FCW Insider: Jan. 13

Dunne: Schedule consolidation is paying off

The departing chief of the Federal Acquisition Service, Julie Dunne, talks to FCW about recent initiatives.

Evanina: Number of known SolarWinds victims 'will continue to grow'

A top counterintelligence official today said the number of known federal agencies affected by the SolarWinds hack will likely to continue to rise beyond initial estimates.

Civilian-military concerns trail Biden's defense secretary pick

With the Senate Armed Services Committee prepping to hear the nomination of retired Army General Lloyd Austin to serve as secretary of defense, some lawmakers are concerned about preserving civilian control of the U.S. military.

Quick Hits

*** Many corporate political donors and political action committees are pausing political donations in response to the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6. In some instances, PACs and corporations are ceasing all funding activity and in other cases, donations are being frozen for lawmakers who voted in the House or Senate to object to certifying the results of the presidential election.

Washington Technology reported on Tuesday that government contractors including Leidos, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Technologies are adding their names to the list of companies that are taking part in the political donation pause

The big question with regard to corporate funding is whether the freeze is sustained or if there is a long term impact on the fundraising ability of those 140-plus Republican members of Congress who backed any of the motions challenging the electors submitted by Pennsylvania and Arizona.

"The dirty little secret is that there isn't a lot of PAC spending right now. In an ordinary situation, after a presidential cycle, PACs would be reevaluating their goals and priorities," one lobbyist told FCW. "I'd wait and see who is still withholding political giving – and from whom -- in the second and third quarters, when money starts to move in advance of the 2022 midterms. That is how I'd measure the impact of what happened."

*** The Department of Homeland Security made a spate of awards to AT&T in the governmentwide $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions Contract over the past week. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made an EIS award to AT&T with a ceiling value of $173 million on Jan. 5. AT&T also won a $133 million-ceiling award from the DHS Management Directorate. AT&T nabbed a $32.6 million EIS task order for the DHS Office of the Chief Information Officer and a $43.4 million task order from the DHS Office of the Secretary.