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Obama Signs Inspector General Empowerment Bill
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Obama Signs Inspector General Empowerment Bill


Obama Signs Inspector General Empowerment BillPresident Barack Obama has signed into law a bill that provides inspectors general to access data they need to perform their duties.

The Inspectors General Empowerment Act of 2016 will give IGs authority to obtain necessary information without compromising the public’s privacy and civil liberties, the White House said Friday.

House and Senate lawmakers unanimously approved the bill Dec. 10.

The Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency said Dec. 12 the law validates IGs’ right to gain full access to agency records and that whistleblowers and agencies are legally authorized to provide potentially sensitive information to IGs.

The law contains provisions that authorize IGs to compare data across agencies and implement programs to increase public access to information on misconduct among senior government personnel, CIGIE added,

Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan: F-35 JPO Eyes Follow-On Modernization Funds to Support Extended Flight Tests
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Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan: F-35 JPO Eyes Follow-On Modernization Funds to Support Extended Flight Tests


Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan: F-35 JPO Eyes Follow-On Modernization Funds to Support Extended Flight Tests
Christopher Bogdan

Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall is set to inform Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Arizona) through a letter that developmental test flights for the Lockheed Martin-built F-35 fighter aircraft could extend to May 2018 from October 2017, Defense News reported Monday.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, head of the F-35 joint program office, told Defense News about the letter and that his office plans to use funds from the follow-on modernization program for F-35 Block 4 should the need arise for more money to support the possible extension in System Development and Demonstration flight tests.

Valerie Insinna writes Bogdan noted that JPO is originally scheduled to complete the SDD flight tests on Oct. 31, 2017 but now expects to conclude the testing phase by the end of February 2018.

“That only makes sense, because if you haven’t finished SDD, the development program—which is our number one priority—you probably wouldn’t want to start FOM any sooner anyway,” he said.

Bogdan said he projects the possible extension in SDD flight test activities to cost below $100 million and to delay the FOM program by at least six months, the report added.

Bogdan said in a separate statement that the F-35 program has been on budget and on schedule since JPO restructured the program in 2011.

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DoD Office Of Inspector General Lists Top Mgmt & Performance Challenges in FY 2017 Oversight Plan
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DoD Office Of Inspector General Lists Top Mgmt & Performance Challenges in FY 2017 Oversight Plan


DoD Office Of Inspector General Lists Top Mgmt & Performance Challenges in FY 2017 Oversight PlanThe Defense Department‘s office of inspector general has published its Fiscal Year 2017 Oversight Plan that describes the top management and performance challenges facing DoD as well as projects designed to address those issues.

DoD IG said Monday the challenges include efforts to mitigate terrorist threats; counter global strategic challenges; apply effective acquisition and contract management practices; boost cybersecurity and cyber capabilities; and optimize financial management.

Other challenges include defense infrastructure protection; total force capacity development; force readiness maintenance; ethical conduct assurance; and continuity and transition management.

DoD IG reviewed strategic documents and audit reports from the Government Accountability Office and other organizations to help identify oversight projects to perform in FY 2017.

The inspector general also worked with DoD leaders and congressional representatives to develop the oversight plan.

The selected projects will support DoD IG’s efforts address program efficiency and effectiveness; detect and deter waste, fraud, and abuse; and oversee statutory compliance.

VA Opens New Veteran Crisis Call Center in Atlanta; Sloan Gibson Comments
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VA Opens New Veteran Crisis Call Center in Atlanta; Sloan Gibson Comments


VA Opens New Veteran Crisis Call Center in Atlanta; Sloan Gibson CommentsThe Department of Veteran Affairs has opened a new call center in Atlanta to provide suicide prevention and crisis intervention services to more veterans in need of assistance.

The veteran crisis line satellite office is meant to double VA’s capacity to assist veterans, service members and their family members worldwide as a part of the MyVA initiative, VA said Tuesday.

VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson said the department will provide “those who save lives every day at the crisis line the training, additional staff and modern call center technology they need to make the veterans crisis line a Gold Standard operation.”

The center will connect veterans with suicide prevention coordinators and interface with the Veterans Health Administration‘s Suicide Prevention Program Office and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to provide critical services to veterans and service members.

The call center in Atlanta has 200 call center representatives and 25 social service assistants and support staff.

Crisis line counselors have responded to nearly 2.6 million calls, deployed emergency services more than 67,000 times, answered nearly 62,000 requests since the launch of text services and engaged nearly 314,000 veterans or concerned family members since the launch of VCL in 2007.

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White House Report Examines Potential Economic Impact of AI-Driven Automation
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White House Report Examines Potential Economic Impact of AI-Driven Automation


White House Report Examines Potential Economic Impact of AI-Driven AutomationThe White House has published a report that explores the potential impact of artificial intelligence-driven automation on the economy.

Kristin Lee, communications director and senior policy adviser at the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote in a blog post published Tuesday that the report predicts AI-driven automation will contribute to productivity growth and change skills required by the job market.

The study also forecasts that automation will create jobs while others will become obsolete; cause job loss in the short-run; and bring uneven distribution of impact across sectors, wage levels, education levels, job types and locations.

Policymakers should prepare for various outcomes since there is “substantial uncertainty” on the economic effects of AI-driven automation, Lee wrote.

The report recommends three strategies to address the impact of AI-driven automation such as investment in and development of AI technologies; education and training for future jobs; and transition support for workers.

Lee said collaboration between government, industry, technical and policy experts and the public can play a key role in policy development.

The White House released the “Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and the Economy” report as a follow up on a previous study titled “Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence” that was published in October.

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GAO: Bid Protest Cases Rose 6% in Fiscal Year 2016
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GAO: Bid Protest Cases Rose 6% in Fiscal Year 2016


GAO: Bid Protest Cases Rose 6% in Fiscal Year 2016A Government Accountability Office report shows that the total number of protests filed with the agency to challenge federal contract awards reached 2,789 in fiscal year 2016, a figure that represents a 6 percent increase over the 2,639 recorded in the previous fiscal year.

GAO said in a letter to congressional committees published Thursday that contractors filed 2,621 bid protests, 88 reconsideration requests and 80 cost claims in FY 2016.

According to the report, the agency closed 2,734 bid protest cases and 375 of those cases were attributable to the congressional watchdog’s jurisdiction over task orders.

Susan Poling, general counsel at GAO, wrote that the agency sustained at least 22 percent or 138 of the total bid protest cases in the past fiscal year due to several reasons such as faulty selection ruling and “unreasonable” technical assessment.

“A significant number of protests filed with our office do not reach a decision on the merits because agencies voluntarily take corrective action in response to the protest rather than defend the protest on the merits,” Poling added.

Agriculture Department Announces $32M in Natural Resources Protection Funding; Robert Bonnie Comments
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Agriculture Department Announces $32M in Natural Resources Protection Funding; Robert Bonnie Comments


Agriculture Department Announces $32M in Natural Resources Protection Funding; Robert Bonnie CommentsThe Agriculture Department is investing $32 million in new projects meant to help protect natural resources and maintain the health of forest ecosystems through the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership.

USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service and the U.S. Forest Service will use the fiscal year 2017 funding to launch ten new projects and sustain 26 existing partnership projects to conserve public forests and grasslands that connect to private lands, the department said Tuesday.

Federal, state and local partners will also help finance the projects with $30 million in additional funding through financial and in-kind contributions over three years, extending the projects to 29 states.

Robert Bonnie, USDA undersecretary for natural resources and environment, said the collaboration aims to help local partners address the challenges in protecting communities, watersheds, forests and woodlands from various threats.

The ten new projects that would receive USDA funding are:

  • Alaska – Prince of Wales Island Landscape Restoration Partnership (Tongass National Forest)
  • California – Central Sierra Recovery and Restoration Project (Sierra National Forest)
  • Michigan – Partnering for Watershed Restoration of Lake Superior (Ottawa National Forest)
  • Nebraska – Nebraska Northwest Landscape Restoration Project (Nebraska National Forest and Pawnee National Grasslands)
  • Oregon – Salmon Superhwy Basin Management Project (Siuslaw National Forest)
  • Oregon – North Warner Multi-Ownership Forest Health Project (Fremont-Winerna National Forest)
  • Pennsylvania – Sustaining Pennsylvania’s Oak Ecosystems through Partnership in Forest Management (Allegheny National Forest)
  • Utah – Monroe Mountain Aspen Ecosystems Restoration Project (Fishlake National Forest)
  • Virginia – Lower Cowpasture Restoration Project (George Washington National Forest and Jefferson National Forest)
  • West Virginia – Appalachian Ecosystem Restoration Initiative (Monongahela National Forest)

Under the current programs the USDA, tribes, private landowners and others recently completed the nearly $4.4 million Lake Superior Basin Landscape Restoration Project in Wisconsin to restore critical spawning habitat for brook trout.

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Ernest Moniz, Sen. Dick Durbin Name 1st Cohort of Argonne Lab Entrepreneurship Program
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Ernest Moniz, Sen. Dick Durbin Name 1st Cohort of Argonne Lab Entrepreneurship Program


Ernest Moniz, Sen. Dick Durbin Name 1st Cohort of Argonne Lab Entrepreneurship ProgramEnergy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) have announced the names of the initial members and mentor partners of an embedded entrepreneurship program based at the Argonne National Laboratory.

Argonne said Monday the Chain Reaction Innovations program looks to help startups and industry members address risks and development costs in a push to support manufacturing growth and the creation of sustainable and energy-efficient technologies.

“Chain Reaction Innovations, with the support of Argonne National Lab, will help the next generation of entrepreneurs develop the technologies needed to combat climate change and advance a low-carbon economy,” said Moniz.

The first cohort — which includes researchers Chad Mason, Felipe Gomez del Campo, Ian Hamilton, Tyler Huggins and Justin Whiteley — will focus on the development of aerospace, energy generation and storage, recycling and transportation technologies, Argonne added.

They will receive $350,000 for research and development and up to $110,000 in wages, benefits and travel stipends annually to work on their projects at the lab over two years beginning January 2017.

Argonne added that the Purdue Foundry and the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation have joined CRI as mentor organizations that will help the research team develop business strategies and connect with commercial partners and investors.

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NASA Uses ‘Space Laser’ to Observe Environmental Changes in Polar Food Webs
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NASA Uses ‘Space Laser’ to Observe Environmental Changes in Polar Food Webs


NASA Uses 'Space Laser' to Observe Environmental Changes in Polar Food WebsNASA has conducted a new study using a satellite instrument that orbits the Earth which observed the effect of environmental changes in polar food webs on the boom, bust, peak and decline cycles of polar ocean plants.

NASA said Tuesday the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Ortogonal Polarization instrument aboard the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation satellite was used as a “space laser” to monitor plankton in polar regions.

“It’s really important for us to understand what controls these boom-and-bust cycles, and how they might change in the future so we can better evaluate the implications on all other parts of the food web,” said Michael Behrenfeld, Oregon State University marine plankton expert.

The space agency noted that the findings will support commercial fisheries, ecosystem management and NASA’s understanding of the interactions between the climate and ocean ecosystems.

NASA added the study discovered year-to-year variations between predator and prey influenced changes in Arctic plankton stocks in the last decade.

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Sen. Tom Carper: HQ Consolidation Could Save DHS $1B
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Sen. Tom Carper: HQ Consolidation Could Save DHS $1B


Sen. Tom Carper: HQ Consolidation Could Save DHS $1B
Tom Carper

A report from Sen. Tom Carper (D-Delaware) estimates that the Department of Homeland Security will save nearly $1.2 billion over 30 years if DHS completes the  consolidation of its headquarters at the St. Elizabeths West campus in Washington, D.C.

The report, titled “DHS Headquarters Consolidation at St. Elizabeths: Better Results for Less Money,” recommends the incoming administration to prioritize the construction of the consolidated DHS headquarters, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said Monday.

Carper said the project will consolidate leadership and agency personnel as well as multiple DHS entities into one campus in an effort to boost national security and emergency response coordination.

He also urged Congress to fully fund President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2017 budget request or provide DHS and the General Services Administration with maximum flexibility over the use of available funds.

Obama’s budget request includes $225.6 million to support the St. Elizabeths construction project and another $266.6 million to build a federally-owned headquarters for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The DHS HQ consolidation effort has received approximately two-thirds of necessary funds and requires three years of additional funding to complete, the committee said.

The project could be completed in 2021 if fully funded and could incur $70 million in construction delay overages if not funded.

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