The chairman and ranking member of the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Government Reform delivered a clear to-do list on Thursday to Federal CIOs: pursue further data center consolidation, tighten the reporting lines between CIOs and agency heads, and craft better roadmaps for IT modernization. […]

Congressional concerns over the revision to the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB’s) Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI) policy were a main focal point during a hearing on the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) Scorecard 8.0 today. […]

The House voted today to approve $35 million of FY2020 funding for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF), which provides money to Federal agencies to pursue promising IT modernization projects. […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) finalized the Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI) policy on June 25, largely keeping the draft policy in place despite criticisms from Congress and industry. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., is offering an amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act (HR 3351) that would boost the FY2020 budget for the Technology Modernization Fund by $15 million, to a total of $50 million. […]

A new survey from MeriTalk finds that 70 percent of Federal IT leaders surveyed believe that FITARA (the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act) has been effective in accelerating Federal IT modernization, with 68 percent agreeing that the law has improved Federal IT efficiency. […]

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) plans to furlough 150 employees if Congress does not authorize a proposed merger of OPM with the General Services Administration by June 30, according to a report from the Washington Post. […]

The draft Financial Service and General Government budget released by the House Appropriations Committee on Sunday, June 2, only includes $35 million for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF), putting funding below the White House budget request of $150 million and more in line with the $25 million allocated in fiscal year 2019. […]

The Trump administration’s plan to reorganize the Office of Personnel and Management (OPM) ran squarely into bipartisan concerns expressed by House members over a lack of information about the plan to move the agency’s functions to the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). […]

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memo today to agency chief human capital officers (CHCOs) encouraging increased workplace flexibilities for employees impacted by the closure of six Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) stations over the summer. […]

The Trump administration’s proposal to reorganize the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is due to face tough questioning by the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations at a hearing scheduled for May 21. […]

The Trump administration will propose legislation on Friday to move the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) under the General Services Administration (GSA) due to a severe need for structural changes and IT modernization, Acting OPM Director Margaret Weichert told reporters on Tuesday. […]

An Office of Personnel Management (OPM) spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk that Margaret Weichert, OPM’s Acting Director, has accepted an invitation from the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee to testify at a hearing to examine the Trump administration’s plan to reorganize OPM. […]

Officials from a slew of private sector contractors – ranging from IT services giant Leidos to the owner of a coffee shop leasing space in a Federal building in Washington – urged members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee to take legislative action to better inoculate contractors against the harsh impacts of any future Federal government shutdown. […]

The House Oversight and Reform Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee is aiming to hold a hearing on May 21 to examine what its chairman, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., characterizes as the Trump administration’s plan to “dismantle” the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). […]

A group of 19 House Democrats–many from districts close to Washington–asked leaders of the House Appropriations Committee in a letter dated today to put the brakes on a Trump administration plan to shift government functions currently performed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to the General Services Administration (GSA).  […]

The White House today released an executive order authorizing the promised 1.9 percent pay raise for Federal civilian employees for 2019, including retroactive pay increases to January 1. […]

Forty-eight House members submitted a bipartisan letter to Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., and Ranking Member Kay Granger, R-Texas, of the House Appropriations Committee yesterday to include back pay for Federal contractor employees in the upcoming funding legislation. […]

The White House’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2020, released on Monday, does not appear to include a pay raise for Federal civilian employees but does propose a 3.1 percent annual pay increase for members of the military. […]

The House passed the For the People Act, or H.R. 1, on Friday with a party-line vote of 234-193. […]

U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, who heads the Government Accountability Office (GAO), today publicly questioned the priority given by Federal agency heads to cybersecurity issues that have long been flagged by GAO on its “High Risk List,” the latest biennial edition of which was issued by the agency today. […]

With the 2020 election cycle on the horizon, Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Jim Langevin, D-R.I., reintroduced the Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely (FAST) Voting Act. The legislation, according to the two Congressmen, aims to “enhance voting system security, improve voter participation, and encourage automatic voter registration.” […]

A group of three Democratic representatives from the Capital region sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Tuesday, asking for an update on back pay for Federal workers amid reports of discrepancies. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, introduced legislation on Thursday that would give Federal government civilian employees a 3.6 percent pay raise in 2020. […]

While their committee assignment paths have diverged since Democrats took control of the House of Representatives in January, Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Gerry Connolly, D-Va., pledged Wednesday night to continue their close working relationship on Federal IT issues both on the policy and funding sides of the equation. […]

At MeriTalk’s FITARA Awards ceremony on Wednesday night, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee, offered his views on what Congress needs to tackle next in Federal IT, and previewed three likely pieces of legislation. […]

MeriTalk has announced the winners of its FITARA Awards for the seventh iteration of the FITARA Scorecard released in December, recognizing seven agencies for their progress in IT modernization. […]

The House voted today to approve a 2.6 percent pay increase for civilian Federal employees. The legislation sponsored by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., cleared the House on a vote of 259-161, with all 230 House Democrats being joined by 29 Republicans voting for the measure. […]

The House Oversight and Reform Committee announced the leadership and membership of its subcommittees on Tuesday, with Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., as chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, which will handle Federal IT oversight duties. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., will service as the subcommittee’s ranking member. […]

MeriTalk today announced the launch of its FITARA Dashboard, a publicly-viewable resource that brings the latest congressional scoring of Federal agency information technology modernization progress into clearer focus, and provides analytical tools to perform detailed comparisons of how 24 major Federal agencies have achieved progress toward their goals over the past three years. […]