Wednesday federal headlines – March 23, 2016

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

• Defense Secretary Ash Carter is pleading with Congress to avoid the across-the-board budget cuts of sequestration again. He told the House Armed Services Committee the Defense Department’s greatest risk is losing the stability that this year’s budget deal gave the department. While testifying on DoD’s $583 billion budget request for fiscal 2017, Carter also laid out the department’s technology investment priorities, highlighting the increase in the number of ships for the Navy and their lethality. He also said the budget calls for a $34 billion investment in cyber, electronic warfare and space. (DoD)

• U.S. European Command is implementing travel restrictions to Brussels, Belgium as a precautionary measure after yesterday’s terror attacks there. Unofficial travel to Brussels by military personnel, Defense Department civilian employees, contractors and command-sponsored dependents and family members is prohibited until further notice. (DoD)

• The Federal Trade Commission lost one of its commissioners to the private sector. Julie Brill, who has been with the FTC since 2010, will be resigning at the end of the month. She’ll be joining the firm Hogan Lovells as a partner and  co-director of the privacy and cybersecurity practice, which was her area of expertise at the agency. This leaves the FTC with only three commissioners. (Hogan Lovells)

• The House passed a bill to allow Women Air Force Service Pilots or WASPs of World War II to have their ashes spread at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. Rep. Martha McSally’s (R-Ariz) bill passed with unanimous support, she hoped the Senate will follow suit. The bill follows a decision in March 2015 by then-Secretary of the Army John McHugh that reversed a 2002 approval allowing WASP pilots remains to be interned at the cemetery. McSally is a former Air Force pilot. (Rep. Martha McSally)

• NIH’s Information Technology Acquisition & Assessment Center (NITAAC) is looking for new small businesses to join a multi-billion dollar governmentwide contract. NITAAC opened an on-ramp for the CIO-SP3 vehicle for small businesses, including those in the 8(a) and HUBZone programs and those classified as service-disabled veteran-owned small firms. The GWAC includes 10 task areas, including IT services for biomedical research, CIO support and software development. NIH initially awarded 91 small firms a spot on the $20 billion CIO-SP3 in 2011.  Responses to this on-ramp RFP are due April 18. (FBO)

• The Defense Department’s acquisition arm is updating guidance on handling contracts and how it communicates with industry. DoD Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Strategy Claire Grady said she hopes to have two guidebooks — one on contract types and one on source selection — out by the end of March. Grady hopes the updates will offer help on both sides of a Defense contract. (Federal News Radio)

• The Veterans Affairs Department is proposing a three-tiered system to overhaul the Veterans Choice Program. The program is designed to help veterans get access to private doctors and medical care in the community. The new system would let veterans choose between a VA medical professional or a variety of private providers. VA would still schedule most of the veterans’ appointments. (Federal News Radio)

• The Veterans Affairs Department issued new punishments for the four senior executives accused of abusing the agency’s relocation scandal. Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson recommended giving Diana Rubens and Kimberley Graves each a reprimand and a 10-percent salary cut. Both executives had their original punishments overturned by the Merit Systems Protection Board last month. Gibson also suggested giving a 15-day suspension to Acting VA Benefits Undersecretary Danny Pummill, and a reprimand to VA Field Operations Director Beth McCoy. (Federal News Radio)

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