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• HealthCare.gov enrollments are outpacing prior years, up 18% over this time last year. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said that outreach efforts made by the department are part of the reason for the increase in enrollments. According to HHS, the national uninsured rate fell to an all-time low earlier this year. The deadline to sign up for a plans on the government marketplace is Jan. 15.

• Congress calls on the Office of Personnel Management to prioritize IT modernization. The omnibus federal spending package includes $19.3 million for OPM to focus on improving technology. That’s out of the agency’s total appropriations of over $400 million for fiscal 2023. OPM saw an increase of $49 million since its enacted funding for 2022. Lawmakers say they expect OPM to continue making IT improvements, as well as invest in changes to federal retirement processing. (Federal News Network)

• President Joe Biden has signed legislation meant to shore up cybersecurity at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Strengthening VA Cybersecurity Act requires the department to work with a federally-funded research and development corporation on a comprehensive review of VA’s cyber posture. The FFRDC will assess five “high impact” VA systems on their cyber readiness, and also take a deep dive on the department’s overall information security program. The legislation also requires VA to report to Congress on what it plans to do about the review’s findings. And, the Government Accountability Office will conduct its own assessment of whether VA’s plan does enough to improve its cyber posture.

• The Federal Bureau of Prisons will have to overhaul its outdated security systems under legislation the president signed yesterday. The Prison Camera Reform Act orders the bureau to improve security cameras, radios and public address systems at its 122 facilities. Congress passed the bill amid concerns that broken security systems were missing evidence of corruption, staff sexual assault, inmate deaths and escapes. A plan to upgrade those systems is due to Congress in the next three months. (Federal News Network)

• In an effort to keep track of the availability and affordability of military housing, the Defense Department will start conducting housing requirements and market analysis reports every five years. The 2023 National Defense Authorization Act requires the reports, which will assess the suitability and availability of private market rentals around military installations. The bill gives DoD until January to put together a list of bases that will have housing market assessments completed in 2023, and then it needs to complete 20% of the assessments each year for the next five years.

• Contractors who build Navy ships will need to set aside money for workforce development. The Defense authorization bill President Biden signed last week requires contracts for shipbuilding to dedicate up to one-percent of the total contract value to the Navy shipbuilding development special incentive. It includes the expansion of local talent pipeline programs for new and existing workers, investments in long-term outreach to public school and technical programs and facilities for workforce development. Congress mandated the program to maintain and nurture the the shipbuilding industrial base of the Navy.

• A federal advocacy group is calling on lawmakers not to allow the House’s Holman rule for the 118th Congress next year. The historic rule lets lawmakers bring forward amendments to appropriations bills that could reduce federal employees by number — or by their compensation. It’s a rule that House Republicans previously revived back in 2018. The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association — or “NARFE” — says the Holman rule allows for the potential of partisan influence on the civil service overall.

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