White House Looks to Increase NITRD R&D Budget in FY22 Dec 7, 2021 | 9:00 am The White House has released a supplement to President Biden’s fiscal year (FY) 2022 budget that looks to increase funding for research and development (R&D) projects conducted under the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program. […]
OMB Tells Feds to Cooperate With Agency IGs Dec 6, 2021 | 1:25 pm The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released guidance on Dec. 3 encouraging Federal agencies to cooperate and support their agency inspectors general (IGs). […]
New OMB FISMA Guidance Keys on Cyber EO, Testing, Automation, CDM Dec 6, 2021 | 8:40 am The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on December 6 issued new Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) guidance to Federal agencies for Fiscal Years 2021-2022 that promotes agency action on several items in the Biden administration’s Cybersecurity Executive Order issued in May, and that also aligns with aspects of current Senate legislation on FISMA reform. […]
WH to Direct $100B in Contracting Opportunities to SDBs Dec 3, 2021 | 12:28 pm In a new memorandum from the Biden administration, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Jason Miller detailed how the White House would like to direct $100 billion in Federal contracting opportunities to small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs). […]
Biden Administration Releases Space Priorities Framework Dec 2, 2021 | 9:00 am The Biden-Harris administration has unveiled its space priority framework, which gives an overview of how the administration plans to develop and implement national space policy and strategy going forward, including protecting space-related critical infrastructure and strengthening the security of the nation’ space industrial base. […]
Feds Hit 96 Percent Vaccine Compliance, Some Agencies Near Perfect Nov 24, 2021 | 1:54 pm About 96 percent of the Federal government’s 3.5 million employees have complied with President Biden’s vaccine mandate, which means workers have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination, or have a pending or approved exception request. […]
White House Releases DEIA Strategic Plan Nov 24, 2021 | 1:26 pm The White House has released a government-wide strategic plan to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) for the Federal workforce, as required under President Biden’s June 25 DEIA executive order (EO). […]
Biden Nominates Young as Permanent OMB Director, Coloretti as Deputy Director Nov 24, 2021 | 12:57 pm President Biden nominated two women of color to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) today, tapping Shalanda Young to serve as the permanent director of OMB and Nani Coloretti to serve as OMB’s deputy director. […]
Federal Employee Vaccination Rate Hits 90 Percent Nov 23, 2021 | 12:33 pm A White House official said in a press briefing late yesterday that more than 90 percent of Federal employees have been vaccinated ahead of the mandated Nov. 22 deadline – and 75 days after the requirement was put in place. […]
Biden Nominates DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology Nov 18, 2021 | 2:10 pm President Biden announced on Nov. 17 his intent to nominate Dimitri Kusnezov as under secretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). […]
Biden-Harris PMA ‘Vision’ Aims at Workforce, Citizen Service, Acquisition Overhauls Nov 18, 2021 | 8:24 am The Biden-Harris administration’s just-released “vision” statement for the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) sets broad goals to overhaul how the government recruits and retains its workforce, harnesses technology to provide citizens with better digital services and undertakes acquisitions in a way that provides advantages to the domestic economy. […]
OPM Director Previews Priorities for OPM and OMB Four-Year Strategic Plan Nov 17, 2021 | 3:51 pm The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) are set to release their four-year strategic plan later this month, according to OPM Director Kiran Ahuja, who previewed what the Federal government can expect to see in that plan. […]
Biden Makes Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Nominations Nov 16, 2021 | 12:24 pm President Biden has made two nominations to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) that will cover the remainder of the terms that expire in early 2023 and 2024. […]
GAO: Treasury, OMB Must Improve Data Reporting on USASpending.gov Nov 9, 2021 | 10:21 am The Department of Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have made progress in validating data received from Federal agencies, but both of the agencies need to improve how that data is reported online, according to the Government Accountability Office. […]
Wainstein Tapped for DHS Intelligence and Analysis Role Nov 8, 2021 | 1:14 pm The White House has announced President Biden’s intention to nominate Kenneth Wainstein as undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). […]
Denice Ross Named U.S. Chief Data Scientist Nov 5, 2021 | 1:18 pm The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has appointed Denice W. Ross as the U.S. Chief Data Scientist. […]
Federal CIO’s Chief of Staff Leaving for Private Sector Nov 4, 2021 | 3:23 pm Jordan Burris – who serves as chief of staff for Federal CIO Clare Martorana, Deputy Federal CIO Maria Roat, and Federal Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Chris DeRusha – will leave the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) November 12, he announced in a LinkedIn post. […]
White House to Nominate DelBene as Veterans Affairs CIO Nov 3, 2021 | 4:28 pm The White House plans to nominate Kurt DelBene to the positions of CIO and Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has come under fire in recent months from Congress over a troubled roll-out and cost estimates for its electronic health records modernization (EHRM) program. […]
Evidence-Based Policymaking Advisory Panel Pushes for Federal Chief Statistician Nov 2, 2021 | 4:06 pm The Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building submitted its first-year report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), pursuant to the Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, detailing its findings and making a list of recommendations including establishing a permanent Federal Chief Statistician role to help improve agency data use. […]
NSTAC Urges Task Force on Software Assurance, Supply Chain Nov 2, 2021 | 4:00 pm The National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) – a group of private sector experts that advises the White House on telecom availability and reliability issues – has drafted several recommendations for the Biden administration including one to establish a task force for software assurance in information and communications technology and services supply chains. […]
Biden Extends Infrastructure Bill Timelines by Signing Transportation Measure Nov 1, 2021 | 2:24 pm President Biden signed H.R. 5763 into law on Oct. 31, extending authorization for the Department of Transportation’s Surface Transportation Programs until Dec. 3 – and effectively providing more time for Congress to consider two big pending infrastructure bills that contain billions of dollars of tech and cyber-related items. […]
Federal Data Strategy 2021 Action Plan Features ‘Aspirational’ Milestones Oct 25, 2021 | 4:02 pm The Office of Management and Budget has released a 2021 action plan for Federal agencies to make progress on a list of goals under the Federal Data Strategy published in 2019, but given there are little more than two months to go in 2021, OMB characterized the year-end goals as “aspirational.” […]
Acting OMB Director Young to Take Maternal Leave Soon, Jason Miller to Handle Day-to-Day Oct 20, 2021 | 3:38 pm The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will soon be without Acting Director Shalanda Young for a little, as she is expecting to give birth in the next few weeks, an OMB spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. […]
White House OSTP Launches New Challenge to Advance Equity in Science, Tech Oct 15, 2021 | 9:05 am The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) launched “The Time is Now: Advancing Equity in Science and Technology Ideation Challenge” on Oct. 14 to ensure all Americans can partake in the science and technology landscape. […]
White House Claims Progress After International Ransomware Meetings Oct 14, 2021 | 3:47 pm The White House charted progress today following the conclusion of its two-day virtual Ministers and Representatives from the Counter Ransomware Initiative Meeting, and outlined several priority efforts to reduce the risk of ransomware attacks globally. […]
White House Meetings Aim for International Support in Ransomware Fight Oct 13, 2021 | 3:34 pm The Biden-Harris Administration is taking steps this week to gin up international support to fight ransomware as the White House National Security Council (NSC) hosts a two-day virtual assembly with 30 foreign partners to discuss joint efforts to counter the attacks. […]
OMB Looks to Fill Vacant Federal Chief Statistician Role Oct 11, 2021 | 2:21 pm For nearly two years, the Federal government has gone without a Federal chief statistician, but the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is looking to change that. […]
Infrastructure Watch: House Kicking off Debate on $3.5T Bill Sep 27, 2021 | 4:10 pm Legislative crunch-time for the Biden administration’s two infrastructure funding bills began in earnest on Monday. Here are three tracks to watch that impact the legislation, which proposes billions of dollars of funding for Federal IT, cybersecurity, and broadband initiatives. […]
QSMO Grants Management Marketplace to Launch by the End of 2021 Sep 27, 2021 | 3:05 pm The office in charge of building a government-wide shared services ecosystem for grants management plans to launch a website for grants management shared services marketplace by the end of the year and have all Federal service providers onboarded by mid-year 2022. […]
Fed Contractors Face Dec. 8 Vaccine Deadline, 60-Day Lag for ‘Urgent’ Work Sep 27, 2021 | 1:17 pm Federal government contractors and subcontractors are facing a deadline of Dec. 8 to get their employees fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus – subject to a list of exceptions that include medical conditions and religious beliefs – with an additional 60-day extension of the compliance window possible in the case of “urgent” contract needs. […]