FCW Insider: March 18, 2021
The latest news and analysis from FCW's reporters and editors.
A blueprint to rebuild OPM
A congressionally mandated study from the National Academy for Public Administration asks lawmakers and the executive branch to help create the conditions for the Office of Personnel Management to fulfill its purpose as a strategic human capital advisor to federal agencies.
King: Mandatory breach disclosure bill coming soon
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), a co-chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, said he plans to propose new legislation in the coming weeks.
House lawmakers seek answers on SolarWinds from agency chiefs
The letters sent to senior administration officials come as Senate lawmakers plan to hold a hearing on the breach of federal networks.
Quick Hits
*** Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) is hearing complaints from constituents about the performance of the new commercial electronic health record in use at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Mann-Grandstaff Medical Center. Mann-Grandstaff is one of the launch sites for the new software system. In a March 17 letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough, Rodgers, who is the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said that she's hearing "an increasing number of complaints and pleas for help" about the new system mostly related to prescription delivery and the self-service patient portal.
*** Danielle Metz is the Defense Department's new deputy CIO for information enterprise, the DOD CIO shop announced Wednesday. Metz has held an acting appointment in that role for a year. Metz was previously a presidential policy advisor on science and technology, focusing on implementation of IT modernization efforts in the federal government. She won FCW's Fed 100 award in 2020 for her IT reform work with 27 defense agencies and field activities.
*** Lawmakers on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure are renewing their request for information and documents relating to former President Donald Trump's lease on the Old Post Office. A March 16 letter to General Services Administration Acting Administrator Katy Kale notes that under Trump, GSA "repeatedly obstructed" attempt to conduct oversight of the lease. Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Dina Titus (D-Nev.) point out in the letter that multiple business partners abandoned Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol building, and the lawmakers want to know if GSA is considering something similar. "Is GSA contemplating or considering examining whether former President Trump and/or the Trump Organization should be prevented from contracting with the federal government in the future," the lawmakers asked.