of an information breach.

The congressman worked with the Financial Services Committee to develop the Consumer Information Notification Requirement Act that would affirm financial institutions’ compliance with data security standards, Luetkemeyer said Friday in a release.

The bill would modify the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to impose standards on data security at financial institutions, and require these institutions to immediately notify consumers in the event of breaches.

The introduction of the new bill comes a year after the reveal of the Equifax breach that exposed the data of 145.5 million people,

Luetkemeyer chairs the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit.

Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work has said creating a new Space Command under the Pentagon will help address concerns about President Trump’s idea to establish a Space Force, Space News reported Monday.

Work noted during a panel discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies that reorganizing the Pentagon to form a Space Command, Space Operations Force and Space Development Agency will not be a “disruptive” step towards creating the proposed sixth service branch.

He added that the Pentagon has not allocated an initial budget for the Space Force as it will have to compete with other factions for funds.

Space funds are also typically shared by multiple departments.

“There are as many congressional proponents for spending more money on cyber as there are in space,” the former defense official said.

However, Work explained that DoD officials have paid attention to space even during the Obama administration, even though the government that time refused to open discussions about space warfare.

He also noted that the Obama administration did not receive as many resources for space as it requested in the defense budget.

Andrea Thompson, undersecretary for arms control and international security at the State Department, has said new policies on defense exports will likely increase U.S. weapons sales in 2019, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Thompson told reporters on Sept. 7 that the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy, issued in April, will be one of the factors directly affecting future weapons sales.

The Trump administration passed the CAT Policy to boost America’s arms exports and domestic industry.

Other policies such as dropping additional charges on products and reducing the transportation fee for foreign military sales clients could also increase U.S. weapons sales in 2019.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency has divulged that U.S. weapons FMS rose from $41.9B in 2017 to $46.9B in the first half of 2018.