Sen. Thad Cochran Proposes $650.7B Defense Spending Package
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Sen. Thad Cochran Proposes $650.7B Defense Spending Package


Sen. Thad Cochran Proposes $650.7B Defense Spending PackageSenate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R- Mississippi) has proposed a defense policy bill that would allocate $581.3 billion in base budget, $64.9 billion in overseas contingency operations funds and $4.5 billion in emergency missile defense funds for fiscal year 2018, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Cochran on Tuesday introduced the draft bill that Democratic appropriators say goes beyond defense budget caps by approximately $70 billion.

His committee’s proposal seeks to authorize $1 billion in funds for four more Lockheed Martin-built F-35B aircraft and four additional F-35Cs as well as allocate $120 million in additional funds for the advance acquisition of F-35s in support of the U.S. Air Force’s planned fiscal 2019 procurements.

The proposed measure calls for the purchase of two Littoral Combat Ships, two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, two Virginia-class submarines and an aircraft carrier in support of the U.S. Navy.

The Navy would also get $739 million in additional budget to procure 10 more Boeing-built F/A-18E/F Super Hornet jets.

The U.S. Army would receive $309 million in funds to buy nine additional Boeing-developed AH-64E Apache helicopters and $108 million for the purchase of eight more Sikorsky-made UH-60 Black Hawk choppers under Cochran’s bill.

The senator’s proposed legislation would top up President Donald Trump’s $9.3 billion missile defense budget request by approximately $1.4 billion to further support the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System and procure more SM-3 Block IIA and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System interceptors, the report added.

The proposal came a week after the House approved a conferenced version of a defense spending bill that would authorize $692 billion in funds for fiscal 2018.

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PSC Urges DoD to Adopt Industry’s Cloud Adoption Strategies
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PSC Urges DoD to Adopt Industry’s Cloud Adoption Strategies


PSC Urges DoD to Adopt Industry's Cloud Adoption StrategiesThe Professional Services Council has recommended Defense Department leaders to adopt industry best practices as part of efforts to help DoD accelerate the adoption of new technologies.

Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel at PSC, sent a letter Friday to Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan in response to a request for information notice and a memo regarding the department’s cloud migration initiatives.

“PSC strongly supports Secretary James Mattis’ goals of accelerating the adoption of innovative technologies and leveraging commercial capabilities to improve our military’s warfighting capabilities,” said Chvotkin.

The letter included comments and recommendations regarding barriers that exist within current policies and regulations such as the DoD Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide, Cloud Access Point and the Internet Access Point programs.

PSC called on department officials to also use flexibilities authorized by Federal Acquisition Regulations to accelerate information technology modernization efforts.

The council also urged the DoD to promote competition in the IT marketplace for future contract awards and implement early risk assessment strategies for cloud acquisition.

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Treasury Dept Sanctions 13 Foreign Firms, 20 Vessels With Commercial Ties to North Korea
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Treasury Dept Sanctions 13 Foreign Firms, 20 Vessels With Commercial Ties to North Korea


Treasury Dept Sanctions 13 Foreign Firms, 20 Vessels With Commercial Ties to North KoreaThe Treasury Department has imposed new sanctions on one individual and 13 foreign companies and agencies that have trade connections to North Korea as part of efforts to counter the East Asian country’s nuclear and ballistic missile development programs.

“As North Korea continues to threaten international peace and security, we are steadfast in our determination to maximize economic pressure to isolate it from outside sources of trade and revenue while exposing its evasive tactics,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement published Tuesday.

The department’s office of foreign assets control designated four China-based trading companies and a Chinese individual for exporting computers, coal, iron and other goods to North Korea.

OFAC also designated two North Korean maritime agencies, six North Korea-based shipping and trading firms and 20 of their vessels for their involvement in ship-to-ship transfers and other fraudulent shipping practices.

Another Korean company was also named for its involvement in the exportation of workers from North Korea.

The Treasury made the designations in accordance with the Executive Order 13810.

The sanctions came three months after the department sanctioned 10 foreign companies and six individuals for their support to North Korea’s nuclear programs and energy trade and a day after President Donald Trump reinstated the country’s state sponsor of terrorism designation.

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Former Raytheon VP Mark Esper Officially Takes Oath as 23rd Army Secretary
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Former Raytheon VP Mark Esper Officially Takes Oath as 23rd Army Secretary


Former Raytheon VP Mark Esper Officially Takes Oath as 23rd Army Secretary
Mark Esper

Mark Esper, formerly Raytheon vice president for government relations, has officially been sworn in as the 23rd secretary of the U.S. Army.

He said in a letter addressed to the Army community that his top priorities as the service branch’s top civilian official are readiness, modernization and reform, the Association of the United States Army said Tuesday.

“To be successful, we must work together and empower people at all levels to lead, innovate and make smart decisions,” he said in the letter.

The Senate voted 89-6 to approve Esper for the position on Nov. 15, four months after his nomination by President Donald Trump.

Esper’s previous federal experience includes work in the Defense Department as deputy assistant secretary of defense for negotiations policy.

He also served in the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, the Army Reserve and the Virginia and District of Columbia National Guard.

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GAO: ODNI Should Develop Policy, Implementation Plan for Continuous Evaluation of Clearance Holders
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GAO: ODNI Should Develop Policy, Implementation Plan for Continuous Evaluation of Clearance Holders


GAO: ODNI Should Develop Policy, Implementation Plan for Continuous Evaluation of Clearance HoldersThe Government Accountability Office has urged the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to create a formal policy and implementation plan for the continuous evaluation of clearance holders and employees in sensitive positions across the executive branch.

GAO said Tuesday ODNI has taken steps to implement continuous evaluation but the agency has yet to define key aspects of the program as well as plans to implement, monitor and measure program performance.

The continuous evaluation program is an executive branch effort to more frequently identify and evaluate security-related information, including criminal activity.

ODNI lacks a formal policy on the scope of continuous evaluation, an implementation plan and a timeline for future program phases, GAO reported.

Officials from seven executive branch agencies told GAO that ODNI’s uncertainty has hampered their ability to plan for continuous evaluation and estimate costs.

Among the agencies reviewed by GAO, 84 percent reported that they met the executive branch’s 195-day timeliness goal for completing periodic reinvestigations of clearance holders during at least three of four quarters in fiscal year 2012.

Only 22 percent of reviewed agencies met the goal in FY 2016, GAO revealed.

ODNI introduced a plan to replace periodic reinvestigations with continuous evaluation in a 2008 report, but new documents indicate that the agency has abandoned the plan, GAO found.

Officials from five agencies told GAO that continuous evaluation will increase workloads and costs if other background investigation requirements remain unchanged, while Defense Department officials claimed that DoD cannot afford to perform both reinvestigations and continuous evaluation.

GAO recommended ODNI to formalize its policy on continuous evaluation; create plans for program implementation performance measurement; and determine the potential impact of continuous evaluation on agency resources.

House Bill Seeks to Boost US Coastal Resiliency Through Mapping Data
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House Bill Seeks to Boost US Coastal Resiliency Through Mapping Data


House Bill Seeks to Boost US Coastal Resiliency Through Mapping DataReps. Charles Albert Ruppersberger (D-Maryland) and Don Young (R-Alaska) have introduced a bill that seeks to assist local and state governments in efforts to increase the resiliency of the country’s 95,000-mile shoreline.

Ruppersberger’s office said said Tuesday the Digital Coast Act would establish a coastal mapping system at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and make collected data available on NOAA’s public website.

The bill also calls for NOAA to train agency leaders at the local and state levels to address coastal threat queries with the use of datasets, as well as help coastal communities implement development strategies for the country’s coasts, harbors, ports and shoreline areas.

“America’s fragile shorelines are home to more than half of our country’s population and millions of businesses that supply most of our gross domestic product,” said Ruppersberger.

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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Moves to Scrap Obama Administration’s Internet Regulations
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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Moves to Scrap Obama Administration’s Internet Regulations


FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Moves to Scrap Obama Administration's Internet Regulations
Ajit Pai

Ajit Pai, chairman of Federal Communications Commission, has issued a draft order that seeks to repeal internet regulations the previous Obama administration introduced in 2015.

Pai shared his draft Restoring Internet Freedom Order with fellow commissioners who plan to take up the matter at FCC’s Open Meeting scheduled for Dec. 14, FCC said Tuesday.

The proposal would prevent the federal government from “micromanaging the internet” and direct internet service providers to be transparent about their operations.

ISPs’ transparency will let consumers buy their desired service plan and help entrepreneurs gain the technical information they need to improve their businesses, the FCC chairman noted.

Pai also seeks to authorize the Federal Trade Commission to regulate ISPs, protect consumers and encourage competition.

FCC will publicly release the draft proposal Wednesday.

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GAO Urges OMB to Increase ‘High-Priority’ Program Oversight
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GAO Urges OMB to Increase ‘High-Priority’ Program Oversight


GAO Urges OMB to Increase 'High-Priority' Program OversightThe Government Accountability Office has recommended the Office of Management and Budget to increase its oversight and continue issuing reports on high-priority programs and U.S. Digital Service projects.

According to a report published Tuesday OMB’s Office of E-Government and Information Technology used a structured approach to determine the top 10 high priority IT programs from a list of agency projects that required additional oversight.

E-Gov staff members noted the programs were given greater oversight through quarterly meetings with OMB members and frequent discussions with the agency chief information officer.

GAO however noted the Federal CIO was not involved with the progress of any of the top 10 programs due to the volume of programs currently underway.

The watchdog agency pointed out that Federal CIO involvement previously impacted the development of programs including troubled projects through TechStat reviews.

The Government Accountability Office report also covered the incomplete nature of USDS reports issued to Congress regarding key projects and added such reports were not released on a quarterly basis as directed.

GAO noted the continued reports on the top 10 high priority programs will help boost congressional oversight and efforts of IT governance entities to provide stakeholders with information.

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Marine Corps Plans Laser-based Shooting Simulation Tech Upgrade
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Marine Corps Plans Laser-based Shooting Simulation Tech Upgrade


Marine Corps Plans Laser-based Shooting Simulation Tech UpgradeThe U.S. Marine Corps wants to update the military branch’s force-on-force shooting simulation system to accommodate replication for arcing shooting, Marine Corps Times reported Tuesday.

The branch aims to increase the capacity of laser systems to replicate the weight of bullets, a factor critical to simulating shots from mortars and grenade launchers, the report said.

USMC’s proposed Optically Based Small Arms Force-On-Force Training System would serve as the branch’s third-generation shooting simulation technology and replace the current Instrumented Tactical Engagement Simulation System.

The branch expects to launch a solicitation for the new system in late 2018.

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OPM Gives Agencies Technical Staff Hiring Authority for IT Modernization Programs
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OPM Gives Agencies Technical Staff Hiring Authority for IT Modernization Programs


OPM Gives Agencies Technical Staff Hiring Authority for IT Modernization ProgramsThe Office of Personnel Management has issued a memorandum to authorize agencies to use “excepted service appointments” as stated in the 5 Code of Federal Regulations 213.3102 to meet technical personnel requirements in support of information technology modernization efforts.

Kathleen McGettigan, acting OPM director, wrote in a memo released Friday agencies can use the authority to temporarily hire technical staff for up to a year in order to carry out Smarter IT Delivery and IT modernization programs funded under budgets for fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2018.

The recruitment of employees for technical roles covers grade levels 11 through 15 under the General Schedule and can be implemented through the end of fiscal 2018.

OPM restricts the use of the authority to technical roles whose basic functions include solutions architecture, cloud migration and cloud architecture.

“OPM expects the use of this authority to inform our development of future qualifications standards and assessments for use in competitive examining,” McGettigan noted.

Agencies seeking to meet their technical requirements can use other hiring options such as the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, government-wide direct hire authority for IT management and consultant appointments, the memo added.

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