Tuesday federal headlines – February 23, 2016

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

• The Senate voted to end debate on the confirmation of Dr. Robert M. Califf as head the Food and Drug Administration, which means a vote on his appointment is coming soon. Senators voted 80-6 Monday to end a Democratic filibuster of Obama’s pick to head the agency. A few senators had held up the nomination to try to force the agency to be tougher on prescription drug prices and the abuse of opioid painkillers.  A confirmation vote could come as early as Tuesday. (U.S. News & World Report)

• The Defense Department is establishing the charter for the Defense Advisory Committee on Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces in the Federal Register. Establishment of the committee was called for in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015.  The Committee will provide the Secretary of Defense advice on the investigation, prosecution, and defense of sexual misconduct involving members of the Armed Forces. It will be composed of no more than 20 members. (Federal Register)

• The Homeland Security Department‘s Science and Technology Directorate made its first contract award under a new program to bring innovative companies in the technology mix. DHS S&T picked Pulzze Systems to develop advanced detection capability and security monitoring of networked systems, commonly known as the Internet of Things.  DHS gave Pulzze a $200,000 award to develop technology to secure infrastructures by improving visibility and providing dynamic detection throughout networked systems.   The DHS program seeks new approaches to improve security across 16 critical infrastructure domains. (DHS)

• The Army Contracting Command gives 17 companies the chance to compete for hardware, software and related services task orders. The $5 billion deal is known as ITES-3H, with the goal of modernizing Army information technology. It’s open to the entire federal government. ITES-3H runs through February 2021. The program had been delayed by protests Among the large companies on the contract are CDWG, Dell, Hewlett Packard, IBM, and Telos.

• The Office of Personnel Management’s Chief Information Officer has retired. Donna Seymour retired yesterday, according to an internal email from OPM Acting Director Beth Cobert. She was scheduled to speak at a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing on Thursday regarding the agency’s massive data breach. The hearing has now been cancelled. Cobert said she would be in touch about new leadership. (Federal News Radio)

• Art Gonzalez, deputy chief information officer for service, delivery and engineering at the Veterans Affairs Department, is also heading out. An email to VA’s Office of Information and Technology from Assistant Secretary and CIO LaVerne Council to staff said Gonzalez’s last day is March 5. Council said Susan McHugh-Polley will serve as acting deputy CIO once Gonzalez leaves. Gonzalez spent five years as the IRS CIO in the mid-2000s. He also held several private-sector positions, including as CIO of Oxford Health Plans and senior management positions in the banking industry. (Federal News Radio)

• Kimberly Graves and Diana Rubens are back at work after the Merit Systems Protection Board reversed their original punishments from the Veterans Affairs Department. But Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said they could face an alternate punishment, depending on the results of another investigation. The report was supposed to be done by now, but Gibson said it took longer than he thought to get transcripts from Graves’ and Rubens’ appeal hearings. Both were accused of creating the appearance of misconduct with the agency’s relocation program. (Federal News Radio)

• The Defense Department’s top research official said DoD is trying allay some industry fears over acquisition policy. DoD is reaching out to small businesses and non-defense tech companies as part of its third offset strategy. DoD hosted a town hall last week to try to calm some industry worries over intellectual property rights issues. Industry also said it’s concerned about the bloated acquisition process. DoD will continue to host events in Silicon Valley to open communication with tech companies. (Federal News Radio)

•  When it comes to government executive turmoil, we have one word for you. That word is distraction. It was cited by CIO Donna Seymour in explaining to her staff why she is leaving the Office of Personnel Management. Also by public affairs in explaining the departure of Danny Harris from Education. VA deputy secretary Sloan Gibson said he too wants to get past the distraction caused by the demotion and re-promotion of hospital managers Diana Rubens and Kimberly Graves. (Federal News Radio)

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