• The IRS is stepping up efforts to recover taxes owed by wealthy individuals. Six months into a new initiative, the agency has recovered $1.3 billion dollars from wealthy taxpayers. The agency is targeting two categories of tax delinquents — more than 1,600 millionaires with more than $250,000 in tax debt, and 125 thousand high-income individuals, who haven’t filed a tax return since 2017. The IRS is tapping into Inflation Reduction Act funds to support these enforcement efforts. Its non-filer program had been sporadically since 2016 because of budget cuts and staff limitations.
  (IRS announces $1.3B recovered from high-income wealthy individuals under IRA initiatives - IRS)
• House Republicans have a plan to keep the government open for six months to begin fiscal 2025 under a continuous resolution. The bill is linked to a provision to require states to obtain proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, when registering a person to vote. But the Biden administration said bill is wasting time with extremist policies. The White House said the CR also would shortchange the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs as well as the Social Security Administration. The end of the current fiscal year is still more than three weeks away.
  (House Republicans push to link government funding to a citizenship check for new voters - AP)
• The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is notifying hundreds of thousands of people about yet another data breach. CMS said the incident may impact as many as 946,000 Medicare customers. It’s tied to a Wisconsin contractor that was using the Move-It file transfer software. Hackers took advantage of a critical vulnerability in the MOVEIt software last May to steal data from hundreds of organizations across the world. CMS said it’s not aware of any cases of fraud connected to the stolen data.
  (CMS notifies individuals potentially impacted by data breach - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid)
• The Biden administration sees great potential for artificial intelligence to improve cybersecurity. The White House is contemplating a new cybersecurity executive order that would focus on the use of AI. Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger at last week’s Billington Cybersecurity Conference “We see a lot of promise in the AI space,” Neuberger said. Neuberger said AI could help cyber defenders more quickly detect cyber threats on their networks. There’s also the potential for AI to help write more secure software and patch vulnerabilities in existing software.
  (Biden admin pushing ‘promise’ of AI for cyber defense - Federal News Network)

        Join us Jan. 27 for our Industry Exchange Cyber 2025 event where industry leaders will share the latest cybersecurity strategies and technologies.

• GSA offers details on the third and final piece of its upcoming cloud vehicle. The General Services Administration is looking for feedback on its initial thinking for how vendors will provide IT services under pool three of the ASCEND blanket purchase agreement for cloud services. In a request for information, GSA is asking vendors and agencies about services including application rationalization, preparation of applications to move to the cloud and how best to manage multiple cloud instances. Comments on the RFI are due by Sept. 20. GSA also is looking for feedback on its plans for Pool 2 for software-as-a-service providers.
  (ASCEND Pool 3 RFI - SAM.gov)
• Agencies have some help to guide them through the major steps of presidential transition planning this fall. The Office of Management and Budget published guidance on Friday, detailing what agencies should start on now to prepare for a new presidential administration in 2025. OMB’s guidance points to several deadlines coming up in the next couple of months for agencies. They’ll be required to put together briefings on the work that will need immediate action once a new president steps in. Agencies will also have to prepare information on their budgets and leadership by this November.
  (Guidance on presidential transition planning - Office of Management and Budget)
• The Partnership for Public Service has named more than a dozen winners for the 2024 Service to America Medals, or “Sammies.” This year’s Sammies winners have worked to remove hazardous materials after the Maui wildfires, create the world’s first tornado-resistant building codes, prevent fatalities during mining disasters, and root out widespread child labor violations. The Sammies program highlights the often behind-the-scenes work of career civil servants across agencies. The Partnership for Public Service will honor all the 2024 Sammies winners during an awards ceremony this Wednesday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
  (2024 Sammies highlight extraordinary work of public servants at ‘vital’ time - Federal News Network)
• The Merit Systems Protection Board is taking steps to hedge against possible future repercussions of a lack of quorum. Interim regulations that MSPB published to the Federal Register, once finalized, would let the agency continue certain types of work, even in the case of leadership vacancies. The regulations would add slightly more flexibility for MSPB to work toward case decisions even if board members are absent. The new regulations come in direct response to a years-long lack of quorum at MSPB during the Trump administration. At the time, the absence of board members led to a severely increased backlog of undecided federal employee appeals cases involving prohibited personnel practices.
  (MSPB Interim final rule - Merit Systems Protection Board)

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