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Maximus Foundation Dedicates More Than $2M in Annual Giving to Nonprofits; CEO Bruce Caswell Quoted
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Maximus Foundation Dedicates More Than $2M in Annual Giving to Nonprofits; CEO Bruce Caswell Quoted

Government services company Maximus has pledged over $2 million worth of grants to aid nonprofits and humanitarian causes in the United States for its 2022 annual giving initiative.

Offered through the charitable Maximus Foundation, the donations are expected to reach 167 different organizations and are designed to lend assistance to the three designated areas of need in this year’s efforts: community development, youth development and healthcare services, the McLean, Virginia-based company said Monday.

Bruce Caswell, CEO and president of Maximus and a four-time Wash100 Award recipient, commented that the company has rebranded their tagline as ‘Moving People Forward’ in order to emphasize the enterprise’s devotion to causing positive change. He also said that in many cases, the grants offered by the foundation relate to personal causes of importance to Maximus team members.

For over two decades, the Maximus Foundation has worked to direct funding toward health, child and family development, aiming to foster community growth. Among the 2022 contributions are $400,000 in grants for 34 homelessness mitigation and aid-focused nonprofits and over $300,000 pledged to 25 child abuse and child hunger-dedicated nonprofits.

“We are excited to announce this year’s grant recipients, as we continue to expand the number of organizations and the overall community investment. It has been inspiring to see the growth and impact of the Maximus Foundation continue to deepen over time,” remarked John Boyer, chair of the Maximus Foundation.

The 2022 donations outdo the organization’s 2021 contributions; last year, the foundation offered $1.2 million in grants to 154 causes. This year’s grants will be distributed throughout the remaining months to their various outlets.

In May, Maximus relocated their headquarters from Reston, Virginia to an office in McLean on Tysons Boulevard. The move was framed in the context of the company’s commitments to workforce flexibility.

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DFC Issues RFI for Registration Support for Non-U.S. Grant Recipients
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DFC Issues RFI for Registration Support for Non-U.S. Grant Recipients

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation is seeking information on vendors capable of supporting non-U.S. organizations to obtain a Unique Entity ID generated by the System for Award Management website to register for federal financial grants.

In a request for information published on the SAM.gov website Friday, DFC said the selected contractor will help foreign financial assistance recipients complete the administrative and technical process of securing an active registration.

The contractor will obtain the necessary information from the non-U.S. recipients, including certificates of incorporation, legal name, address and entity administrator details, before completing the steps to obtain UEI from the website.

DFC is looking for companies with experience with processing SAM.gov registrations U.S. and non-U.S. recipients.

The SAM.gov website transitioned to the UEI, a new proprietary identification system that replaced the DUNS numbering system, in April in support of government-wide technology modernization programs.

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GSA Concludes 1st Land Port Project Using Infrastructure Law Funds, Announces New Funding Award
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GSA Concludes 1st Land Port Project Using Infrastructure Law Funds, Announces New Funding Award

The General Services Administration has reported a project completion and a contract award involving border station modernization investments under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

GSA said June 6 that small disadvantaged business OCS Construction performed asphalt repairs along the Lukeville, Arizona, land port of entry and was able to finish the work during a 25-day period.

The agency’s first effort funded by BIL sought to provide a smoother travel experience for the approximately one million passengers and 400,000 vehicles that traverse the five-lane port annually.

For its next project, GSA awarded Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects a nearly $2 million contract to provide design services to the land port in Rouses Point, New York.

The woman-owned architectural engineering firm started designing new facilities for the Rouses Point LPOE on June 2 and the agency expects site construction work to commence in December 2023.

BIL authorizes $3.4 billion for the construction and modernization of LPOEs nationwide as part of the Biden administration’s goal of driving the economy again through higher employment and commercial activity.

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Alex Wagner Swears in as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower & Reserve Affairs; Secretary Frank Kendall Quoted
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Alex Wagner Swears in as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower & Reserve Affairs; Secretary Frank Kendall Quoted

Alex Wagner, formerly vice president at the Aerospace Industries Association, was sworn in as the assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs at the Department of the Air Force.

He is now tasked to oversee manpower, military and civilian personnel, Reserve component affairs and other focus areas of his new role, the Air Force said Thursday.

Wagner received his nomination from President Biden in July 2021 and was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday.

“With a history of service in government, the legal field, and commercial industry, Alex is the ideal leader to drive forward efforts to support our total force Airmen and Guardians, and their families,” commented Frank Kendall, Air Force secretary and three-time Wash100 Award recipient.

At AIA, Wagner was responsible for talent and workforce policy and strategic partnership development. He was also a former chief of staff to the secretary of the Army.

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Kenneth Wainstein Confirmed to Serve as DHS Intell & Analysis Office Head
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Kenneth Wainstein Confirmed to Serve as DHS Intell & Analysis Office Head

The Senate approved Kenneth Wainstein by 63-35 vote Tuesday to serve as the Department of Homeland Security’s undersecretary for intelligence and analysis.

The two-decade government service veteran received confirmation seven months after being nominated by President Biden to lead the office responsible for developing intelligence from non-federal and industry partners for DHS and the intelligence community.

Wainstein most recently served as a litigation partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell’s Washington, D.C., office. He worked under the Bush administration as homeland security adviser and was the first assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s national security division.

“I look forward to working with Ken as he leads I&A in its critical mission to share timely and actionable information and intelligence with our partners across every level of government, in the private sector, local communities, and the public to help keep Americans safe,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of DHS and a previous Wash100 Award winner.

Mayorkas noted that acting I&A undersecretary Melissa Smislova will focus on her other role as acting principal deputy undersecretary in the same office.

HII Ingalls Shipbuilding Christens Navy’s 13th San Antonio-Class Amphibious Transport Dock
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HII Ingalls Shipbuilding Christens Navy’s 13th San Antonio-Class Amphibious Transport Dock

HII has christened USS Richard McCool Jr., an upcoming San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship Ingalls Shipbuilding is constructing for the U.S. Navy.

The company said Saturday LPD 29 is the 13th ship of the San Antonio-class and is named in recognition of Medal of Honor recipient Richard McCool Jr., a Navy captain who rescued survivors from a sinking ship and saved a landing support vessel during a World War II kamikaze attack.

Kari Wilkinson, president of HII Ingalls Shipbuilding, underscored the company’s almost two-decade partnership with the Navy on amphibious ship construction.

“Today we reflect on Richard M. McCool Jr.’s bravery and heroism in front of a ship that will carry another generation of brave sailors and Marines into missions defending our freedom,” added Wilkinson.

The christening ceremony was attended by Undersecretary of the Navy Erik Raven and Shana McCool and Kate Oja, granddaughters of the ship’s namesake.

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DARPA Selects 3 Universities to Develop E-Waste Rare Element Recovery Processes
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DARPA Selects 3 Universities to Develop E-Waste Rare Element Recovery Processes

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has selected three universities to develop approaches for salvaging rare earth elements from electronic products that are nearing the end of their useful life.

DARPA said Friday it expects Arizona State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Iowa State University to demonstrate proofs of concept using military and commercial e-waste through the Recycling at the Point of Disposal initiative.

The university-led research teams will additionally calculate energy budgets for their proposed extraction systems to help the agency determine the feasibility of deploying such technology.

Arizona State University partnered with TG Companies to create a hydrometallurgical process that will combine electrowinning and selective leaching techniques.

MIT plans to apply an electrochemical reduction approach in recovering high-purity compounds, while Iowa State University seeks to extract materials of interest through a surface and interface engineering method.

“RPOD will evaluate the feasibility of extracting up to seven low-volume fraction elements that would otherwise be lost as process waste in contemporary recovery techniques,” said Vishnu Sundaresan, a program manager at DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office.

Sundaresan added that DARPA will collaborate with the Defense Logistics Agency to identify possible extraction platforms for department use.

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OMB Unveils IT Operating Plan; Clare Martorana Quoted
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OMB Unveils IT Operating Plan; Clare Martorana Quoted

The Office of Management and Budget has released a plan to “maximize the impact” of funding allocated for several information technology modernization funds in response to Congress’ request.

The IT Operating Plan provides information on the strengths and strategic goals of the three funds – Information Technology Oversight and Reform (ITOR) Account, Federal Citizen Services Fund (FCSF) and Technology Modernization Fund (TMF).

“We recognize the significant investment that Congress has made in securing and modernizing Federal IT and have assembled this plan to explain how we ensure the wise investment of each dollar Congress has entrusted to us towards its highest use – creating the most impact for the American people,” Clare Martorana, federal chief information officer at OMB and a 2022 Wash100 Award winner, wrote in the document.

According to the plan, the three funds – ITOR, FCSF and TMF – and individual agencies are working to pursue four key priorities and these are cybersecurity, IT modernization, digital-first customer experience and data as a strategic asset.

Federal News Network reported that OMB received $200 million in appropriations for its ITOR account under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and now plans to use the remaining funds to expand its pool of technical talent.

TMF secured $1 billion in appropriations through ARP and the TMF Board has accepted more than 130 proposals seeking $2.5 billion from federal agencies and related components as of May 2022, according to the IT Operating Plan.

To maximize its impact, the TMF will identify opportunities for shared services, perform enhanced readiness assessments, demonstrate a new tech investment framework and collect IT modernization performance data and best practices to inform federal IT modernization efforts.

FCSF, which secured $150 million in funding through ARP, will modernize governmentwide priority programs to support high impact service providers and agencies and improve existing shared services, according to the document.

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Lloyd Austin: US Working to Reinforce ‘Guardrails Against Conflict’ With China
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Lloyd Austin: US Working to Reinforce ‘Guardrails Against Conflict’ With China

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a 2022 Wash100 Award winner, said the U.S. is working to keep communication lines open with China’s defense officials and launching other efforts to build up “guardrails against conflict” with the Asian country, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

“We do not seek a new Cold War, an Asian NATO, or a region split into hostile blocs,” Gen. Austin said Saturday at a defense conference in Singapore.

“We will defend our interests without flinching, but we’ll also work toward our vision for this region—one of expanding security, one of increased cooperation, and not one of growing division,” he added.

His remarks come amid provocative activities by Chinese ships and aircraft in the Indo-Pacific region, which is considered by the U.S. as a priority theatre of operations.

“We’re meeting today at a moment of great consequence for the whole world and not just for Europe,” Austin said. “And I’m here because the rules-based international order matters just as much in the Indo-Pacific as it does in Europe,” he noted.

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Senators Ask Biden to Amend Executive Order on Classification, Declassification
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Senators Ask Biden to Amend Executive Order on Classification, Declassification

Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., have called on the White House to update the executive order that establishes rules for government classification and declassification to address urgent concerns in the current system that undermine national security.

The lawmakers wrote a letter to President Biden urging the administration to make a priority the updated executive order, Wyden’s office said Thursday.

“The complex interagency process necessary to achieve this long-overdue reform demands active leadership from the White House. We therefore urge that the National Security Council be resourced to undertake this process and that you make clear, to the NSC and across the executive branch, that your administration views the completion of a new or amended executive order as an urgent priority,” the lawmakers wrote in the May 25th letter.

Wyden and Moran also called on the Biden administration to make investments in automatic declassification and related technology platforms “to adapt the classification and declassification system to a digital environment.”

In January, the lawmakers agreed with Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, a 2022 Wash100 Award winner, that efforts to improve the declassification system need to be prioritized and funded.

The two senators proposed the Declassification Reform Act in 2020 and have led the upper chamber’s efforts to introduce reforms to the government’s classification system.

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