FCW Insider: Dec. 11

The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act homes in on other transaction authorities, drones and cybersecurity investments. Lauren C. Williams gives an overview of what's in the $738 billion defense policy bill.

The Trump administration's plan to merge the Office of Personnel Management into the General Services Administration is going to have to wait another year, if a provision included in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act is passed into law. Lia Russell has more.

A historic provision to extend feds with a one-year on-the-job benefit of 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a new child was included in the NDAA. The measure would take effect Oct. 1, 2020. Lia reports.

The Defense Department is pushing forward with its unified cybersecurity standard for contractors and wants large companies and industry associations to show startups and smaller firms the way. Ellen Lord, DOD's acquisition chief, told reporters that big players could act as a kind of "help desk" for smaller firms. Lauren explains.

In what's become a familiar dance on Capitol Hill, members of a Senate committee ripped tech leaders for what they perceive as a too-rigid stance on offering encrypted devices and apps to consumers to the detriment of law enforcement. Mark Rockwell takes a look.

Quick Hits

*** With the threat of a government shutdown looming, Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) are hoping the time is ripe for lawmakers to create a kind of autopilot for funding to end shutdowns once and for all. Their Prevent Government Shutdowns Act would create an automatic continuing resolution to fund government at current levels while putting restrictions on official travel and adding requirement to make sure lawmakers focus on spending bills while they operate under stopgap funding arrangements.

*** A Small Business Administration rule implementing legislation that changes the calculations to determine small business size standards takes effect on Jan. 6, 2020. The rule itself, which extends the period of average annual receipts from three years to five years for the purpose of determining size standards, was finalized Dec. 5.

"After this new size standard takes effect, small businesses will be able to make critical investments to grow their businesses without fearing that they will lose access to resources and contracting opportunities," Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a sponsor of the Runway Extension Act legislation, said in a statement.