FCW Insider: June 2, 2021

The latest news and analysis from FCW's reporters and editors.

White House seeks reopening plans from agencies

Guidance sent to agencies on Tuesday makes clear that agencies can't start phasing feds back into the workplace until they've satisfied collective bargaining requirements.

Shared services funded in 2022 budget plan

The federal government's Quality Services Management Offices, set up to deliver services in grants, financial management, human resources and cybersecurity, are chugging along in the proposed FY2022 budget.

White House nominates top Army career civilian official to be DOD comptroller

The White House has nominated Kathleen Miller, the administrative assistant to the Army secretary, to be the Defense Department's comptroller.

Comment: Creating a more resilient American infrastructure

With the necessary reforms to modernize federal IT now clearer, it's critical to call out that the government has far too long relied on antiquated technologies that cannot thwart today's stealthy and persistent adversaries.

Quick Hits

*** The federal judge in the lawsuit over the Pentagon's $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud procurement announced deadlines for the next round of filings. Amazon Web Services is ordered to file a motion to add evidence to the administrative record in the case by June 18. Other scheduled motions will see the case through July 16. Lawyers representing the Defense Department had sought to accelerate the filing schedule.

*** Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) introduced a bill to require federal contractors to maintain vulnerability disclosure programs. The bill, which was offered on May 28, would codify one element of the Biden administration's cybersecurity executive order.

*** The IRS issued a $7.8 million, six-month extension on a digital services contract held by Booz Allen Hamilton that includes support for the "Where's My Payment" app, updates to content on the IRS website and work on the Taxpayer Digital Communications platform. The extension, which is broken up into one three-month period and three one-month options, is needed because the possibility of a protest in a rebid looms.