Monday federal headlines – November 2, 2015

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive and In Depth radio shows.

• The White House has issued a cyber action plan to ensure cybersecurity remains a top priority. The cybersecurity and implementation plan is the result of the cybersecurity sprint initiated back in June. Among the deadlines set by the plan, OMB will issue new incident response best practices to agencies and DHS will upgrade agencies’ EINSTEIN technologies. (White House)

• The Pentagon has finalized a rule requiring its agencies to evaluate and potentially exclude would-be IT contractors based on cyber risks to sensitive national security systems. They issued this despite critics who say the rule is too vague. DoD says they also intend to share information about supply chain risk with its contractors as often as possible. (Federal Register)

• Reuters is reporting the U.S. military is pleased with the success of a $230 million test of the U.S. Missile Defense System that showed the ability of Aegis and THAAD weapons systems to identity and destroy ballistic and cruise missiles at once. The test was conduced near Wake Island in the Western Pacific Ocean late last night. Riki Ellison, founder of the nonprofit Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said it was the first time the U.S. military had proven the effectiveness of a layered defense. (Yahoo News)

• DoD has fixed the rule concerning potential acquisitions from Cuba. The department’s Defense acquisition regulations system is removing restrictions it had placed on purchasing military equipment from the country. Cuba’s previous presence on the state sponsors of terror list prohibited DoD from purchasing commercial satellite services and awarding contracts to firms owned or controlled by Cuba. (Federal Register)

• Domestic partners and adult children of Postal Service employees, and current and retired members of the uniformed services now qualify for the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program. OPM is issuing a final rule to amend the program to expand eligibility. (GPO)

• The Defense Department is conducting a study on how it can pair with industry to make microelectronics more available and trusted. Microelectronics are small chips and circuits used for hardware. DoD is worried about the availability of trusted and domestic manufacturers of microelectronics. Currently, only one company in the United States can produce microelectronics suitable for the department. That company is foreign-owned. (Federal News Radio)

• Federal Chief Information Officer Tony Scott gives agencies a ‘C-‘ to ‘B+’ grade for the first drafts of the Federal IT and Acquisition Reform Act implementation plans. They have until Dec. 31 to submit final implementation and common baseline plans. Scott said he’s happy so far with the conversations agencies are having around FITARA. The Agriculture Department said it will stand up its FITARA office next year, but it’s worried about having the resources and people to get it off the ground. Agencies won’t get funding until fiscal 2017. (Federal News Radio)

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