FCW Insider: March 5

The Trump administration has diverted billions of defense dollars for border wall funding at the cost of military constructions projects, including a new information systems facility at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Irate lawmakers want to know what it means for the future of hypersonics testing. Lauren C. Williams reports.

The federal government is starting to figure out what the outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the spreading coronavirus, means for the federal workforce. An Office of Personnel Management memo alerts agencies to include telework options in their continuity of operations plans and instructs agencies to reduce non-essential employee travel "as appropriate." Lia Russell has more.

Lawmakers on the House panel grilled officials about the slow pace of agency transition to the General Services Administration's $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions telecom contract. Mark Rockwell reports from the hearing.

A House bill expected to pass today will reclassify Transportation Security Agency under Title 5 and eliminate the bespoke human resources structure that currently limits collective bargaining and access to Merit Systems Protection Board review. Lia explains.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sparred with lawmakers over the effectiveness of targeting cyber adversaries with economic sanctions. Derek B. Johnson takes a look.

Quick Hits

*** Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is asking the Trump administration to set up a new federal website dedicated to providing trusted information about the Coronavirus. The letter cites an unreleased report from the Global Engagement Center at the State Department that claims there is a coordinated effort by Russia to spread disinformation about the virus. (A State Department spokesperson told FCW earlier this week there are no plans to publicly release the report.)

Peters wants the new site to provide official information on the U.S. government's response to the outbreak and push back on false information or rumors.

"This effort would maximize public accessibility to trusted sources, combat the spread of misinformation and disinformation, strengthen coordination between agencies, and support our communities nationwide as we respond to the virus," Peters wrote.

*** The $7.8 billion appropriations supplemental to address the COVID-19 outbreak set to pass Congress this week includes provisions that expand support for telehealth during emergencies. The bill lets the Secretary of Health and Human Services waive telehealth restrictions under certain conditions – including to stop the spread of the current coronavirus.

*** Hugh Nathanial Halper, director of the Government Printing Office, wants to modernize the look of congressional documents and get away from the cramped margins and small typefaces that were designed to economize printing costs.

"The end result will be documents that are easier to author, to produce, and to consume. Congress, GPO, and the public can benefit from these changes," Halper told the Committee on House Administration at a March 3 hearing.