Now that there are real dollars beginning to finally accompany the many voices calling for government IT modernization, it’s perfect timing for Marianne Bellotti’s new book, “Kill It with Fire,” which cautions against the headlong approach the title connotes. She conveys this quite succinctly in the book’s pithy epigraph – with a quote from Ellen Ullman, a fellow author and computer programmer: “We build our computer systems the way we build our cities: over time, without a plan, on top of ruins.” […]
The Biden administration is publicly demonstrating its willingness to lend Federal help to respond to a variety of ransomware assaults against critical infrastructure sectors – the latest involving a cyberattack against JBS USA, the world’s largest meatpacker, that forced the company reportedly to shut down nine of its plants. […]
President Biden’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 budget includes an estimated $58.439 billion in IT spending for Federal civilian agencies, and $500 million for the General Service Administration’s (GSA) Technology Modernization Fund (TMF), according to a budget breakdown the White House released today. […]
President Biden’s FY2022 budget proposal published today envisions an eye-popping $6.01 trillion of Federal spending – up 36 percent from last year’s approved FY2021 budget – with a budget deficit of about $1.8 trillion. […]
President Biden is pushing for a 2.7 percent pay increase for the Federal civilian workforce in his FY2022 budget request released today. The budget also included funding to ensure more Federal workers are eligible for a $15 per hour wage. […]
Action on the Biden administration’s $1.7 trillion infrastructure spending proposal that debuted in late March as the $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan is sliding well into June as the White House and Republican senators have traded offers and counteroffers on the legislation, but still remain deeply divided on the scope of the bill and its price tag. […]
Anne Neuberger, the White House deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technologies who is a driving force behind the Biden administration’s cybersecurity executive order issued earlier this month, today noted an initial “disappointment” with Federal network hygiene in a follow-up discussion about the broader aims of the order. […]
President Biden announced today he plans to nominate Matt Olsen for Assistant Attorney General (AG) for the National Security Division at the Department of Justice (DOJ). […]
According to the White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials, dating sites like Bumble, Tinder, Hinge, Match, OkCupid, BLK, Chispa, Plenty of Fish, and Badoo are adding features that are meant to encourage vaccinations. […]
In a short executive session today, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee advanced the nomination of Eric Lander to be the next director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). His nomination will now go to the full Senate for consideration. […]
Following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated mask guidance released last week, the White House said fully vaccinated Federal employees, onsite contractors, and visitors to Federal buildings no longer have to wear masks. […]
Tech-sector reaction to the White House’s sweeping cybersecurity executive order issued May 12 came in largely positive today, with security technology makers particularly applauding the urgency of the administration’s plans, the enterprise-wide view that the order takes for improving security, and its actions to hasten the movement of Federal agencies to cloud services. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is seeking out methods to assess if Federal agency policies and actions equitably serve all eligible individuals – and specifically groups based on race, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, disabilities, persons living in rural areas, and persons adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. […]
In recognition of Public Service Recognition Week – running from May 2-8 – President Biden issued a proclamation praising public servants at all levels of government and outlining his administration’s work to improve the Federal workforce. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Biden said public servants have “risen to the moment” and described them […]
Technology leaders in Congress and industry groups with a stake in Federal IT both applauded the Biden administration’s move today to relax Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) payback requirements in order to quickly put $1 billion of new funding to work to shore up agency cyber defenses and upgrade critical systems. The change in traditional TMF […]
The Plum Book, which lists all the positions appointed by the president, is currently released once every four years, but witnesses at a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing May 3 said that the publishing schedule hinders its effectiveness and needs to be modernized. […]
The Biden administration has loosened repayment terms for at least a portion of the $1 billion of Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) money approved by Congress in March and is asking Federal agencies to submit proposals by June 2 as it looks to quickly parcel the funding out to projects that will improve cybersecurity and modernize high-priority systems, among other aims. […]
President Biden announced this week that Celeste Drake will serve as the first-ever director of the newly created Made in America Office at the White House. […]
President Biden plans to nominate Geraldine Richmond as Under Secretary for Science at the Department of Energy (DOE), and Cathy Harris as the nominee for Chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the White House announced April 28. […]
President Biden intends to nominate Heidi Shyu, a former assistant secretary of the Army, to serve as the under secretary for research and engineering at the Department of Defense (DoD), the White House announced Wednesday. […]
President Biden is signing an executive order (EO) today that will establish a task force for worker organizing and facilitate organizing across the country through an all-of-government approach to mobilizing Federal policies, programs, and practices. […]
President Biden announced plans for two key technology nominations on April 22, tapping Asmeret Berhe as nominee for director of the Office of Science at the Department of Energy (DoE), and Robert Hampshire as nominee for assistant secretary for research and technology at the Department of Transportation (DoT). […]
Three Democratic senators today asked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the General Services Administration (GSA) to take a “flexible” approach in deploying $1 billion of new Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) money for Federal agencies to use to improve their IT systems, including adjusting or removing requirements for agencies to reimburse the TMF with savings generated from projects that get money from the fund. […]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released COVID-19 testing guidance for Federal workplaces, including multiple testing strategies and information about different forms of testing, a CDC memo says. […]
The White House and a bipartisan group of senators are finding common ground in the Endless Frontier Act legislation introduced in the Senate today. […]
President Biden intends to nominate Stacey Dixon, an intelligence community veteran and current deputy director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), to serve as the principal deputy director in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the White House announced today. […]
The U.S. Digital Service’s (USDS) Matt Cutts announced he is stepping down as the agency’s administrator in a self-authored Medium post this week. […]
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted today to approve the nomination of Jason Miller for deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), sending the nomination to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. […]
Five members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee are pressing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the General Services Administration (GSA) to develop a plan for prioritizing tech projects that are ripe for tackling with the $1 billion provided to the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) under the American Rescue Plan Act. […]
The White House said President Biden plans to nominate Christy Abizaid to become director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) housed within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). […]