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Mac Thornberry: Cyber, Nuclear Deterrence, Special Ops Among HASC Priorities in 2016
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Mac Thornberry: Cyber, Nuclear Deterrence, Special Ops Among HASC Priorities in 2016


Mac Thornberry
Mac Thornberry

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) has said the panel will focus on cybersecurity, nuclear modernization, special operations and the Third Offset Strategy in 2016, Defense News reported Wednesday.

Jen Judson writes that the lawmaker noted the Defense Department‘s efforts to ensure U.S. technological superiority into the future and urged focus on matters beyond technology.

“We have to be able to fight and win in cyberspace so the committee is pushing issues related to people, organization [and] rules of engagement in that domain to try to make sure we close the gap between the threat and the policies we now have to deploy,” Thornberry said at a National Press Club event, according to the report.

He also cited nuclear deterrence as the foundation of U.S. defense efforts amid Russia’s work on nuclear technology and North Korea’s reported hydrogen bomb test.

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Brig. Gen. Erik Peterson: Army Needs Multi-Intelligence UAS for Special Operations
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Brig. Gen. Erik Peterson: Army Needs Multi-Intelligence UAS for Special Operations


droneThe U.S. Army aims to build an unmanned aircraft system that would employ multiple sensors for gathering of intelligence during special operations, Defense News reported Thursday.

Jen Judson writes Brig. Gen. Erik Peterson, head of the Army’s Special Operations Command, told audience at an Association of the United States Army-hosted forum Thursday in Virginia that the command maintains approximately 333 unmanned aircraft systems.

The command’s UAS fleet includes BAE Systems-built Silver Foxes and General Atomics-made Gray Eagles, Judson reports.

Peterson added the command aims to address data processing, exploitation and dissemination challenges associated with larger drone use.

In a separate report, Breaking Defense’s Richard Whittle wrote the Army seeks to procure up to 36 Gray Eagles to support military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

Maj. Gen. Michael Lundy, commanding general of the Army’s Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker, said at the AUSA event the military branch should make vertical-takeoff-and-landing capability a requirement for drone programs.

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FBI Kicks Off Search for New CIO to Head Tech Program Budgets, IT Operations
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FBI Kicks Off Search for New CIO to Head Tech Program Budgets, IT Operations


FBIThe FBI is looking for a new chief information officer with a top secret-level sensitive compartmented information clearance.

A notice posted on the FBI’s employment website says the incumbent will oversee enterprise data centers, networks, computer program development and system operations, information sharing and cybersecurity functions.

The new CIO will also review technology program budgets, manage data resource acquisition efforts and recommend strategies to improve IT operations at the bureau.

The FBI noted it wants a professional who holds experience in managing large-scale technology development programs in the government and commercial sectors as well as possesses leadership, organizing, planning, collaboration, problem solving, judgment and interpersonal skills.

The selected candidate will be based in Washington and report to the FBI’s deputy director and associate deputy director.

GAO: GSA Should Increase Competition to Help Tenant Agencies Reduce Leasing Costs
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GAO: GSA Should Increase Competition to Help Tenant Agencies Reduce Leasing Costs


OfficeThe Government Accountability Office has recommended the General Services Administration to expand competition for GSA leases in order to reduce leasing costs.

GAO made the recommendation after an analysis showed that approximately half of 714 new office leases that GSA negotiated from 2008 through 2014 surpassed the average local market rate for similar office space by at least 10 percent, the congressional audit agency said in a report published Wednesday.

GSA should allow tenant agencies to change their building and geographic requirements as another way to promote competition, according to the report.

GAO also urged GSA to consider the adoption of Federal Buildings Fund balances in order to lower interest fees and cover costs that tenants incur on improvements made to newly leased offices.

The office said it believes agencies could save on tenant fees if GSA would provide them the option to sign occupancy agreements that are non-cancelable.

Ernest Moniz: DOE Plans $220M Investment to Refresh US Power Grid Infrastructure
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Ernest Moniz: DOE Plans $220M Investment to Refresh US Power Grid Infrastructure


Ernest Moniz
Ernest Moniz

The Energy Department plans to award as much as $220 million in research and development funds over three years to modernize the U.S. electric power distribution network through a public-private partnership.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on Thursday unveiled a framework that calls for collaboration between department-backed national laboratories and government agencies, universities and companies in the Grid Modernization Initiative, DOE said Thursday.

“Modernizing the U.S. electrical grid is essential to reducing carbon emissions, creating safeguards against attacks on our infrastructure, and keeping the lights on,” Moniz noted.

DOE aims to integrate conventional power generation and renewable energy sources with electricity storage and smart building methods in a bid to address environmental and cybersecurity risks to the country’s grid infrastructure.

Proposed funds for the project are subject to the congressional appropriations process and will be issued through the Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium, which comprises 14 national labs and public and private sector organizations.

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OMB Details White House Investment Proposals in FY 2017 Budget
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OMB Details White House Investment Proposals in FY 2017 Budget


budget analysis reviewThe Office of Management and Budget has detailed some of President Barack Obama’s proposals for investments under the president’s fiscal year 2017 budget plan.

Jamal Brown, OMB press secretary, wrote in a blog article published Wednesday that the president’s FY 2017 budget aims to invest in new programs for economic opportunity and mobility.

Obama wants to pump $15 million into a mobility counseling pilot to help recipients of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s housing assistance stay in safe neighborhoods.

The budget also proposes to allocate $2 billion in emergency aid and service connection grants for an initiative to help families in crisis regain stability.

The president also seeks to invest $128 million in the Education Department’s Promise Neighborhoods program and $200 million in HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods program to help improve educational and employment outcomes.

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DHS’ Phyllis Schneck: New Multilateral Export Control Policy Conflicts with US Cyber Efforts
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DHS’ Phyllis Schneck: New Multilateral Export Control Policy Conflicts with US Cyber Efforts


Phyllis Schneck
Phyllis Schneck

Some government and industry executives told a congressional hearing Tuesday they believe the U.S. government should review a multilateral arms control agreement’s policy that restricts cross-border sales of computer surveillance technology, FCW reported Wednesday.

Aisha Chowdhry writes the Wassenaar Arrangement was amended in 2013 to include intrusion software and Internet network monitoring products to a technology list for which signatory nations must apply export controls.

The Commerce Department proposed a rule last year to implement the amendment and encountered opposition from individuals and companies that submitted feedback on the department’s proposal.

Phyllis Schneck, the Department of Homeland Security‘s deputy undersecretary for cybersecurity and communications, told House lawmakers Tuesday the policy could affect governmental efforts to address cyber threats.

Aliya Sternstein of Nextgov reported the multilateral exports policy requires companies to obtain a license before they can transmit technical data on intrusion platforms.

Schneck noted at the joint hearing of two House subcommittees that it could take weeks for technology firms to complete the licensing process, Sternstein reports.

Microsoft and Symantec executives have recommended that U.S. trade negotiators remand the restriction back to the 41-nation Wassenaar forum.

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Defense One: Air Force to Postpone A-10 Retirement, Retain Plane for Anti-Islamic State Campaign
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Defense One: Air Force to Postpone A-10 Retirement, Retain Plane for Anti-Islamic State Campaign

A-10 PCAS testThe U.S. Air Force has agreed to postpone its plan to retire the A-10 Warthog due to increased demand to use the attack planes against the Islamic State militant group, Defense One reported Wednesday.

Marcus Weisgerber writes the defense budget request for fiscal year 2017, which the Pentagon will submit to Congress in February, will cover the change of plans on the A-10.

The service branch still aims to eventually decommission the aging fleet to accommodate newer aircraft and capabilities, the report said.

“With growing global chaos and turmoil on the rise, we simply cannot afford to prematurely retire the best close-air support weapon in our arsenal without fielding a proper replacement,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Defense One.

In 2014, McCain led a group of lawmakers who have pledged support for the A-10 after the Air Force first revealed its plan to shelve the program.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh has said the fleet’s retirement would free up money amid the budget uncertainty.

Andy Slavitt of CMS Advocates for Medicaid Infrastructure Investment
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Andy Slavitt of CMS Advocates for Medicaid Infrastructure Investment


Andy Slavitt
Andy Slavitt

Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, has called for investments in the Medicaid information technology in an effort to help with customer service work.

Slavitt wrote in a blog article published Monday that he believes “investing in the future of Medicaid is one of the single biggest opportunities in the health care sector.”

He noted that CMS has helped states to update their Medicaid IT infrastructure through an annual investment that he says has reached more than $5 billion to fulfill the needs of providers and beneficiaries.

“CMS and states are prepared to invest in innovative solutions,” Slavitt wrote.

He said CMS will provide resources for the technology community to begin the work in addition to program funding.

CMS also launched a new website to help the technology community participate in the Medicaid IT market.

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FAS: DoD Implements Continuous Personnel Evaluation to Detect Insider Threats
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FAS: DoD Implements Continuous Personnel Evaluation to Detect Insider Threats


insider-threatMichael Vickers, then-defense undersecretary for intelligence at the Defense Department, said in an April 2015 report that DoD has initiated efforts to detect potential insider threats through pilots and concept demonstrations, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

Steven Aftergood wrote Jan. 7 on the FAS blog that Vickers’ report to Congress said the Pentagon used such demonstrations to perform continuous evaluation on approximately 100,000 contractor, civilian and military staff.

FAS obtained the report from DoD through the Freedom of Information Act.

According to Aftergood, DoD reduced the number of security clearance holders by 800,000 from fiscal year 2013 through the third quarter of fiscal year 2015 as part of the department’s efforts to address insider threats.

A quarterly report on the insider threat program shows that government agencies have either postponed or missed certain program milestones as of the fourth quarter of FY 2015.

These include key milestones that fall under various work plans such as improvement of enterprise management of information technology systems and resources, development of insider threat initiatives and implementation of federal investigative standards.

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