*** Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said on Thursday during a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing that he plans to put a hold on the nominations of three senior Department of Homeland Security officials citing frustrations with the White House's approach to handling immigration at the southern border. Scott said he will hold the nominations for deputy secretary, undersecretary for strategy, policy and plans, and general counsel until President Joe Biden visits the southern border. Scott added that the hold is unrelated to the nominees themselves, saying he believes they are qualified.
*** At a May 27 press conference, Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough said there was no nominee for the agency's CIO – a presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed position – but that he was "really impressed by the caliber of the professionals that have applied for the job," and said he hoped a candidate could be named in the "next several weeks."
*** The new "emerging large business" category included in the newly released CIO-SP4 IT services contract vehicle from the National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center has some observer scratching their heads, Washington Technology reports.