The latest news and analysis from FCW's reporters and editors.
Trade groups renew bid for IT funding in stimulus
Technology groups urge Senate leaders to consider meaningful government IT modernization as a primary support mechanism for COVID response
Lawmakers push cyber updates in Senate defense bill
Amendments filed to the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act by Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) and others would implement more than a dozen recommendations from the Solarium Commission report.
Thornberry talks acquisition reform in 2021 NDAA
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) is hopeful that lasting change comes with his latest provisions in what is set to be his last National Defense Authorization Act.
Margie Graves to lead industry side of ACT-IAC
A former top IT official will head up a key committee at the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council.
Quick Hits
*** The Trump Administration's shared services policy advanced June 29 with the formal designation of two Quality Services Management Offices (QSMO) covering financial management and civilian HR Transaction Services.
Each QSMO is set up as a shared services marketplace to support acquisition and service delivery in functional areas across government.
The Treasury Department was tapped to handle financial management and the General Services Administration and its NewPay Team will focus on governmentwide compensation management, scheduling and leave management.
"Core Financial Management and Civilian HR Transaction are key services that are integral to the operations of every agency," outgoing federal CIO Suzette Kent said in a statement. "Offering a robust marketplace where we can innovate and leverage expertise, contracts, and solutions to improve the federal landscape is a win."
*** The Supreme Court ruled on June 29 that the president can remove the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at will. The Dodd-Frank Act, the legislation authorizing the CFPB, stipulated that that directors served five-year terms and was removable only for cause. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that that provision violated the separation of powers doctrine embedded in the Constitution. The lawsuit challenging the CFPB post sought to eliminate the entire agency on those same grounds, but majority did not go that far in its ruling.
"The agency may…continue to operate, but its Director, in light of our decision, must be removable by the President at will," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority decision.
*** Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) will take over the minority leadership of the House Oversight Committee. The seat became vacant when ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) took the top Republican slot on the Judiciary Committee.