Author Archive
Carten Cordell
Managing Editor, Government Executive
![Carten Cordell](https://cdn.nextgov.com/media/img/cd/2024/02/29/2024.02.23_GovExec_Headshots_017_CartenCordell-1/original.jpg?1715880417)
Carten Cordell is the managing editor at Government Executive. Cordell has covered federal government, technology and acquisition for Federal Times, FedScoop, Washington Business Journal and Nextgov/FCW. An Alabama native, Cordell holds bachelor’s degrees in history and journalism from Auburn University and a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. His work has also appeared in USA Today, Writer's Digest and many other publications. He came to GovExec after a stint at Sage Communications, a marketing services agency that focuses on the government contracting market.
Cybersecurity
GSA awards contract for $524M CISA headquarters
The agency will leverage its largest Inflation Reduction Act-funded project to date to help construct a 630,000-square-foot building for the cybersecurity agency at the St. Elizabeths West Campus.
- By Carten Cordell
Policy
A pair of new bills aim to reshape the Secret Service
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., penned new legislation to shift the agency’s jurisdiction for investigating financial crimes and alter how it designates its protective perimeter in the wake of the Trump assassination attempt.
- By Carten Cordell
Digital Government
What should agencies consider for their remote work plans?
A new memo from OPM Acting Director Robert Shriver details specific factors agency leaders should consider when designing their remote work strategy for the federal workforce.
- By Carten Cordell
Policy
OPM issues its final rule for Schedule F protections
The federal HR agency finalized its rule offering protections for career civil servants meant to safeguard against the potential reemergence of the Trump-era Schedule F policy.
- By Carten Cordell
Policy
OPM: Federal salaries won't be tied to private sector pay histories
Agencies can’t use non-federal salaries to help set pay for new or returning federal employees, under a new rule from the Office of Personnel Management.
- By Carten Cordell
People
Return-to-office policies may bring potential federal workforce challenges
Deltek posited in its contracting outlook for fiscal 2024 a potential talent crunch tied to the Biden administration’s return-to-office policies.
- By Carten Cordell
Modernization
FBI’s new headquarters plan was not influenced by the Trump White House, watchdog says
An inspector general report four years in the making found that FBI officials nixed a plan to move its headquarters to suburban Washington, D.C., for reasons not related to alleged political pressure from the Trump administration.
- By Carten Cordell
Policy
What does it take to end a government shutdown?
The end of past budget impasses have often played out as calculations of policy goals versus the political pain needed to achieve them, but when the goal is unclear how do you know who wins?
- By Carten Cordell
Digital Government
What does post-pandemic telework look like during a shutdown?
As agencies begin planning for funding to stop on Sept. 30, federal telework guidance will be tested in a post-COVID environment.
- By Carten Cordell
Digital Government
State dives deep into data
The State Department is increasingly capitalizing on advances in data analytics to inform diplomacy and funding efforts.
- By Carten Cordell
Cybersecurity
Amid shutdown anxiety, federal agencies are running up against an IT security deadline
While budget negotiations play out on Capitol Hill, federal agency CIOs are also on the clock to ensure the bulk of their information technology is reported through the CDM program.
- By Carten Cordell
Featured eBooks
Cybersecurity
Microsoft links Outlook hack to an engineer’s corporate account
The cyberattack that ultimately led to the breach of several U.S. officials’ email accounts was the result of a China-based threat actor accessing a corporate account that contained a consumer signing key, the software giant said.
- By Carten Cordell
Artificial Intelligence
Air Force research arm plans AI prototypes contract for command and control efforts
The $99 million broad agency agreement aims to develop artificial intelligence applications that could help optimize all-domain operations.
- By Carten Cordell
Acquisition
Energy teases massive IT services recompete in information request
The department is gathering market research for a recompete of its $10 billion CBOSS blanket purchase agreement contract.
- By Carten Cordell
Cybersecurity
FDIC needs to sharpen its cyberthreat sharing with financial institutions, OIG says
Despite recent improvements, a watchdog report claims the agency still has more it can do to make threat-sharing policies more effective.
- By Carten Cordell
Artificial Intelligence
IARPA teases event for large language model vulnerability mitigation tools
The intelligence agency offered details on a new potential contract and October event to showcase tools that can detect and remediate vulnerabilities in large language models.
- By Carten Cordell
Acquisition
DHS should assess the benefits of a risk management sharing tool, GAO says
A new report found that the department’s guidance for risk management practices in acquisition programs isn’t specific enough for all programs and could be helped by information-sharing tools.
- By Carten Cordell
Emerging Tech
IARPA’s new pants will record your location
The intelligence research agency is crafting smart clothing technology equipped with audio, video and geolocation sensors.
- By Carten Cordell
Modernization
Governmentwide IT contract push is edging out opportunities for small businesses, analyst says
A stream of anticipated governmentwide acquisition contracts will likely put pressure on smaller companies to partner with larger primes to stay in the hunt for fewer opportunities, Deltek’s Carey Webster said.
- By Carten Cordell
Acquisition
Federal law enforcement training centers are shopping for enterprise IT services
The interagency organization tasked with training federal, state and local law enforcement officers is prepping for an enterprise IT support services contract that ranges from hardware and software to zero trust architecture and configuration management support.
- By Carten Cordell