• The Office of Personnel Management’s chief financial officer created an offensive work environment during his prior job at the Defense Department. That’s according to a new report from DoD’s inspector general. The IG said Doug Glenn failed to treat employees with dignity and respect while he served as DoD’s deputy CFO. Investigators found he used sexually suggestive and racially insensitive language during his tenure at the Pentagon. OPM said it is still reviewing the DoD IG’s findings. (IG: OPM’s chief financial officer created offensive work environment at DoD – Federal News Network)

• The Treasury Department is temporarily suspending investments in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. The measure is intended to help avoid a potential default on the debt limit, after the U.S. hit the current debt ceiling on Thursday. The suspension will only apply to the portion of the fund that is not immediately required to pay beneficiaries. Treasury is also suspending investments in the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the suspension will last through June 5.

• A landmark cybersecurity document is facing some significant revisions. The National Institute of Standards and Technology released a concept paper this week outlining changes under the Cybersecurity Framework 2.0. NIST is proposing to broaden the framework to address cyber risks faced by all organizations. The original framework, produced in 2014, is geared toward critical infrastructure. NIST also wants the document to reflect changes in cybersecurity practices since it was last updated in 2018. The agency is accepting comments on the concept paper through March 3.

• Federal contracting officers have new training and certification requirements. The new Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) Professional standard will finally bring the Defense and civilian agency contracting officers under one training regime. The new requirements, outlined in a memo from the Office of Management and Budget yesterday, rely on the American National Standards Institute-National Contractor Management Association (ANSI-NCMA) standard developed in 2019. OMB is also requiring new contracting officers to take an independent third party certification exam. All contracting officers must also earn 100 hours of continuing education credits every two years. This is the first update to the FAC-C requirements since 2014. These new training standards become effective February 1. (OFPP bringing all contracting officers under one training, certification standard – Federal News Network)

• The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is bringing in some new talent. Jack Cable joined CISA as a senior technical adviser this week. He previously served at CISA as an Election Security Technical Adviser and was most recently a fellow for Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) CISA also announced Sandy Radesky as the new associate director for vulnerability management. Radesky is joining CISA after spending the last two years as deputy chief information officer for U.S. Fleet Cyber Command.

• Former State Department acting chief information officer and principle deputy CIO Glenn Miller has landed a new role in industry. Miller retired in November after more than 34 years of federal service, including 31 with the State Department. Miller joined General Dynamics-IT as senior director for IT and operations. In that role, he will provide support to federal customers across technology areas such as cloud, digital modernization and cybersecurity. During his time at State, Miller also served in senior IT roles in posts around the world and received the Presidential Rank Award in 2022.

• The State Department is launching a new program to allow individuals to sponsor the resettlement of refugees in the U.S. The department said its new Welcome Corps program is a shift from its decades-long policy of working with nonprofit resettlement agencies to house refugees. The State Department said its goal is to have U.S. households accommodate at least 5,000 refugees in the first year of the program, which is separate from the Homeland Security Department’s humanitarian parole programs for Ukrainian and Venezuelan refugees.

• Agencies get guidance on how to reach more early-career candidates. The Office of Personnel Management encourages agencies to expand internship opportunities, while also offering more paid positions for interns. OPM has released guidance detailing how hiring managers can better integrate federal internship and fellowship opportunities into their strategic workforce planning. The Biden administration has committed to hiring 35,000 interns this year across federal agencies. OPM said agencies should also look at ways to reduce reliance on unpaid internships.

• The Veterans Affairs Department is accelerating IT modernization to handle more vets seeking care under the PACT Act. The VA, among its goals, is looking to make better use of the data it and partner agencies already have, to handle a major expansion of VA health care and benefits under the PACT Act. Carrie Lee, acting executive director of product engineering, said the VA is breaking down some of the barriers between the Veterans Health Administration and the Veterans Benefits Administration to get a 360-degree view of a veteran’s experience with the agency. “Now we’re pulling it all together, to really follow that veteran and be able to support that veteran and whatever needs that veteran has,” Lee said. (VA accelerates IT modernization to handle more vets seeking care under PACT Act – Federal News Network)

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