FCW Insider: Nov. 30

House Dems look to funding bill to block Schedule F

A group of House Democrats including Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) are pushing for appropriators to block the implementation of the Schedule F federal employee reclassification in a must-pass funding bill needed to avoid a government shutdown.

What to expect from Joe Biden’s DOD

President-elect Joe Biden’s national security team is taking shape. FCW talked with experts to understand exactly what’s at stake for the Defense Department’s modernization efforts over the next four years.

Watchdog says Pentagon's effort to 'harmonize' cyber is lacking

A new Government Accountability Office report says the Pentagon's architecture to unify its cyber efforts lacks governance structure and goals.

Senate proposes $58M boost to CISA's budget to clear out risk assessment backlog

The Senate Appropriations Committee's bill would aim to help CISA reduce an ongoing backlog of vulnerability assessments requested by state and local agencies.

Comment: What it takes to future-proof federal IT supply chains

We have now advanced past that initial disruption brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and agencies and organizations should ask themselves: how can we make our supply chains better for the long term, and how do we continue to improve work-from-home security?

Quick Hits

*** Neera Tanden, the president and CEO of the think tank Center for American Progress, will be named by President-Elect Joe Biden to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget. That puts Tanden in charge of the management directorate including the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the federal CIO shop and the U.S. Digital Service, in addition to critical budgeting duties. The position requires Senate confirmation. OMB is poised to become one of the first agencies to reclassify much of their workforce under the Schedule F designation, and Biden's pick to lead the agency may have to deal with the aftermath of a staffing shakeup. There are multiple legislative efforts to block the implementation of Schedule F.

*** Chris Krebs, the former top cybersecurity official who was fired by President Trump after warning Americans to reject unfounded conspiracy theories about voter fraud, talked about the elections, his time at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on "60 Minutes" on Sunday.

"Look…we can go on and on with all the farcical claims alleging interference in the 2020 election, but the proof is in the ballots," Krebs said on a portion of the interview broadcast on Nov. 27. "The recounts are consistent with the initial count, and to me, that's further evidence, that's confirmation that the systems used in the 2020 election performed as expected, and the American people should have 100% confidence in their vote."