FCW Insider: Dec 22

Schedule F workforce plan survives funding bill

Democrats in the House and Senate urged appropriators to include a measure blocking the implementation of a workforce executive order making it possible to reclassify thousands of senior civil servants as "at will" employees, making it easier to hire and fire feds in certain key positions.

Cyber exec: 50 orgs 'genuinely impacted' by SolarWinds hack

FireEye's chief executive officer said he's seen evidence suggesting hackers changed code in SolarWinds software as early as October 2019.

Software factories are new 'crown jewels,' Air Force official says

Will Roper, the Air Force's acquisition chief, said the massive cybersecurity breach that's plagued several federal government agencies creates "a new kind of target for our adversaries" that must be protected.

Quick Hits

*** Congress passed a $1.4 trillion funding package for fiscal year 2021 and a $900 billion COVID-19 relief and stimulus bill on Monday night. But lawmakers again had to extend the clock on the stopgap measure funding the federal government. The House of Representatives included a short term continuing resolution in the rule passed Monday to govern the floor debate on the $1.4 trillion FY2021 funding bill and the $900 billion pandemic relief package. That measure passed the House on a 227-180 vote, before passing in the Senate. That one-week continuing resolution funding the government through Dec. 28 was signed into law by President Trump.

*** Attorney General Bill Barr addressed the SolarWinds hack at a press conference on Monday, saying he agreed with the assessment of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. "It certainly appears to be the Russians, but I'm not going to discuss it beyond that," Barr said.

*** The Office of Personnel Management released its 2020 presidential transition guide on Monday.