Friday federal headlines – February 19, 2016

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive.

• The Defense Department spent far more on services than on products over the past five years. The Government Accountability Office found that in 2014, DoD obligated $85 billion on its largest service categories, and only $41 billion on air, land, and sea vehicles. GAO was looking for trends in DoD spending and how well the department reports contract spending to Congress. (GAO)

• The solicitation for the $50 billion next-generation telecommunications contract is under protest. Compuline International filed a pre-award bid protest with the Government Accountability Office. Compuline is protesting the terms of the enterprise infrastructure solutions solitication. GAO has until May 26 to decide on the protest. In the meantime, GSA said it will continue to receive and evaluate proposals while GAO reviews the bid protest. Bids are due on the EIS RFP by Feb. 22. (FBO)

• One protest the Government Accountability Office has decided on — it has rejected MILVETS Systems Technology’s protest over a $304.4 million U.S. Southern Command information technology contract awarded to a rival contractor. MILVETS alleged there was a conflict of interest with a contracting staffer who had previously worked for a subcontractor of winning bidder Alliant SB CTA. GAO said the claim was not backed by sufficient evidence. (GAO)

• A group of cybersecurity products and services vendors has launched the Coalition for Cybersecurity Policy and Law. It will focus on educating and collaborating with policymakers on legislative and regulatory policies related to cybersecurity. Members of the coalition are Arbor Networks, Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Rapid7 and Symantec. (PR News)

• The Environmental Protection Agency announced its national enforcement initiatives for the next three years. They include keeping industrial pollutants out of water and reducing the risk of accidental releases at industrial and chemical facilities. National enforcement initiatives are mapped out every three years by the EPA to focus resources on pollution problems that impact Americans locally and where federal enforcement efforts can make a difference. (EPA)

• Agencies bought more hardware and professional services off of the General Services Administration’s IT schedule in 2015 than in previous years. GSA is reporting that hardware purchases saw a 14 percent growth over 2014, while professional services received the largest year over year dollar growth of $211 million. Overall, GSA said Schedule 70 saw more than $14 billion in revenue in 2015, a 3 percent increase over 2014. This also ended two consecutive years of declining IT schedule revenues. (GSA)

• House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) have asked four agencies for information on political appointees who have switched over to the career employee track. Burrowing is generally frowned on, although it can be done under strict rules. Earlier, acting OPM Director Beth Cobert warned political appointees against trying to burrow in. The congressional queries went to the Health and Human Services Department, Treasury Department, Social Security Administration and the U.S. Trade Representative. (Federal News Radio)

• Better hiring authority guidance from the Office of Personnel Management could help agencies recruit and hire the tech and cyber experts they need. Health and Human Services Department Acting Chief Information Officer Beth Killoran said the current authorities are too confusing. Killoran said her IT department has a 40 percent vacancy rate. HHS is working with OPM to come up with better guidance that will help agencies hire new people more quickly. (Federal News Radio)

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.