People

Goodbye degree requirements? Biden administration pushes skills-based hiring for tech talent

The Office of Personnel Management announced on Monday that it will be reworking the policies around the 2210 job series — which covers most government tech employees — to be more skills-based.

Digital Government

IRS considers future of Direct File pilot

The agency hasn’t decided if it’ll field the program long term but does say that user feedback of the tool has largely been positive.

People

Login-dot-gov gets new leadership

Dan Lopez, Login’s director since 2022, will be taking on an advisory role inside the Technology Transformation Services at GSA.

Acquisition

House panel advances bill to make federal contracting easier to understand

The Plain Language in Contracting Act would require agencies to use easy-to-understand language for certain procurement notices pertaining to small businesses.

Policy

Bipartisan group looks to push IRS towards simpler math error notices

The IRS MATH Act would require the tax agency to send more specific, straightforward notices when it corrects simple math errors on tax returns.

Acquisition

New rule cements sustainability mandate for federal buyers

A new update to the Federal Acquisition Regulation is meant to help the government meet goals for net-zero procurement by 2050.

Exclusive Digital Government

30,000 died in fiscal 2023 waiting for disability decisions from Social Security

SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley sat down with Nextgov/FCW recently to talk through the agency’s biggest challenges, including how it delivers disability assistance.

Digital Government

100,000 have used IRS Direct File to submit their tax returns

The agency has not yet determined whether the pilot program for the tool will be extended into a permanent offering.

Cybersecurity

HHS removed Login from its grantee payment system after funding theft

Hackers used data from a federal contracting hub to steal funding from seven grantee organizations in an HHS breach that occurred last year. Both HHS and GSA say that Login.gov was not compromised or connected to the theft.

Digital Government

GSA to pilot face matching technology this summer for Login

The agency is also rolling out a new pricing model for agencies that want to use in-house single sign-on.

Digital Government

White House, Senate Democrats tout new $1.4B anti-fraud proposal

Among the efforts that would see funding under the sweeping proposal are a new “early warning system” for fraud in government benefits.

Exclusive Acquisition

Mace sponsors bill to ban educational requirements for government contractors

The bill tracks with ongoing bipartisan efforts to push the government towards skills-based hiring.

People

DHS names a new CISO

Hemant Baidwan will be in charge of securing DHS information technology systems.

Exclusive Acquisition

Senate bill looks to chop through red tape in procurement

The bipartisan legislation aims to both expand access to special acquisition authorities and give new, innovative contractors more opportunities to work with the government.

Digital Government

Lawmakers propose extending pandemic analytics center beyond 2025 sunset

Oversight officials say that the Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence needs to survive past the looming sunset date, unlike a similar analytics center used to oversee stimulus spending that shuttered in 2015.

People

Top women officials say there’s more work to do on gender balance in government tech

Women seem to be far more common in government’s top tech leadership positions than they used to be, but “we are far from done,” one such leader warns.

Digital Government

Help wanted: Regulators worldwide need tech expertise

As economies continue to digitize, governments say they need more technological expertise to evaluate companies and technology, as well as detect problems.

Artificial Intelligence

New White House policy mandates safeguards for federal AI use

The White House also announced new hiring goals for AI talent, a request for information on the procurement of AI and more.