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Trump Taps VA Health System Chief David Shulkin to Serve as Secretary
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Trump Taps VA Health System Chief David Shulkin to Serve as Secretary


Trump Taps VA Health System Chief David Shulkin to Serve as Secretary
David Shulkin

David Shulkin, undersecretary of health at the Department of Veterans Affairs, has been chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as VA secretary.

“Shulkin has the experience and the vision to ensure we will meet the healthcare needs of every veteran… an incredibly gifted doctor who is using his elite talents for medicine to care for our heroes,” Trump said in a statement released Wednesday.

Shulkin oversees VA’s healthcare system, which includes 1,700 clinics and hospitals that serve nearly nine million veterans on an annual basis.

Prior to VA, he held president and CEO roles at several healthcare institutions such as Beth Israel Medical Center, Goryeb Children’s Hospital and Morristown Medical Center.

Shulkin is an internist who previously served as chief medical officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Temple University Hospital and the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital.

He is also founder and former chairman and CEO of DoctorQuality, which provided patients information on healthcare safety and quality.

Shulkin, a fellow of the American College of Physicians, previously served as vice dean and chairman of medicine at Drexel University School of Medicine.

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Vice Adm. Bill Moran: Navy Urges Trump Administration to Fund Ship Maintenance First
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Vice Adm. Bill Moran: Navy Urges Trump Administration to Fund Ship Maintenance First


Vice Adm. Bill Moran: Navy Urges Trump Administration to Fund Ship Maintenance First
Bill Moran

U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Bill Moran, vice chief of naval operations, has said service branch leaders have told President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team that the Navy needs additional funds to initially support maintenance and modernization of its current fleet of 274 ships prior to procurement of new vessels, USNI News reported Wednesday.

He told attendees of the Surface Navy Association meeting Tuesday in Virginia that “deferred maintenance” of ships has taken its toll on sailors’ proficiency and operational requirements of combatant commanders, John Grady writes.

Moran expressed support to the new force structure assessment that seeks to increase the military branch’s fleet to 355 ships, according to a report by Hope Hodge Seck for DoD Buzz.

He also called for a reduction in both operational tempo and duration of ship deployments, Seck reports.

“We’re purposefully taking risk to find the time to make sure that we don’t get deployments extended beyond seven months, we get those ships back, we get them in maintenance and we commit to the funding,” Moran added, according to the report.

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NASA Plans Earth Science Data Acquisition From Small Satellite Operators
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NASA Plans Earth Science Data Acquisition From Small Satellite Operators


NASA Plans Earth Science Data Acquisition From Small Satellite OperatorsNASA looks to procure imaging and radio occultation data from commercial small satellite companies to help address the space agency’s Earth science research goals, Space News reported Wednesday.

Jeff Foust writes NASA’s budget request for fiscal year 2017 includes $30 million for satellite development and data acquisition efforts under the Small Satellite Constellations Initiative.

The report said the agency conducted a study on the feasibility of a pilot data purchase program and issued a request for information in July to assess interest from potential vendors as well as discover the types of data available in the market.

Christina Moats-Xavier, deputy program director of NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder program committee, said the agency found that the commercial vendor pool can offer data relevant to NASA’s Earth science research mission.

The RFI notice highlighted Global Positioning System radio occultations and medium-resolution multi-spectral images as two data classes of interest for NASA and indicated that the agency would also consider other data types, according to the report.

GSA to Update Business Structure With Trump Organization on Old Post Office Building Lease
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GSA to Update Business Structure With Trump Organization on Old Post Office Building Lease


GSA to Update Business Structure With Trump Organization on Old Post Office Building LeaseThe General Services Administration aims to change its business structure with The Trump Organization and the agency seeks information that could help explain and describe new organizational structures that can apply to GSA’s Old Post Office building lease.

GSA said Wednesday it will review the new organizational structure and evaluation its compliance with terms and conditions under the lease upon receipt of the new contract which will be treated in the same manner as all of the agency’s other contracts.

Section 37.19 of the request for proposals issued in March 2011 states “No member or delegate to Congress, or elected official of the Government of the United States or the Government of the District of Columbia, shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom.”

The Trump Organization was selected as the preferred team to redevelop the Old Post Office building in February 2012 along with an annex location in downtown Washington, D.C.

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DoD Secretary Nominee James Mattis to Attend Senate Confirmation Hearing, Cancels Appearance Before House Panel
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DoD Secretary Nominee James Mattis to Attend Senate Confirmation Hearing, Cancels Appearance Before House Panel


DoD Secretary Nominee James Mattis to Attend Senate Confirmation Hearing, Cancels Appearance Before House Panel
James Mattis

James Mattis, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general, will appear Thursday before a Senate panel hearing for his confirmation as secretary of the Defense Department but called off his attendance to a House Armed Services Committee hearing scheduled on the same day, Military Times reported Wednesday.

Leo Shane III writes the appointment of Mattis, who retired as head of the U.S. Central Command in 2013, would require both chambers of Congress to approve legislation that would waive a federal law that requires a veteran to wait seven years after retirement from active duty prior to taking the top civilian post at DoD.

Alleigh Marre, a spokeswoman for President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team, said Mattis is “following the constitutional process for confirmation by the U.S. Senate.”

House Minority Leader Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) said Democrats in his panel may object to the waiver if Mattis fails to attend the hearing and testify, Shane reports.

The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing Tuesday on the waiver and expects to vote on the measure by Thursday.

HASC members expect to hold a debate on the waiver Thursday, the report added.

Democrats Ask Donald Trump to Reconsider Federal Hiring Freeze Bid
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Democrats Ask Donald Trump to Reconsider Federal Hiring Freeze Bid


Democrats Ask Donald Trump to Reconsider Federal Hiring Freeze BidDemocratic lawmakers have called on President-elect Donald Trump to rethink his proposal to freeze federal government hiring once he takes office next week, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Joe Davidson writes Trump included the hiring freeze plan in his agenda for his first 100 days in office in a bid to reduce federal employees, save for the military, public safety and public health workforce.

In a letter to Trump, 106 lawmakers warned the president-elect that his plan would have an effect opposite to what he intended to accomplish, according to the report.

“The impact of hiring freezes enacted during previous Democratic and Republican administrations demonstrates that such measures have not, in fact, significantly reduced the size of our federal workforce or enhanced federal government operations,” according to the letter.

The Democrats noted that the previous freezes only led to decreased “efficiency, transparency and accountability government-wide at the expense of the public safety and American taxpayer dollars,” Davidson reports.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, backed Trump’s plan, the Post reports.

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NIST’s Draft Cybersecurity Framework Update Covers Cyber Supply Chain Risk Mgmt
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NIST’s Draft Cybersecurity Framework Update Covers Cyber Supply Chain Risk Mgmt


NIST’s Draft Cybersecurity Framework Update Covers Cyber Supply Chain Risk MgmtThe National Institute of Standards and Technology has released its proposed update to the Cybersecurity Framework in an effort to provide new information on cyber supply chain risk management and introduce measurement processes for cybersecurity.

The 2017 Draft Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Security Version 1.1 also includes clarification on the definition of the terms “identity proofing,” “authorization” and “authentication” under the updated “identity management and access control” category, NIST said Tuesday.

Matt Barrett, NIST’s program manager for the Cybersecurity Framework, said the update seeks to facilitate the use of the framework, which he said will remain “voluntary and flexible to adaptation.”

NIST noted the draft update incorporates input from Cybersecurity Framework Workshop 2016 attendees and feedback from a request for information issued in 2015 as well as comments received since NIST published the framework’s version 1 in 2014.

NIST will accept comments to the draft update to the framework through April 10.

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OPM Unveils Federal Cyber Talent Recruitment Portal
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OPM Unveils Federal Cyber Talent Recruitment Portal


OPM Unveils Federal Cyber Talent Recruitment PortalThe Office of Personnel Management has launched a new website that offers information and tools to support talent recruitment from various sources such as federal government websites.

OPM said Tuesday CyberCareers.gov is a central element of the Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Strategy and designed to provide specific cybersecurity information and resource portals to job hunters, managers and supervisors as well as human resources personnel to aid the development of tools and guides for talent recruitment.

“The launching of the CyberCareers.gov website is an important step in advancing OPM’s mission to recruit, hire, develop, and retain the top cybersecurity talent the government needs by building the cybersecurity workforce pipeline,” said Beth Cobert, acting OPM director.

“We collaborated with agency cyber partners to create content for this website and will continue to update the site through user interactions and feedback provided from those experiences,” Cobert added.

The Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Strategy follows existing and forward-leaning policies to help agencies develop, hire, recruit and retain talent as well as build the cybersecurity workforce.

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Coast Guard, USACE Team Up to Develop Marine Safety Info Test Bed in Kentucky
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Coast Guard, USACE Team Up to Develop Marine Safety Info Test Bed in Kentucky


Coast Guard, USACE Team Up to Develop Marine Safety Info Test Bed in KentuckyThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard will collaborate to develop a marine safety information test bed in Kentucky as part of efforts to advance riverine, coastal and intracoastal navigation in the country.

The city of Louisville will host the Ohio River Enhanced Marine Safety Information Test Bed, which will include bulletins that contain navigational and weather information, the Coast Guard said Tuesday.

The new system will also cover additional information on bridge clearances, hazardous cargoes, lock status, safety and security zones collected from various government agencies and compiled into a single bulletin transmitted to nearby vessels.

USACE’s research and development center will team up with the Coast Guard’s office of navigation systems and research and development center teams to manage the test bed, which will also feature an autonomous and continuous broadcast system designed to transmit enhanced marine safety information messages to vessels around Louisville.

The Coast Guard added the test bed will help determine necessary equipment and infrastructure for the modernization of U.S. waterways and aid the discovery of methods to integrate the Automatic Identification System into the existing marine safety information and Aids to Navigation systems.

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George Washington University Unveils Lecture Series on Cybersecurity Law
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George Washington University Unveils Lecture Series on Cybersecurity Law


George Washington University Unveils Lecture Series on Cybersecurity LawThe George Washington University Law School has launched an initiative to provide a lecture series on cybersecurity law and technology.

Orin Kerr, a professor at GW Law, wrote in a guest post published Monday in the Washington Post that the Cybersecurity Law Initiative engages affiliated scholars across the university.

The initiative could also include cybersecurity conferences as well as research papers and a formal educational component in the long term, Kerr added.

Kerr is a former trial attorney in the Justice Department‘s computer crime and intellectual property section who will also serve as director of the initiative.

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